Labor Law Changes

Keeping you current on the ever changing labor laws

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

During the 2015 legislative session, Texas passed a new law on handgun possession that will become effective January 1, 2016. Under the Open Carry Law, holders of a handgun license may lawfully carry their handguns in an open manner. The unconcealed handguns must be carried in a shoulder or belt holster. Property owners and employers 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

In the last few months, fast food workers across the nation have been seen demanding a higher minimum wage rate. In New York, Commissioner of Labor Mario J. Musolino called for a wage board to investigate the wages of fast-food employees. After more than 10 weeks of study and deliberations, the Fast Food Wage Board 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

In 2013, Jersey City became the first New Jersey municipality to pass an Earned Sick Leave Ordinance. Under the law, employers with 10 or more employees are required to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually. Employers with less than 10 employees have to provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick Read more

As previously shared in our blog, Kansas City Council passed a minimum wage ordinance scheduled to go into effect August 24, 2015. The ordinance’s effective date was postponed when a committee of petitioners submitted a referendum. With the referendum in place, it would be up to Kansas City voters to decide whether to pass the ordinance during 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

Yesterday, October 27, 2015, the Fair Chance Act went into effect in New York City. Under the new law, employers cannot ask a job applicant about his or her criminal history or request to authorize a background check, until after the job position is offered. Employers cannot express any employment limitation based on an individual’s 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