The federal government is slated to publish a new, permanent set of COVID-19 rules for healthcare workers in early Fall 2022. (See here.) In years past, federal OSHA published temporary COVID-19 rules for healthcare workers (those rules, you might recall, were called emergency temporary standard). Those temporary rules expired last December.
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) whereby the two federal agencies will partner to promote fair competition and advance workers’ rights.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has updated its guidelines with respect to COVID-19. The EEOC has updated its “Technical Assistance Questions and Answers” which includes a new standard of how employers who are still testing their employees for COVID-19 can comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). To note, these guidelines do not have the force and effect of law, however, they provide valuable insight into how the EEOC interprets the laws that they enforce.
On July 8, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, thereby formally beginning the rulemaking process to adopt regulations implementing California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which amends the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
The U.S. Supreme Court has made the news in recent days. In a recent order, the Supreme Court denied review of California’s (controversial) AB 5—a law that, by default, classifies workers as “employees” instead of independent contractors.
California employment law is often in tension with federal law. And that occasionally leads to consequences. Recently, in a highly anticipated case named Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California’s ban on mandatory arbitration of so-called individual PAGA claims is invalid (i.e., “preempted”) under federal law.
Employers may not be out of the trenches when it comes to possible legal liability relating to COVID-19. The Supreme Court of California has recently agreed to consider two novel issues relating to employer liability and COVID-19.
Inflation has been a major topic in the news, but it impacts far more than just the prices consumers pay for everyday goods. All employers in California should be aware that the current high rate of inflation has triggered a substantial increase in the statewide minimum wage; even in many localities where the minimum wage is set even higher.
Arbitration is a hot topic. In a key decision in Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., the United States Supreme Court recently made it easier for a party to argue that an opponent has waived its right to arbitrate a matter. Until the decision in Morgan, parties would routinely initiate legal action in courts against an adversary despite having a written agreement to arbitrate disputes arising from that agreement (the reason for this varied, but included the desire to burden an opponent with the need to file a motion to compel arbitration).
Calling all small employers in California! By June 30, 2022, employers with 5 to 50 California-based employees must sponsor a qualified private retirement employee-retirement plan or participate in the CalSavers Retirement Savings Program.
