Employment Law Letter

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed dozens of bills over the past few weeks that may affect your obligations as an employer. Here is a brief overview of some of the most significant ones, going into effect after January 1...

A California appellate court recently decided that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) precluded arbitration of a case where the alleged sexual assault and sexual harassment...

To make sure employment arbitration proceedings move along quickly, a new California law says that “if the fees or costs to initiate an arbitration proceeding are not paid within 30 days after the due date, the drafting...

Whenever an employer investigates employee misconduct, there’s a chance it will find—and may have to disclose—negative facts. This is true when a hospital investigates the medical conduct of a doctor, or an employer...

To what limits must an employer go to offer an accommodation to a disabled employee? In the case below, the employer offered a great deal, but was it enough to avoid further liability? Could the correctional officer...

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has long allowed employers and unions to resolve cases arising from unfair labor practice charges without a full adjudication on the merits. The most common way this is...

Hospitality employers take note: The Department of Labor’s (DOL) tip rule has been struck down. The tip credit is a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that allows employers to pay tipped employees a lower...

You likely have heard of the direct threat defense to an Americans with Disability (ADA) claim. But what is it? How does it work? A recent case from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appeals court...

Discovery is the foundation of any litigation. It’s the process of unearthing facts and developing evidence to be presented to a fact finder, whether that be a judge or a jury, to aid in a final determination on an...

We live in a multicultural and multiracial America. The future is here. Numbers don’t lie. In 2019, 44.7 million immigrants (foreign-born individuals) comprised 14% of the U.S. population. In 2018, 39.4 million native...

Employers know by now that Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) will become effective in February 2025. As HR professionals plan to implement ESTA-complaint policies, one of the big questions is: Who, exactly, does...

Organizations spend significant time and energy on recruiting and retaining valuable talent, but those efforts can be dashed if workers are so stressed over the cost and availability of child care that they can’t...

There’s no federal workplace violence prevention standard, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations don’t expressly address workplace violence. Yet, after a convenience store employee was shot...

Q An employee has taken 39 days off (20 days paid, 18 days unpaid, and one no-show) and is now requesting an additional three days off. We haven’t taken disciplinary action yet, but our policy requires verbal, written...

Q What are the guidelines for when employees, current or former, request a copy of their personnel file, and what files are required to be provided upon request? When it comes to an employee’s or former employee’s...