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FACE OFF
On February 28, 2022, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) updated its face mask guidance. Effective March 1, 2022, CPDH no longer requires masks for unvaccinated individuals in most indoor public settings, although it strongly recommends that all persons, regardless of vaccine status, continue using well-fitting surgical masks or respirators indoors.
THEIR DAY IN COURT
Narrowing the power of business to keep workplace disputes out of court, the newly enacted federal “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021” enables employees to disregard otherwise mandatory arbitration and have judges and juries decide such claims.
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FORMER WORKERS GET FIRST SHOT
Some businesses are rebuilding after their Covid-19 contraction. Labor Code 2810.8 requires those in certain industries – hotels or private clubs with 50 or more rooms, event centers, airport hospitality operations and service providers, and companies providing building services, including security, to office, retail, or other commercial buildings
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DO SOMETHING
Not every employer understands it can be liable for sexual harassment regardless of whether a manager, employee, independent contractor, or even a customer is the offender.
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MOM DISCRIMINATION
On February 11, 2022, the EEOC announced suit against Walmart alleging racial discrimination against a Black employee for providing an unsanitary, cluttered storage closet for lactation while giving a white employee a clean management office space for the same purpose.
STAY IN YOUR LANE
Every two years, California employers with five or more on payroll have to provide at least two hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all California supervisory employees and at least one hour of such training to all nonsupervisory employees in California. This is inclusive of on-site and remotely working employees.
FIND OUT WHAT’S NEW IN 2022
PAID COVID SICK-LEAVE EXPANDED
Effective February 19, 2022, California Labor Code 248.6’s revived 2022 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law (SPSL) requires employers with 26 or more on payroll to provide eligible CA employees with as many as 80 hours of paid benefits retroactively from January 1, 2022 through September 30, 2022.
MANAGEMENT’S BEST FOOT FORWARD
Clear, written workplace policies are a critical component for workplace legal compliance and productivity. Our unprecedented combination of pandemic conditions and California’s well-earned reputation as a litigation hotbed underscore the importance of sound, across-the-boards written rules and protocols.
HANDS OFF
A California appellate court has confirmed — in Espinoza v. Hepta Run, Inc. — that California meal and rest breaks do not apply to short-haul, property-carrying truck drivers in interstate commerce.
WHAT’S NEW IN 2022
IN THE KNOW
California and the federal government require employers to distribute or post a legion of notices on workplace laws and complaint procedures.