Drawing the Line: Employers Not Responsible for Employee-to-Family COVID-19 Transmission

Author: Burton E. Falk Last week the California Supreme Court made a pivotal ruling that could have significant implications for your responsibilities as employers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Court clarified that employers do not owe a tort-based duty to non-employees to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to family members under workers’ compensation laws.…

Efforts to Repeal PAGA in 2024

By Trevor Witt An upcoming ballot measure could significantly affect your business and provide some much needed relief from costly and frivolous lawsuits for employers. The November 2024 ballot will contain a measure titled “Fair Pay and Employer Accountability Act,” which proposes to repeal the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) in California. PAGA was initially…

CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS ACT (CPRA) BECAME EFFECTIVE ON JANUARY 1, 2023. AMENDS THE CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT (CCPA) AND THEREFORE DOES NOT CREATE A SEPARATE NEW LAW[1].

What’s new?   The new law covers legal entities of a certain size (see below) that do business in California and collect personal information of consumers. A consumer is defined as a California resident and therefore includes employees.   ·      Businesses must provide a “notice at collection”.   At the time of collecting the personal…

Is Your Arbitration Agreement Enforceable?

Courts deal yet another blow to the enforcement of employment-related arbitration agreements and class-action waivers in what is looking to be a growing trend. In Rittmann v. Amazon.com, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that local Amazon delivery drivers were not subject to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The FAA was…

WARN Act and COVID-19

In these uncertain times, businesses are being forced to consider drastic measures to weather the current economic crisis, including potential reductions in the workforce.  However, businesses need to be aware of their obligations under both the federal and California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act prior to implementing any mass layoff, relocation, or termination…

Coronavirus’ Impact on Employment Classification

Support for AB 5 and its “ABC test” aimed at classifying more workers as employees rather than independent contractors appears to be growing due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  The federal, state and local government restriction on businesses and mobility have vastly limited the availability of work.  Independent contractors, who are not entitled to unemployment benefits…