Kathy White, Esq.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has incorporated several major labor law changes to its employer required postings. To ensure complete posting compliance, employers should post the updated 2016 Oregon All-On-One Labor Law poster featuring the following Oregon law changes: Oregon 2016 Minimum Wage Although Oregon’s minimum wage rate will not increase from Read more

Earlier this month President Obama signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Budget Act). Among other things, the act provides for mandatory increases in the penalties for violations of standards established under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The act calls for an initial penalty adjustment that will reflect the increase in the Read more

Nearly all California employees are now covered by the state’s mandatory Paid Sick Leave law that went into effect last July. The Paid Sick Leave law (Labor Code §245) requires employers to provide employees up to three days of paid sick leave annually. Paid sick leave can be used for the diagnosis, care, or treatment, Read more

San Francisco employers will need to take extra care with employee scheduling as they plan for the holidays and the busy shopping days ahead. The retail industry is often characterized by shifts assigned on short notice, scheduling workers with too few hours, treating part-time employees differently than full-time employees, and not compensating on-call employees, creating Read more

On October 27, 2015, the Sacramento City Council approved an Ordinance (Ordinance No. 2015-0036) establishing a city minimum wage rate starting at $10.50 per hour in 2017 and eventually reaching $12.50 an hour by 2020. By comparison, the statewide minimum wage rate is currently $9.00 per hour and increases to $10.00 per hour on January Read more

Many home care workers will now be entitled to the federal minimum wage and overtime pay protections that apply to most US workers. The US Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that the Final Rule making the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applicable to direct care workers has survived the final legal hurdle that stalled Read more

This October California’s Governor Brown signed into law the California Fair Pay Act significantly changing the way equal pay rights between men and women are tested.  The current equal pay standard relies on a narrowly applied job comparison, sometimes making it difficult to establish an equal pay violation.  The Fair Pay Act, which takes effect January Read more

Minimum wage rates in the United States vary widely by state and employers operating in several states need to stay abreast of the different wage laws.  In this global economy, employers with operations in Mexico also need to be aware of Mexico’s minimum wage requirements.   Unlike the US’s hourly minimum wage rates, the minimum Read more

The busiest time of the year is fast approaching. It’s hard to think beyond holiday festivities and year-end deadlines. Now is the best time to think about replacing outdated calendars and planners with new 2016 calendars and day planners so that you can stay on track for 2016. Getting organized for the new year is Read more

How well is the US DOL Wage and Hour Division Performing? The US Department of Labor (US DOL), through various agencies, is responsible for the administration and enforcement of over 180 federal statutes. The US DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in particular is responsible for administering and enforcing a number of laws that establish Read more