Labor & Employment Law Blog

On Monday April 4, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 3, raising California’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by 2022 (“SB 3”).  California’s current minimum wage of $10.00 tied Massachusetts for the highest minimum wage for any state, and behind only Washington D.C.’s $10.50 minimum wage.

Increases to the minimum wage will begin January 1, 2017, at which time the minimum wage ...

On January 28, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Council (“EEOC”) and the White House unveiled plans to require employers with 100 or more employees to report employee pay data in September 2017 EEO-1 Reports in an effort to uncover potential pay discrimination.

The EEOC enforces the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, among other laws.  The Equal Pay Act prohibits ...

On January 26, 2016, the Santa Monica City Council joined other California cities in enacting an ordinance that implements minimum wage and paid sick leave requirements that go beyond State requirements.

On July 6, 2015, the United States Department of Labor published proposed regulations that would substantially increase the minimum salary that must be paid to exempt employees under federal law to $50,440 or more.  The DOL published the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register, opening a 60-day comment public comment period on the  proposed amendments to Fair Labor Standards Act ...

On February 10, 2015, the California Court of Appeal held that Industrial Welfare Commission (“IWC”) Wage Order 5 conflicts with California Labor Code section 512(a), and that the IWC exceeded its authority by creating an additional exception for second meal period waivers for health care workers.  (Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, 2015 WL 535730 (2015)).

On October 9, 2014, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“DOL”) announced that it will not bring enforcement actions for six months, from January 1 to June 30, 2015, against employers for violations of the 2013 Final Rule as to minimum wage and overtime protections for Home Care Workers.  From July 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015, the DOL “will exercise prosecutorial discretion in determining ...

On August 12, 2014, the California Court of Appeal issued a ruling that requires California employers to reimburse their employees a “reasonable percentage” of their cell phone bill when they are required to use their personal cell phones for work-related purposes.  (Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., Case No. BC449547.)

This decision arises out of a putative class action filed against Home ...

On July 14, 2014, the California Supreme Court ruled that commission payments made in one pay period may not be used in another pay period to satisfy minimum payment requirements under the California commissioned employee exemption. Peabody v. Time Warner Cable, Inc. (California Supreme Court).

On July 21, 2014, a California appellate court ordered a real estate agent of a brokerage firm to arbitrate his claim that he was improperly classified as an independent contractor and not an employee.  Galen v. Redfin Corporation. The court held that the Scott Galen’s claims for unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest periods, inaccurate and untimely wage statements, waiting time penalties, and ...

On July 21, 2014, the California Court of Appeal soundly rejected attempts by an employee in a proposed class action to challenge an employer’s practice of deducting partial-day absences from the leave banks of exempt employees, including partial-day absences in increments of less than four hours.  Rhea v. General Atomics (“Rhea”).  In this decision, the court not only confirmed that California law permitted the deduction of partial-day absences from the leave banks of exempt employees, but also clarified that such deductions may occur in any increment of time.