California Wants Uber and Lyft Drivers as Employees It seemed like a good idea at the time: the rapid growth of Uber-style “gig economy” business models ostensibly offering a win-win of worker freedom and consumer convenience. Yet, California government came to another conception of such arrangements: presumed exploitation. Hence enter AB 5 and its hardball…
Read moreWorkers Compensation Coverage for Diagnosed Workers California employers must carry workers’ compensation insurance for on-the-job injuries and job-related illnesses. California governor Newsom’s May 6, 2020 Executive Order N-62-20 (the order) directs that workers contracting COVID-19-related illness between March 19 and July 5, 2020 are presumed entitled to full work comp coverage, including medical care, temporary…
Read more“Safer at Home” Moving to Stage Two, Phased Reopening If anyone cares to count, today, May 15, is Day 55 and the beginning of California’s stay at home directives Week Nine. The Public Health Director’s latest statewide order (May 7) sets out “California’s path forward from the initial [March 19] ‘Stay-at-Home’ Order in California’s Pandemic…
Read moreNew Post-Pandemic Workplace Policies If California has been able to flatten the COVID-19 curve over the past two months, it has been by a sustained flood (pandemic?) of government directives and orders. Over the past week alone, the State of California has issued no less than 26 road maps, guidance memos, and checklists relating to…
Read moreCOVID-19 Motivated Expansions to Our Model Employee Handbook and Forms The pandemic winddown is inevitable. We continue to assist employers to plan and implement sound policies and protocols as business workforces return under COVID-19’s receding shadow. A current, thorough employee policy manual (handbook) and complementary written internal procedures and forms covering all major aspects of…
Read moreCity of Los Angeles Extends Its “Safer at Home” Posting Requirements to May 15 On May 4, Mayor Eric Garcetti extended Los Angeles’s strict pandemic-driven health directive to May 15, signaling a gradual easing of restrictions from there if and as conditions warrant. It has been a remarkable evolution. The city’s March 19, 2020 initial…
Read more“Safer at Home” Up-to-Date, Statewide Coronavirus Response We are entering week seven from Governor Newson’s March 18 order requiring all California residents to stay at home or place of residence until further notice. Businesses and functions deemed essential to 16 federally-designated “critical infrastructure” sectors are excepted. The state is regularly updating “COVID Response – Stay Home Except for Essential Needs…
Read moreOrganizing for Post-Pandemic Workplace Revival “Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” Emmanuel Kant Once upon a time (not too) long ago, our current of state business and workplace hibernation was unimaginable. As management plans for return to full operation, best practice in whatever the form – letter, notice posting, policy – will acknowledge a…
Read moreWorkplace Return Planning There is no shortage of federal guidelines for preventing a new pandemic wave as more businesses welcome workers back to resume full production. Reflecting many of our recent articles, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Guidance Summary: Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 advises: Developing a preparedness and response plan (also see our article: Thinking the…
Read moreEmployers Must Use New I-9 Form Starting May 1, 2020 All U.S. employers must verify identity and work authorization for each employee hired within the U.S., including citizens and non-citizens, using “Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification” (I-9 Form). Starting May 1, 2020, businesses nationwide must begin using the revised I-9 Form (rev. 10/21/2019). Section 2…
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