Blog
“BANNING THE BOX” IN LOS ANGELES
City Tightens Its Rules on Improper Use of Criminal Records to Deny Employment Effective January 22, 2017, the City of Los Angeles’ (City) Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance (FCIHO) prohibits employers with 10 or more employees located or doing business in the City from inquiring into a job applicant’s criminal history by any means, […]
EMPLOYERS MUST CHILL
New Regulations Coming to Prevent Heat Illness in the California Workplace California’s Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (OSHSB) created heat illness prevention regulations for outdoor workers in 2015. See New Heat Illness Prevention Measures Now in Place. Those regulations require specific protective measures for outdoor work, including provision of free, fresh, and “suitably cool” […]
HIGH TIMES IN CALIFORNIA
HOW TO RISE ABOVE THE HAZE In November 2016, California voters approved The Adult Use of Marijuana Act, also known as Proposition 64 (California Health and Safety Code [HSC] sections 11357-11362.9) which allows adults 21 years of age or older to possess and use marijuana for recreational purposes. Fortunately, Proposition 64 does not alter the […]
DEALING WITH INTERNET SOUR GRAPES
Update Consumer Contracts Review Clauses Now These days, consumer reviews posted online can make or break a business. Some businesses have sought to prevent negative reviews through “gag clauses” – contractual provisions buried in form contracts that customers rarely read, much less are able to negotiate. New law now bars such blanket prohibitions while providing […]
WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS NO JOKE
California Seeks to Deter Mishaps by Annual Employer Posting Requirement, February through April In an effort to deter workplace health and safety hazards, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health requires employers with more than 10 employees to visibly post between February 1, 2017 through April 30, 2017 a summary of certain 2016 work-related injuries […]
WHAT’S NEW IN 2017 – CELL PHONE USAGE
Chill on the Multi-Tasking California Imposes New Requirements for Cell Phone Usage While Driving For the past decade, California drivers have been prohibited from using a wireless mobile device for conversations unless it is in hands-free or voice-activated mode. In 2008, the Legislature further banned reading, writing, and texting messages while driving. With evolving technology, […]
WHAT’S NEW IN 2017
A CLOSER LOOK AT UBER, LYFT DRIVERS California’s New Criminal Background Checks For Transportation Network Companies Effective January 1, 2017, AB 1289 (the Act) requires all transportation network companies (TNC) such as Uber and Lyft – businesses using an online-enabled platform to connect paying passengers with drivers using their personal vehicles – to conduct a […]
WHAT’S NEW IN 2017
Employers Must Notify All California Workers if Income Tax Credit Congress created the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 1975 to incentivize low-income workers to seek employment rather than welfare. In 2015, California authorized the “Cal EITC” for the same purposes. The federal and California EITC programs each reduce the amount of tax that […]
WHAT’S NEW IN 2017
Ban The Box In The City Of Los Angeles The City of Los Angeles (City) is now the second city in California after San Francisco to restrict employers from asking job applicants about criminal conviction until a conditional offer of employment has been made. See, San Francisco Employers Must Give Former Convicts a Fighting Chance […]
WHAT’S NEW IN 2017
Employers May Not Request Juvenile Criminal History in Employment Application California restricts the type of questions employers may ask job applicants about their criminal history. Employers may not request information about a felony or serious criminal misdemeanor which has been judicially expunged, dismissed or ordered sealed and employers may only seek information about criminal convictions […]