Newsletters

11.16.17

California Court Tosses Arbitration Agreement ‘Permeated’ by Unconscionability

Concluding that an arbitration agreement was both substantively and procedurally unconscionable, a California appellate panel affirmed denial of an employer’s motion to compel arbitration.


11.07.17

California Employers Face Multiple New Laws

With several new employment-related measures recently signed into law, California employers should start preparing themselves now.


10.30.17

California Appellate Court Sides With Plaintiff in PAGA Suit

A plaintiff seeking civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) for a violation of the Labor Code is not required to satisfy the “injury” and “knowing and intentional” requirements of the statute, a California appellate panel has concluded.


10.20.17

Employer Bound by Oral Contract, California Appellate Court Affirms

Upholding an oral contract, the California Court of Appeal agreed with an employee that she should be paid a commission for certain work—despite an employment letter that expressly stated it superseded any oral agreements.


09.21.17

More Obama-Era Policies—Pay Data Collection, Overtime Rule—Fall

Continuing the rollback of Obama-era policies, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) hit pause on the collection of Employer Information Report (EEO-1) pay data and the battle over the Department of Labor’s (DOL) white collar overtime exemption rule came to an end.


08.31.17

Court Shoots Down Officers’ FLSA Claim for Off-Duty Work

Chicago police officers seeking compensation for work performed using their mobile devices while the officers were off duty could not recover when their employer did not know the overtime work was not being reported or paid, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit has ruled.


08.10.17

Deferred Vacation Policy Lawful, California Appellate Court Rules

A vacation policy that employees do not begin to earn vacation time until after their first year of employment is lawful, the California Court of Appeal has ruled, affirming dismissal of a former employee’s lawsuit.


07.31.17

Union Posters Crossed the Line, Eighth Circuit Rules

A group of Jimmy John’s workers lost the protection of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) with a disloyal poster campaign, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled, refusing to enforce the order of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that the employer ran afoul of the ...


07.21.17

California Supreme Court Reverses PAGA Discovery Ruling

On July 13, 2017, the California Supreme Court in Williams v. Superior Court (Marshalls) issued its first opinion addressing the scope of discovery in representative actions brought under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (Cal. Labor Code §§ 2698 et seq.).


06.29.17

DOL Withdraws Obama-Era Guidance, Promises More Change

The new Secretary of Labor officially withdrew the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) guidance on joint employment and independent contractors, although the agency cautioned in a news release that the removal does not change the legal responsibilities of employers under applicable law.