Insights on Labor, Employment & OSHA

On April 12, 2023, the Commonwealth of Virginia enacted a law that requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with unpaid organ donation leave. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2023.

Los Angeles retail businesses must now comply with a new ordinance that promotes predictable work hours for employees.

On March 22, 2023, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued GC Memo 23-05 providing guidance on the recent decision in McLaren Macomb. Below are some of the notable points set forth in the Memorandum.

Yesterday, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed into law the “Paid Leave for All Workers Act,” which will allow most Illinois employees up to 40 hours of paid leave per year, for any purpose, starting on January 1, 2024. This will represent a sea change for many employers in the state.

Last year, in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc., 13 Cal.5th 93 (2022), the California Supreme Court held that an employer’s failure to timely pay premium pay for meal and rest break violations could subject the employer to waiting time and wage statement penalties.

California Assembly Bill 1228 (A.B.1228), otherwise known as the Fast-Food Franchisor Responsibility Act, was introduced on February 16, 2023.

Similar to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, California law requires an employer to pay overtime based on an employee’s “regular rate of pay.

This past month, the California Supreme Court granted a petition to review the Court of Appeal’s decision in Camp v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) recently ruled that it is illegal for employers to offer severance agreements that include broad non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions to employees, even those without union representation.

Ruling on a narrow, but significant question, the US Supreme Court affirmed that the white-collar overtime exemptions under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) require employers to pay an employee on an actual “salary basis.”

In another reversal of course, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way again for California employers to require arbitration agreements.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulation is now in place. It took effect on February 3, 2023, following approval by the state’s Office of Administrative Law.

Please join Eva Pulliam, ArentFox Schiff Partner and AFSCRE* Founding Board Member, as she speaks with Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America.

California’s new pay transparency law requiring disclosure of pay scales in job openings went into effect on January 1, 2023. The new law requires California employers to disclose the pay range for a job if an applicant asks for it after an initial interview.

Similar to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), California law requires an employer to pay overtime based on an employee’s “regular rate of pay.” That rate may not be just an employee’s hourly wage, or straight time, rate.

Megan Daily presented “What’s in a Contract and Why” at the DC Pro Bono Center’s How the Law Impacts Your Small Business seminar series on January 31, 2023.

Labor and Employment class actions involving contractors are on the rise in California, especially in its $50-plus billion per annum agricultural industry — 12.5% of all agricultural production nationwide. Employers using seasonal workers are always at risk of wage/hour class action lawsuits.

On September 29, 2022, California Governor Newsom signed into law the Motor Vehicle Digital Number Plates Act (AB 984), which will give the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) authority to move forward with new vehicle registration technologies and to issue alternative devices for license plates.

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that eight attorneys have been named to Washingtonian magazine’s 2022 Top Lawyers, which features the “top legal talent” in Washington, DC.

On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a new rule that would ban employers from requiring workers to sign noncompetes and require recission of existing noncompetes. The FTC’s press release accompanying the rule states that its intent is to “promote greater dynamism.”

The holidays came early for organized labor this year, with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issuing another decision that will make it easier for unions to organize new workplaces.

The new year brings several new laws and requirements for California employers.  Among changes in 2023, California employers face a higher state minimum wage, increased minimum pay requirements for employees, new protected leaves for an employee to provide care for a “designated person,”

For years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sought to make wronged employees whole for the consequences of a respondent’s unfair labor practices.

Further expanding generous protected employee leaves, California now will require most private employers to provide up to five days of bereavement leave for a covered family member’s death. Assembly Bill 1949, which Governor Newsom signed, takes effect on January 1, 2023.

While neutral rounding policies have historically been approved by California courts, the Sixth District California Court of Appeal recently held that employers who utilize timekeeping systems that can capture each minute worked by employees must fully compensate those employees for all time worked.