The beginning of 2025 presents an ideal opportunity for companies to perform a California employment law audit. This proactive step ensures your policies align with current regulations, your managers receive proper training, your company retains required records for the appropriate duration, and will greatly reduce potential PAGA penalties under the 2024 PAGA reform. To help
California employers will be receiving immediate relief under the new Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) reform law. The California Legislature passed AB 2288 and SB 92 on June 27, 2024, and Governor Newsom signed both bills into law on July 1, 2024. Our analysis of the reform is set forth in our previous article here
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
Today, June 15, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, holding that the FAA preempts California’s prohibition on the employer’s ability to contract with employees to bring only their individual claims in arbitration and not a representative Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claim. This is a
In Mendoza v. Trans Valley Transport, the California Court of Appeal held that an arbitration agreement contained in an employee handbook was unenforceable by the employer because the parties did not enter into a binding agreement to arbitrate. The appellate court’s analysis in Mendoza illustrates some problems for employers who place arbitration agreements in employee
On December 15, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana. At issue in this case is whether a California employer may enter into a voluntary agreement with an employee whereby the employee agrees to only bring his or her individual claims in an arbitration proceeding and not
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
Arbitration agreements are an increasingly popular way for employers to manage employment disputes effectively and efficiently. A common provision in arbitration agreements is a class action waiver, wherein the parties agree to resolve any dispute on an individual basis. Any employer who has faced a wage and hour class action understands how complex and expensive
I wanted to highlight a few issues on these topics that employers can use to start a self-audit that then can be used to save time and money when reviewing with an attorney. As always, it is important to work with a qualified attorney to ensure compliance.
Five areas to audit regarding the hiring process
The beginning of 2019 brought substantial employment case settlements and verdicts. This Friday’s Five reviews the settlements and verdicts that should catch the attention of all employers, as well as a review of the U.S. Supreme Court’s new ruling on arbitration agreements for transportation workers:
1. Restaurant settles claim with Labor Commissioner for $4 million