California Senate bill mandating 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave for small companies passes committee
A California Senate committee passed a new bill that would require smaller businesses to offer three months of job-protected maternity/paternity leave for child-parent bonding. While the state already mandates companies with at least 50 workers to provide 12 weeks of parental leave, Senate Bill 63, the New Parent Leave Act, would apply to companies with […]
Records show high rate of sexual misconduct by faculty at UC campuses
A release of public records revealed that over 113 cases of alleged sexual misconduct by employees occurred within the University of California (UC) system within the last three years. The San Jose Mercury News requested the records after several incidents of sexual misconduct by UC Berkeley professors and administration who avoided serious punishment came to […]
Proposed class-action lawsuit dismissed when judge rules restaurant chain layoffs not in violation of WARN Act
A California judged dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit against a restaurant chain filed by former workers who claimed that 3,000 employees were laid off without due warning. The proposed suit alleges that, during Catalina Restaurant Group’s restructuring in April 2015, the restaurant chain failed to provide proper notice of the mass layoff. Those affected were […]
Proposed bill would change the way employers hire part-time and temporary workers
A new California Bill proposed to the state assembly would require businesses with over 10 employees to offer existing employees extra work hours before hiring additional staff, contractors, temporary workers or other part-time workers to take over those hours and job tasks. The bill was written by California assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher with the intent […]
Taxi company settles citation for employee misclassification and failing to provide workers’ compensation
A Santa Rosa, California, taxi company was held accountable for misclassifying its 30 drivers as independent contractors and refusing to provide them with worker’s compensation insurance coverage, is now settling its $522,300 citation. In October 2016, a Sonoma County Superior Court judge issued the A-C Transportation a Stop Order judgement for the company’s refusal to […]
New Senate Bills introduced that would expand existing California family leave legislation
Family leave requirements are slated to improve for California workers after Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, amended and reintroduced bills that Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed last year. Under current legislation, workers are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid protected leave to care for seriously ill family members. Jackson’s Senate Bill (SB) 62 would expand […]
Former Versace employee files racial discrimination lawsuit
Former employee for a Versace retailer in Pleasanton, California, filed a lawsuit alleging that he was discriminated against based on his race and wrongfully terminated. The lawsuit claims the store employees used a secret code whenever a black customer entered the store. The plaintiff, Christopher Sampiro, claims in the suit that he was wrongfully terminated […]
Employer may be liable for “associational” disability
In Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc., the California Court of Appeals upheld a finding that it is illegal to terminate someone based on associational discrimination, such as when the individual must care for an immediate family member with a disability. Luis Castro-Ramirez had allegedly arranged a work schedule with his supervisors for several years […]
Los Angeles enacts Ordinance requiring 48 hours of paid sick leave
The City of Los Angeles recently enacted an Ordinance that increases employees’ mandatory sick leave entitlements, doubling the state requirements of 24 hours paid sick leave to 48 regardless of the size of business. On June 2, 2016, Mayor Eric Garcetti approved the Los Angeles Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) to take effect on July 1, […]