The California Senate recently pass a bill which, if enacted, would permit employees in California to refuse to report to work when they feel “unsafe.” The bill purports to apply during major natural disasters and states of extreme peril, but contains little limit on what may constitute an emergency condition permitting an employee to refuse […]
Employers often confront situations involving employees’ argumentative, aggressive, and opprobrious conduct during department or other group meetings, evaluations, or disciplinary meetings with supervisors. Even though the employees’ opinions or arguments on the subject matter discussed at those meetings may constitute “protected activity” under the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) (see Legal Alert “Inherently Protected Activity” […]
It’s not an April Fools’ Day joke – tomorrow, Tucson’s Minimum Wage Act (the “Act”), also known as Proposition 206, takes effect. The Act increases the minimum wage to $13.00 per hour for all employees (full-time, part-time, temporary, and those engaged through an employment or staffing agency) who perform at least five hours of work per workweek within […]
As anticipated, President Joe Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“the Act”) today. Effective immediately, the Act amends the Federal Arbitration Act and limits the enforceability of U.S. employers’ mandatory arbitration agreements that require all employment-related claims be arbitrated, rather than litigated. We discussed here the Act’s carve-out for […]
California employers have certainly had to be on their toes these last two years when it comes to dealing with COVID in the workplace. This week was no different. The Labor Commissioner just released the mandatory poster regarding the 2022 version of COVID Supplemental Paid Sick Leave. English and Spanish versions of the poster can […]
The majority of U.S. employers have elected to adopt the use of mandatory arbitration agreements, requiring that all employment-related claims be arbitrated and not litigated. Pursuant to a series of landmark United States Supreme Court decisions, such mandatory arbitration agreements are permissible and enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act. Most such agreements contain class action […]
In a February 3, 2022 opinion by the Utah Court of Appeals, the struggle that courts have in distinguishing between employees and independent contractors continues. In Jensen Tech Services and Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd., v. Labor Commission and Sergio Herrera, 2022 UT App 18, the Utah Court of appeals was asked to consider whether an […]
After the publication of our Legal Alert on the Supreme Court decision lifting the stay on the Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule (the “Rule”) published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), CMS released additional updates to its interpretive guidance that moved the goalposts (again) for certain states. The new guidance, […]
In a specially scheduled oral argument today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two issues involving the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”). One issue pertained to the merits of the appeal and whether the OSHA ETS was valid and enforceable. The second issue confronted by the justices was the issuance of temporary stay of the OSHA […]
Effective November 12, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) extended employment authorization for certain E, H, and L dependent spouses. Specifically, USCIS now recognizes that L and E dependent spouses have the ability to work “incident to status” and that they, in addition to certain H-4 spouses, enjoy an automatic extension of a timely filed […]
