Q We have an employee who definitely showed signs of being on drugs or alcohol at work. We want to let him go per our handbook policies that prohibit employees from being at work under the influence of alcohol or drugs...
Employment Law Letter
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to “shelter-at-home” proclamations from state and local governments, causing many nonessential businesses to shut down temporarily. Employers have handled the crisis in varying ways, some by...
The holiday season is upon us, but it just doesn't seem so festive this year. Many employees are still isolated as they work from home. Essential workers are in the workplace but worried about the risks they face by...
Everybody—from CEOs to frontline workers, design specialists to space planners, Gen Z and Millennials to Boomers—is wondering what the post-COVID workplace will look like. Despite the myriad ideas floating around, the...
Since March, when many employees began working from home, employers have had to rely on chat applications to help their employees communicate remotely. Whether it’s Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Skype, employees can use the...
Q Can we make it mandatory for employees to enroll in Medicare upon turning age 65 even if they don't plan on retiring and continue using the group medical plan? If so, how must this be communicated to employees...
Q We have an employee working remotely from home who has tested positive for COVID-19. Her doctor says she can return to work in two weeks. She is asymptomatic and wants to continue to work so she can save her Emergency...
As COVID-19 recedes in parts of the United States, businesses will be in a position to staff up. Be aware, however, that as you recall some employees from furlough or hire other applicants, workers not selected to return...
The COVID-19 global pandemic has forced some employees to increase their hours spent teleworking and has required other workers to fulfill their job duties from home for the first time in their careers. This "remote...
On September 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 1159, which makes workers' compensation benefits available to certain employees who contract the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). SB 1159...
In an era of increasing high-tech mergers and acquisitions and burgeoning lawsuits claiming theft of technology and intellectual property, companies must walk a tightrope between disclosure and protection of their...
Assembly Bill (AB) 5 adopted the three-pronged ABC test from Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor for purposes of the Labor Code, the...
The employees who filed the following case were farm laborers who were paid on a piece-rate basis for each grapevine they pruned. Under California law, employees paid on a piece-rate basis must be separately paid at...
Employees' claims that Google violated their free speech rights by requiring them to comply with certain confidentiality rules aren't preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and may proceed under the...
On September 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 1383, which makes sweeping changes to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). Effective January 1, 2021, the CFRA will cover employers with...