As recently covered on this blog, the surge in Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits and the amounts of damages sought in these cases in California has become a significant cause for concern among the business community. PAGA, initially designed to empower employees to file lawsuits for labor code violations on behalf of themselves and

The recent surge in Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits and the amounts of damages sought in these cases in California has become a significant cause for concern among the business community. This legislation, initially designed to empower employees to file lawsuits for labor code violations on behalf of themselves and other workers, has seen

In Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc., the California Supreme Court held that even when an employee enters into an arbitration agreement requiring the employee to arbitrate only their individual claims, the employee still has a right to continue to pursue remedies under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), if they are able to

California law starts from a presumption that all employees are non-exempt employees, meaning that they are not exempt from the Labor Code requirements, such as overtime pay, meal and rest breaks, and minimum wage. Exempt employees are designated as such because they are “exempt” from certain wage and hour requirements due to their duties and

In Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, plaintiff worked for Viking as a sales representative in Los Angeles.  Plaintiff sued Viking alleging various Labor Code violations and sought to recover PAGA penalties on a representative basis.  However, when she started working for Viking, she agreed to resolve all employment issues with Viking in arbitration,

As we end May 2022 and break for Memorial Day weekend, there were some major case develops within the last week for California employers.  Here are five key highlights California employers need to know about:

1. Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. – Penalties just increased for non-compliant meal and rest breaks. 

This week, the

As we start April 2022, here are five new California employment law developments that California employers need to know about:

1. Court rules California’s law requiring corporate board diversity is unconstitutional.

California passed AB 979 which enacted Corporations Code section 301.4 in 2020.  The law requires corporations with their principal executive offices located in California

In 2019, California enacted AB 51, making it an unlawful employment practice for employers to require applicants or employees, as a condition of employment, to waive any right, forum, or procedure relating to a Labor Code or FEHA claim. The short version of this word salad is that employers couldn’t mandate arbitration agreements. However, a

It is critical for California employers to properly calculate the regular rate of pay for an employee in order to pay the appropriate overtime pay and for premium pay for missed meal and rest breaks.  Here are five issues employers must be aware of regarding calculating an employee’s regular rate of pay:

1. Employers must