Author Archive
MY REAL PAY
At last count, I have practiced law for something like 43 years. While I don’t see hanging up my spurs any time soon, the profession’s rewards do not come close to the enduring satisfaction of my volunteer work in literacy and human rights in West Africa.
HEALTH CARE WORKERS MUST VACCINATE OR REGULARLY TEST
On the rising wave of Delta variant cases, the California Department of Public Health(CDPH) is ordering all health care providers – including hospitals, surgery centers, medical clinics and dental offices – to verify the COVID vaccination status of all “workers” and, for those unvaccinated, to require COVID testing at least once per week. The order also directs strict masking requirements for all healthcare workers whether or not vaccinated.
INDOOR FACE COVERINGS RESURRECTED
Under Cal/OSHA’s revised June 17, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), vaccinated employees only had to wear face coverings indoors for certain outbreaks or in other settings, i.e., public transit, K-12 educational facilities, health care and long-term care facilities, or correctional and detention facilities and shelters.
COMPETITION FREE-FOR-ALL
In an ideal employer-friendly world, business could require workers to sign agreements barring their competing with the company upon termination. California, however, bans most non-competes in the single, unequivocal sentence of Business and Professions Code 16600: “[With very limited exceptions], every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind is to that extent void.”
WORKPLACE COORDINATION, DEFINED
Clear, written workplace policies are a critical component for legal compliance and productivity. Continuing pandemic conditions and California’s lawsuit happy environment underscore the importance of sound, across-the-boards written rules and protocols.
EASY DOES IT – TAKE TWO
Last November, Cal/OSHA required nearly all employers to implement an effective written COVID-19 Prevention Program (Model CPP) pursuant to mandatory emergency temporary standards (ETS).
On June 29 2021, Cal/OSHA published its revised Model CPP to comport with the newest June 17, 2021 ETS revisions.
DON’T HIDE THE BALL
California requires employers to provide an accurate, itemized statement with each wage payment or twice monthly. Labor Code 226(a) specifies wage statement contents, such as ● employer’s name and address; ● employee’s name; ● last four digits of employee’s social security number or other suitable identifying number; ● hours worked; ● pay rates; and ● gross and net wages earned.
YOU’RE GETTING HOTTER
As outdoor temperatures rise, employers must implement and monitor heat illness protection standards. For example, employers must ●track the weather and check for approaching heat waves; ●provide shade when the temperature reaches 80 degrees; and ●implement additional high-heat procedures when the temperature reaches or exceeds 95 degrees, such as enhanced communication, vigilance and water consumption.
UPDATE CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 42A PAGA MONSTER QUELLED … FOR NOW
Under the California Private Attorney General Act (PAGA), current or former employees can sue employers in a “representative” capacity for alleged Labor Code violations. PAGA claims, filed by employees when the state declines to do so, seek civil penalties to be shared 75 percent for the state of California and 25 percent between the plaintiff and other employees.
EASY DOES IT
Last November, Cal/OSHA issued mandatory emergency temporary standards (ETS) to prevent the workplace spread of COVID-19. The standards applied to most California workers not covered by the Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATS) standard.