On April 28, 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California Trucking Association v. Bonta, issued a decision that California’s AB-5 law, now Labor Code Section 2775, is not preempted by federal law. The three-judge panel ruled that the District Court was wrong when it granted a preliminary injunction that prohibited the application of [...]
On April 16th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into immediate effect Senate Bill 93 which will remain in force until December 31, 2024. The bill requires certain employers to offer new positions to former employees laid off for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Employers of all sizes must offer all new available job positions to [...]
Pacific Gas and Electric Corp. faces new criminal charges for its role in the 2019 Kincade wildfire. The charges come after PG&E plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter relating to 2018’s Camp Fire. PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019. The company is challenging the new criminal charges, although it acknowledges the findings [...]
Now that many Americans have received, or soon will receive, the COVID-19 vaccination, can you ask your employees whether or not they’ve been vaccinated without running afoul of employment regulations? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that you can ask employees about their COVID-19 vaccination status. That’s because this question alone isn’t likely to cross [...]
Kennedy Donohue, a nurse recruiter, was the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against AMN Services, LLC. AMN used a timekeeping system called Team Time which rounded its timekeeping in ten-minute increments. In the lawsuit, Donohue alleged that she was discouraged from taking breaks and had to take short breaks. AMN’s written policies [...]
One of the most important issues for construction companies is to get fully paid for the work they do. Since the advent of COVID-19, we have seen a rise in payment issues to the point that they have become one of the most contested issues of construction claims. The following are good business practices that [...]
The highest state court in California recently tossed out a constitutional challenge to Proposition 22. Proposition 22 was a voter-approved law permitting ride-share gig companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors. The lawsuit was filed in January by a group of app-based drivers and one of the nation’s largest labor unions, the Service Employees [...]
Apple could be held liable for $60 million in backpay for having employees be searched on their own time after they clock out. Up to 12,000 Apple retail workers in California are seeking compensation in Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks money for uncompensated time spent waiting for exit searches [...]
In the lead up to the historic November 3, 2020 election, Uber, Lyft and other gig economy companies poured more than $200,000,000 into the campaign to pass Proposition 22 in California. The opposition labor and union groups spent nearly $20,000,000 fighting Proposition 22. Proposition 22 passed by a margin of 58% vs. 42%. Proposition 22 [...]
Growth in technology, the desire for flexible lifestyles, and the goal of reducing work-related stress have contributed to the rise of what is commonly known as the “gig economy,” in which individuals perform freelance, contract or temporary jobs. As much as a third of the working population is already participating in the workforce in this [...]
