This is the second year that California is requiring employers to report not only their employees’ pay data but also pay data for individuals hired through labor contractors (i.e., staffing agencies). The reports are due May 8, 2024.

The newest fast food worker law, California Labor Code sections 1474 -1477 (enacted by AB 1228), increases fast food workers’ hourly wages on April 1, 2024. The law requires fast food employers to pay fast food employees at least $20 per hour, establishes a Fast Food Council, and repeals the FAST Recovery Act.

How do you navigate tricky situations in the workplace? 🤔

Like it or not, tricky workplace situations come up. And when they do, it can be challenging to determine how best to navigate the situation. Chantelle Egan, Director of MM’s Advice and Counsel Practice Group joined Melanie Naranjo, VP of People at Ethena, to work through some HR challenges and how to effectively navigate them.

It’s time to officially break up with your non-compete agreements and tell impacted employees that the relationship status has changed. Recent California laws, Assembly Bill 1076 (“AB 1076”) and Senate Bill 699 (“SB 699”), which revised and added Business and Professions Code sections 16600, 16600.1, and 16600.5, have declared that such agreements are void and that employers clinging to these clauses will be penalized and could be sued by their employees.

Complaints can be scary, but employers must investigate them early to protect their organization’s integrity and follow through on their promise to provide a safe, harassment-free workplace.

Chantelle Egan, Lead Investigator for MM Investigations, joined Ethena’s VP of People, Melanie Naranjo, to do a deep dive on how to conduct an investigation and emerge with a stronger company culture.

On January 18, 2024, the California Supreme Court tackled a divergence in appellate opinions regarding whether trial courts have inherent authority to dismiss a PAGA claim based on “manageability.” The Court determined that although trial courts can utilize several methods to effectively manage PAGA claims, they do not have the authority to dismiss such cases outright if they are deemed to be too intricate or time-consuming.

As many of you know, California employment law compliance is not about good intentions—it’s about following the rules to the letter of the law. This holds true with employee wage statements (paystubs). Even seemingly minor violations of the Labor Code, like the wrong corporate address, can carry with them crushing penalties. These penalties apply to every employee, for every wage statement, for every pay period for up to a year until the violations are fixed.

Chantelle Egan, Director of MM’s Advice and Counsel Practice Group joined Melanie Naranjo, VP of People at Ethena, to provide the key to a successful company holiday party—mitigating risk without mitigating fun.

The California Governor has signed several bills impacting employers that go into effect in 2024. If you missed our 2024 California Legal Updates webinar, check out the replay and the slides here, where you’ll learn how they impact your existing policies and handbooks.

Another year; another legislative update. The Governor has signed several bills impacting employers that go into effect in 2024. To learn more about 2024 legal updates and how they impact your existing policies and handbooks, please join us for an informational webinar, including a Q&A session, on Thursday, November 30 at 11:00 a.m. PST.

Have you heard the one about the clients who loved their lawyers so much they made a banner? As an oft-maligned profession, attorneys are much more familiar with clients avoiding them than singing their praises, so this was a first for us!

The California Department of Finance published a letter on July 31, 2023, stating that the state minimum wage, which is currently $15.50 per hour, will be increasing to $16.00 per hour effective January 1, 2024, to account for inflation.

As you may have heard, on August 1, 2023, U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) published an updated Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also released guidance regarding employers’ ability to use remote examination of Form I-9 documents.

On July 17, 2023, the California Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc., a case that will affect the landscape of arbitration for years to come.If you missed our webinars on Adolph v. Uber, check out the replay and the slides here, where you’ll learn how to better protect your company from class action and PAGA lawsuits.

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc., a case that will affect the landscape of arbitration for years to come. In this update, we briefly summarize the decision and what it means for you as an employer, and we invite you to our upcoming webinars on Tuesday, August 1 at 11:00 a.m. PDT and Tuesday, August 8 at 1:00 p.m. PDT to learn more about the decision and how to protect your business from wage and hour lawsuits in California.

For the first time this year, California is requiring employers to report not only their employees’ pay data but also pay data for individuals hired through labor contractors (i.e., staffing agencies). On an annual basis, these reports will be due the second Wednesday in May for the prior year.

On February 15, 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered another chapter in the arbitration agreement saga playing out in California and across the U.S. in a case called Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. v. Bonta.

As you find your footing in the new year, we wanted to send a quick reminder that it’s a great time to circle back to those best practices we mentioned.  Taking care of compliance issues in the first part of the year means you’ll have more time to focus on running your business.

As 2022 comes to a close, there are three things every business—large and small—should consider doing as part of their 2023 New Year’s resolutions.