Prior to the California Supreme Court’s decision in Wilson vs. Cable News Network, Inc., California Courts of Appeal were split on whether California’s anti-SLAPP statute applied to an employee’s claims of discrimination and retaliation.  The Supreme Court in Wilson resolved this split in favor of the statute’s application, bringing a welcome bit of good…

Starting in 2023, Oregon employers with at least 25 employees must provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave for a covered purpose (family, medical, or “safe” leave). The program will be funded with payroll contributions (40% employer/60% employee), the amount of which depends on an employee’s wages. Benefit amounts will be…

With all of the buzz about potential impending raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), many employers are understandably concerned about the rights of their employees, as well as their own rights and obligations with respect to ICE activity.

Employers must be careful to not provide assistance to employees beyond providing factual information about…

The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) recently issued a decision in UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside that reverses longstanding Board precedent and holds that employers no longer have to allow nonemployee union representatives access to public areas of their property unless (1) the union has no other means of communicating with employees or (2) the employer…

Oregon’s Legislature just enacted the most significant legislation for Oregon employers in years.  The new Workplace Fairness Act has been hailed as a #MeToo law and seems intended to curb incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace, but its reach is significantly broader than that.

Key Changes and Takeaways

  • Employers are now required to have

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With its decision last year in Dynamex, the California Supreme Court fundamentally changed the test for determining whether workers are properly classified as either employees or independent contractors.  Specifically, and as for claims brought under the California wage orders, the Supreme Court adopted the “ABC test,” which involves an analysis of the following three factors:  (1) whether the worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of work, (2) whether the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business, and (3) whether the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed.  Since that time, California employers and various industry groups have been lobbying the California legislature left and right to take steps to either limit the ruling’s application or expand it.
Continue Reading California Legislature Moves to Codify Dynamex

Spring is in the air and summer is around the corner. You can see the signs everywhere. Flowers. Chirping birds. Increasing temperatures. And summer intern resumes. Experienced HR professionals know they will soon receive many resumes from eager students or recent graduates hoping to work as interns in order to gain valuable experience and networking opportunities. Often, intern candidates offer to work for free in exchange for the chance to gain experience in a job or industry.

Of course the idea, however enticing, of free labor should raise red flags. Many “for profit” business have run into trouble by failing to pay minimum wage and overtime pay to “unpaid interns” who the courts concluded were actually employees.
Continue Reading Are Employers Required to Pay Interns?

On April 22, 2019, the California Senate voted unanimously to update California’s anti-discrimination laws to include within the definition of the term “race” “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.”  If the bill ultimately becomes law, California would become one of the first states in the nation…

A little over six years ago, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer issued her edict (well, memo) kiboshing work-from-home arrangements, driving Yahoo! workers back to their desks and sending shock waves that reached far beyond affected employees.  Mayer’s mantra was that in order to be “one Yahoo!,” workers needed to be physically connected in the workplace.  Her ultimatum ground the notion of telecommuting at Yahoo! to a screeching halt:  Get back to the office or don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

With probably more fallout externally than internally, Mayer’s remote work ban generated much criticism (amid some praise) and has continued to draw scrutiny even years later.  Whether her move was brilliant or a fool’s errand, one universal lesson to be drawn is that companies need to think critically about whether and to what extent remote work arrangements make good business sense.  This is particularly true as the workforce continues to trend away from traditional employment concepts toward freelancing, consultants, and gig workers.  More and more workers expect, if not demand, flexibility, including the ability to telecommute for at least some portion of their workweek.  With limited exceptions, however, this is privilege not a right.
Continue Reading Modern Workforce Increasingly Challenges Employers to Offer Telework Option

Effective January 1, 2019, employers that employ five or more employees in California must provide one hour of harassment and abusive conduct prevention training to all nonsupervisory employees, and two hours of such training to supervisory employees. This mandatory training must be provided by January 1, 2020, and once every two years thereafter.

Under…