As was widely published last week, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its long-awaited Final Rule which prohibits employers from entering into non-compete agreements with employees with limited exceptions. The next day, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with several smaller Texas-based organizations, filed a lawsuit in the 5th Circuit to “block the ban,” arguing…

Acknowledging that we are now at “a different point in time with reduced impacts from COVID-19 compared to previous years,” the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has updated its COVID-19 isolation guidelines in an effort to minimize workplace disruption when a person tests positive for the virus. Under the new guidelines, those who test…

Yes, this is a reminder that Valentine’s Day is coming up, and it falls on February 14 this year.  In addition to making dinner reservations and buying loved ones flowers, California employers have the added responsibility of complying with the newly enacted Business & Professions Code Section 16600.1 which says, among other things: For current employees,…

We hope that your new year is off to a wonderful start! If one of your resolutions is to make sure your employment forms are up to date, our first Laboring Oar newsletter of 2024 will help you achieve that goal. (If only all our resolutions were so easy.) As we shared in our webinar last fall,…

With the stated purpose of encouraging sick employees to stay home to stop the spread of COVID and other contagious diseases in the workplace, California Governor Newsom signed SB 616, expanding the state’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2016 to increase the guaranteed number of paid sick days that can accrue and be used. …

Governor Newsom signed AB 2188, which amends the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to prohibit discrimination based on off-the-job cannabis use. AB 2188 prohibits most employers from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or setting conditions of employment if the discrimination is based on either:

• Cannabis use off the job and away

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Offering bonuses to California employees is more complex than one might think. I presented on the topic of employee bonuses during my August HR Bites series of employment law-related discussions, during which I touched on the role and implementation of signing bonuses, relocation bonuses, retention bonuses, and incentive pay bonuses and how they are earned,…