Blog
PANDEMIC POLICE ON PATROL
Cal/OSHA Hitting Employers Statewide for COVID-19 Non-Compliance California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA has gone from bark – its July 16 notice calling on all employers to carefully review and follow the state’s COVID-19 workplace safety and health guidance– to bite. In two press releases, September 4 and September 9, the […]
CALIFORNIA COVID PLAN B
Source: California All; Blueprint for a Safer Economy https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/ Updated September 4, 2020 “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” For a Tiered Return to the Workplace A month into California’s first attempt at loosening commercial restrictions (the “Pandemic Resilience Roadmap”), a July 13, 2020 public health order required all counties to again close indoor operations for dine-in […]
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 37
Dalit girl, Andhra Pradesh, India, May 12, 2005 Photo from Wikimedia Commons Published without changes under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. WORKPLACE CULTURE CLASH CALIFORNIA CHALLENGES CISCO SYSTEMS FOR COLOR (“CASTE-BASED”) DISCRIMINATION On June 30, 2020, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed suit against Cisco Systems, Inc. (Cisco) […]
BACK FROM THE BRINK – FOR NOW
Uber and Lyft’s Last-Minute Reprieve From Order to Convert Drivers to Employees As a San Francisco judge had directed that Uber and Lyft convert their drivers to employees by August 21, 2020, the rideshare giants were ready to shut down their California operations unless the Court of Appeal put that order on hold. See, Traffic […]
OVER THE HORIZON
Broader “Worker-Friendlier” COVID Leave Criteria? The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), effective April 1 to December 31, 2020, requires most businesses with fewer than 500 employees to provide: ● two weeks emergency paid sick leave benefits for employees who cannot work or telework for any one of six COVID-19 related reasons; and ● up to 12 weeks […]
FOR THE RECORD
Sound Management Practices For Personnel Documentation As California supplies no specific definition for required personnel records, it falls to company management to judge what constitutes adequate documentation that reliably reflects each employee’s work history with the company. Labor Code section 1198.5 addresses employees’ rights to access their “personnel records” without defining the term. The Labor […]
TRAFFIC SLAMMING
New Fronts on California’s War Against Uber and Lyft Uber and Lyft have successfully battled suits seeking to prevent the companies from classifying their drivers as independent contractors, until now. On August 10 – in a misclassification action pending in San Francisco – the court issued a preliminary injunction requiring Uber and Lyft to convert […]
ONE BIG SCRAPPY FAMILY
California’s Coronavirus Response Statewide and Local August 7, 2020 The saga continues. After a month or more of eased restrictions, California’s “Statewide Public Health Officer Order” (July 13, 2020) required all counties to close indoor operations for • dine-in restaurants, • wineries and tasting rooms, • movie theaters, • family entertainment centers (for example: bowling alleys, miniature golf, […]
WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION IN A PANDEMIC
California’s Updated COVID-19 FAQs Call for Careful Decision Making California employers must follow COVID-19 health and safety guidances including those from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the California Department of Public Health, and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). Employers with five or more on payroll must also avoid violating […]
FOURTH AND LONG
California’s Employer Playbook For a Safe Reopening After four months of various degrees of “stay home,” “safer at home,” and “shelter in place,” California offers its Covid-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening (July 24, 2020), an attempted comprehensive “guidance” for limiting workplace infection as the pandemic wears on. “Guidance” suggests recommendations, not the direct force […]