Tier assignments as of August 31, 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 business pandemic recovery guidelines. See, California COVID […]
Revised 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 […]
Revamped 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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) […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]