“Fine Artists” and Other Clarified and Expanded Professional Services Exemptions Out of Sacramento’s political process has come passage of AB 2257 and new Labor Code 2778, effective September 4, 2020, providing a broader list of professional services exemptions from the rigid “ABC” test for independent contractor classification. See, Bullet Dodging Part 2 – California’s “Professional Services”…
Read more“Families First” Rules Continue to Evolve In response to a recent New York court ruling more favorable to employees, the Department of Labor (DOL) reaffirmed, revised and/or further explained the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) rules and frequently asked questions. Effective September 16, 2020 the regulations clarify: Leave Available Only When Work Available: Any type…
Read moreCalifornia’s Safety Agency Now With Pandemic “Imminent Hazard” Shutdown Powers Sacramento continues to equip the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) with expanded powers in these days of COVID. Assembly Bill (AB) 685 (Labor Code 6325(b)), effective for two years from January 1, 2021, enables the agency to shut down any business operation or place…
Read moreSecure Employee Handbook, Forms & Policies With 2021 Updates By the California legislature’s measure, the profound pandemic-driven changes on workplace legal standards will not be slowing in 2021. In the run-up to its September 30 deadline, Sacramento has churned out a slew of new laws affecting management and workers alike in the upcoming new year….
Read moreTier assignments as of August 31, 2020 Current tier assignments as of September 22, 2020 “Blueprint” Workplace Return Improving Conditions Statewide California’s Plan for Reducing COVID-19 and Adjusting Permitted Sector Activities to Keep Californians Healthy and Safe, or the “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” effective August 31, 2020, is the state’s second major attempt at statewide…
Read moreRevised Referral Agency Exception Effective September 4, 2020, Assembly Bill (AB) 2257 and Labor Code section 2777 broaden the “referral agency” exception to the state’s strict “ABC” definition of independent contractors. A referral agency is a “business that provides clients with referrals for service providers to provide services under a contract,” other than the specific…
Read moreE.E.O.C.’s Expanded Guidelines on Screening, Testing and Pandemic Management The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) includes an employee’s right to maintain the privacy of his or her medical information notwithstanding any ailment that might limit that person’s ability to perform essential job functions. However, the pandemic’s new “abnormal” quickly led the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…
Read moreRevamped Business-To-Business Exceptions Effective September 4, 2020, Assembly Bill (AB) 2257– through Labor Code section 2776 – modifies and expands exemptions for bona fide business-to-business contracting relationships from the severe ABC independent contractor test. The more-forgiving Borello multi-factor balancing test will continue determine contractor vs. employee status for such associations. A business entity providing services…
Read moreCalifornia Remodels Exceptions to Its Strict Independent Contractor Test Beginning with the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court decision (April, 2018) and continuing with the passage of AB 5, effective January 1, 2020, state policymakers have sought to limit the definition of “independent contractors” under a severe ABC test. The trend…
Read moreCal/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…
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