California Employment Laws

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Effective January 1, 2024, AB 1076 amended California law to codify existing California case law holding most noncompete agreements void and making it unlawful to include a noncompete clause in an employment contract or to require an employee to enter a noncompete contract that does not satisfy specified exceptions. That new law, in and of itself, does not change the state of the law in California with regard to the enforceability of such contracts.Continue Reading Immediate Action Required by California Employers to Avoid AB 1076 Fines

In 2019 California enacted Assembly Bill 51 (AB51) that would impose criminal sanctions on employers who required employees to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. From there, this highly controversial law has followed a circuitous route.Continue Reading A Win for California Employers: Employers Can Require Their Employees to Sign Arbitration Agreements as a Condition of Employment

On Wednesday, June 15, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion that severely limits California’s right to enlist employees as private attorneys general to enforce California labor law by allowing employers to use mandatory arbitration provisions to defeat such representative claims.
Continue Reading In a Big Win for California Employers, SCOTUS Limits the Reach of the Golden State’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004

In the past two years, California lawmakers have focused their efforts on resolving the negative effects of COVID-19 and its variants, placing primary responsibility on employers. Several laws were recently enacted that impact employers in the context of workers’ compensation, workplace safety, and particularly, paid sick leave. California’s paid sick leave laws are daunting. The laws have become increasingly complex with unclear requirements. The following is a summary of the major paid sick leave laws including some of the compliance issues:
Continue Reading The California 2022 Trifecta of Paid Sick Leave Laws: Employers Beware

COVID-19 has permanently changed the workplace we once knew. Employers needed to adapt to new legislation meant to deal with the unprecedented impact of the pandemic. Expansion of the California Family Rights Act, mandatory paid sick leave for COVID-related illness, extended workplace safety protections, and workers’ compensation coverage for employees based on the rebuttable presumption they contracted COVID-19 at the workplace were just some of the laws enacted to expand and enhance employee benefits in response to the pandemic.
Continue Reading New 2022 California Employment Laws: How Businesses Can Protect Themselves