The minimum wage for healthcare workers will increase on June 1, 2024, with the addition of Labor Code sections 1182.14 and 1182.15 (enacted by SB 525). Notably, this law expands the definition of healthcare employee to include most employees who work in healthcare settings, including, for example, janitorial or housekeeping employees.

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.

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.

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.

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!