Wage and Hour

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This law requires employers to pay piece-rate employees for rest and recovery periods and “other nonproductive time” at or above specified minimum hourly rates, separately from any piece-rate compensation. It also defines “other nonproductive time” as time under the employer’s control, exclusive of rest and recovery periods, that is not directly related to the activity being compensated on a piece-rate basis. Additionally, employers must specify…

This law, which became effective immediately, amends the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) to provide an employer with the right to cure a violation of the requirement that an employer provides its employees with the inclusive dates of the pay period and the name and address of the employer before an employee may bring a civil action under PAGA. An employer can utilize this cure…

The latest legislative session has just ended, and, true to form, the California Legislature has added more than a dozen new laws affecting employers doing business in the nation’s largest state.  These statutes are in addition to the other six new laws that we reported on in September:

  • Signed legislation:
    • Sick Leave: Accrual And Limitations Language Clarified (AB 304)
    • Employers Prohibited From Using E-Verify

…

Mendiola v. CPS Sec. Solutions, Inc., 60 Cal. 4th 833 (2015)

CPS employed on-call guards to provide security at construction worksites. Part of each guard’s day was spent on active patrol. Each evening, guards were required to remain on call and on premises at the worksite to respond to disturbances should the need arise. By written agreement, on-call guards were required to reside in…

Augustus v. ABM Sec. Servs., Inc., 182 Cal. Rptr. 3d 676 (2015)

In this class action lawsuit, plaintiffs alleged that ABM did not provide rest periods to its security guard employees because it failed to relieve them of all duties and required them to remain on call during their breaks. The trial court certified the class and granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary adjudication, concluding…

Gerard v. Orange Coast Mem. Med. Ctr., 2015 WL 535730 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015)

In this putative class/Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) action, Jazmina Gerard (and others) challenged a hospital policy that allowed health care employees who worked shifts longer than 10 hours to voluntarily waive one of their two meal periods, even if their shifts lasted longer than 12 hours. Plaintiffs alleged that…

Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc., 2015 WL 691304 (9th Cir. 2015)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has certified three questions to the California Supreme Court:

  1. Is the one day of rest in seven as required by Labor Code § 551 calculated by the workweek or on a rolling basis for any consecutive seven-day period?;
  2. Does the exemption from Section 551

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Landers v. Quality Communications, Inc., 771 F.3d 638 (9th Cir. 2014)

Greg Landers, who was employed as a cable services installer, brought suit individually and on behalf of other similarly situated persons, alleging that Quality failed to pay him and the other employees minimum and overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The district court granted Quality’s motion to dismiss…

For nearly 22 years, IWC Wage Order No. 4 and IWC Wage Order No. 5 have permitted employees in the “health care industry” who work shifts in excess of eight total hours in a workday to “voluntarily waive their right to one of their two meal periods. . . . in a written agreement that is voluntarily signed by both the employee and the employer.”…