In response to recent Supreme Court decisions and laws in other states outlawing abortion, California passed a number of new laws designed to protect reproductive rights in the state. These include bills to prohibit a person from being criminally or civilly liable for a pregnancy loss, to prohibit a health care provider from releasing medical information on abortion care in response to out-of-state subpoenas, and to prohibit law enforcement cooperation with out-of-state entities related to a lawful abortion. California voters also approved Proposition 1 in November, which ...

California law already requires hotels to provide training to their staff on how to recognize human trafficking and how to report suspected trafficking to either law enforcement or the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Effective January 1, 2023, Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1788, codified as section 52.65 of the Civil Code, creates new civil liability for hotels for the failure of supervisory employees to report sex trafficking activity. 

Specifically, a hotel is liable under AB 1788 if sex trafficking activity occurred in the hotel and a supervisory employee of the hotel either ...

On January 1, 2023, Assembly Bill (“AB”) 676 will go into effect, significantly amending the California Franchise Relations Act and Franchise Investment Law.  The provisions of AB 676 will only apply to franchise agreements entered into, amended or renewed on or after January 1, 2023.  If the amendment was initiated by the franchisee and the amendment does not adversely impact the franchisee’s rights, that amendment is not subject to AB 676.

AB 676 prohibits franchise agreements from including a provision requiring the franchisee to disclaim their reliance on ...

Q: I represent a receiver in a contentious family law receivership. In order to prevent attorney client and work product information from being disclosed to one of the parties, the receiver does not want to attach my detailed bills to his monthly reports or to an upcoming interim fee application. I am concerned that not attaching my detailed bills may result in my fees not being allowed. Should I be concerned? Is there a way to protect such sensitive information and still have my fees approved?

A: Surprisingly, California law does not generally require detailed time sheets to be attached ...

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released an updated “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster that must be prominently displayed in the workplace. The poster summarizes various employee and applicant anti-discrimination protections that the EEOC enforces and also provides instructions on filing a workplace discrimination charge with the EEOC which include a QR code for quick digital access.  

The “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster is available in English and Spanish:

• Know Your ...

California‘s FAST Recovery Act will likely be placed on hold until November 2024. 

The Save Local Restaurants coalition, a group composed of restaurant industry advocates, filed a voter referendum on September 7, 2022 to block the new law. California’s referendum process provides that opponents have 90 days from the date of a bill’s enactment to qualify a measure for the ballot by collecting enough signatures. Specifically, the group had until December 5, 2022 to submit 623,000 signatures in order for the law to be placed on the ballot.  Save Local Restaurants issued a statement

Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2448 into law, which will enact Civil Code section 51.17. The law requires the Civil Rights Department (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) to establish a pilot program to recognize businesses that promote or create environments free from discrimination and harassment of customers.  Recognition will come in the form of a certificate the department would issue to qualifying businesses that may be prominently displayed on site. The department would also publish on its internet website a list of businesses receiving the ...

On November 22, 2022, the Los Angeles City Council passed the Fair Work Week ordinance (the “Ordinance”). The Ordinance passed with a 10-0 vote, and will go into effect on April 1, 2023. Covered employers subject to the requirements of the Ordinance are retail businesses with 300 or more employees globally, regardless of how many employees are based in Los Angeles.

The Ordinance requires covered employers to provide employees who work at two hours a week within the City of Los Angeles with written notice of their work schedules at least fourteen calendar days before the start of the ...

Effective January 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1044 will prohibit employers from taking or threatening adverse action against any employee for refusing to report to, or leaving, a workplace or worksite during an “emergency condition” when the employee has a reasonable belief that the workplace or worksite is unsafe.  An “emergency condition” means the existence of either: (1) conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons or property at the workplace or worksite caused by natural forces or a criminal act; or (2) an order to evacuate a workplace, a worksite, a ...

What goes up does not come down! The trend of increasing the minimum wage continues in 2023 as follows:

State:

On January 1, 2023, the California state minimum wage will increase to $15.50 per hour for employers of all sizes. The state minimum wage also governs the exempt employee threshold salary, which will increase accordingly.  On January 1, 2023, the new minimum salary for employees who otherwise qualify to be exempt from overtime will be $64,480 annually for employers of all sizes.

Local:

Additionally, several California municipalities will raise their minimum wage rates on July ...

Beginning January 1, 2025, Senate Bill 951 will increase from 60% to a maximum of 90% the percentage of wage replacement based on the individual’s wages earned for persons receiving benefits under the Paid Family Leave (PFL) and State Disability Insurance (SDI) programs for claims filed on or after that date. To pay for this increase in benefits, on January 1, 2024, SB 951 will repeal the wage ceiling for contributions into the SDI fund, thereby making all wages subject to the SDI contribution rate.

Employees can apply for PFL or SDI benefits, as applicable, during an otherwise unpaid ...

Effective January 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1126 expands California’s CalSavers Retirement Savings Program by requiring employers with at least one employee to register for CalSavers by December 31, 2025, if the employer does not sponsor a retirement plan for its employees, or register as exempt if a retirement plan is provided.  Any employer may also choose to have a payroll deposit retirement savings arrangement (such as an IRA) to allow employee participation in the program.  However, SB 1126 excludes from the definition of “eligible employer” any sole proprietorships ...

On September 27, 2022, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 1162, which requires employers with more than 15 employees to post salary scales with every job posting and to disclose the pay scale for a position held by an employee upon request, and expands pay data reporting requirements for employers with 100 or more employees.

The law will go into effect on January 1, 2023.

Pay Scale Disclosure in Job Postings and Upon Request

Under existing California law, which went into effect in January of 2018, employers were required to disclose the pay scale of any open position to any applicant ...