On July 27, 2022, the Director of California’s Department of Finance sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials, noting that the Department had determined poor economic conditions necessitated expedited...more
Several years ago, the payment structure for numerous salon and spa employees was turned on its head, as these salons and spas faced liability for paying employees a commission when they were not involved in sales. ...more
In September 2021, California’s Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 62 which expands the definition of the garment manufacturing industry for purposes of wage claim enforcement to include brand guarantors. A brand guarantor is...more
I have many clients that want to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and pay workers properly, especially for overtime. However, I have found that even the most well-intentioned employers sometimes will not...more
With the new year will come new laws that affect California employers. The following are the “A to Z” of changes in the laws that may affect your business in 2022. Under existing law, if a COVID-19 outbreak occurs at a...more
As with every new year, California rolled out new laws affecting the workplace beginning January 1, 2022. Below is a summary of some of the most relevant changes that may affect your business. As always, please reach out to...more
On January 1, 2023, Senate Bill 62, the Garment Worker Protection Act, will become effective, making California the first state to ban piece rate pay for garment workers. SB 62 prohibits any “employee engaged in the...more
With the 2021 California legislative year closed, it is now time to examine the new legislation that will affect California companies. We have summarized the key new legislation below, with relevant action items noted....more
On November 30, 2021, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. (Pacific Time), CDF Partners Mark Spring and Nicole Legrottaglie will be presenting our annual complimentary “Year in Review” webinar that will cover 2021’s new laws, key...more
The California legislature has passed and Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a number of bills that address wage and hour practices and other issues affecting California employers. All bills take effect January 1, 2022, unless...more
On September 22, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 701 (AB 701), another “first in the nation” law, this time taking aim at perceived health and safety issues applicable to certain warehouse...more
On September 27, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the Garment Worker Protection Act, which makes California the first state to ban piece rate pay for garment workers, requiring instead that they be paid...more
While most California employers are familiar with the “regular rate” from calculating non-exempt employees’ overtime payments, changes in the law make clear that employers will now need to perform the same regular rate...more
A piece-rate plan is a wage payment system where an employee is paid a fixed amount for each unit produced or action completed. Piece rate is used in many different industries, including automobile repair, trucking,...more
It is estimated that as many as 75% of Arizona contractors are not paying their employees overtime properly. If the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") conducts an audit, the results can be devastating to an employer. The...more
The Virginia Overtime Wage Act (VOWA), Va. Code § 40.1-29.2, becomes effective July 1, 2021, and will significantly alter employers’ wage and hour obligations in Virginia. At first glance, the VOWA appears to track federal...more
On November 5, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court altered a 60-year provision of Washington’s Minimum Wage Statute when it issued its decision in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Brothers Dairy. The court held that the...more
Sanchez v. Martinez, No. C083268, 2020 WL 5494239 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 11, 2020) - Summary: Piece-rate employees who are provided with unpaid rest breaks are entitled to damages in the amount of the minimum wage for actual...more
With the start of a new year, in-house counsel and human resources professionals will want to be aware of what’s on the horizon for 2020 and beyond. It’s a good time for employers to take a breath and consider what issues...more
Last year, the Washington Supreme Court considered the following certified question: “Does the Washington Minimum Wage Act require non-agricultural employers to pay their piece-rate employees per hour for time spent...more
Over a decade has passed since an appellate court in California ruled that employers could not average pay for productive activity to include unpaid non-productive activity in meeting their minimum wage obligations. That...more
On September 5, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court held that non-agricultural employees do not have to be paid a separate hourly rate for time spent on non-piece-rate activities. Further, workweek averaging, as described in...more
On September 5, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court issued a huge win for all non-agricultural employers who pay commission or piece-rate pay to their employees in Washington state. In a 6-3 decision, the Washington Supreme...more
In the matter of Jimenez-Sanchez v. Dark Horse Express, Inc. (F072599), the court confirmed that employees paid on a piece-rate basis required additional, separate compensation for rest breaks. The defendant in the case was...more
A recent California Court of Appeal decision upheld the state’s complex rules for compensating piece-rate employees. In Nisei Farmers League v. California Labor & Workforce Dev. Agency, 2019 Cal.App. LEXIS 10 (Cal.Ct.App....more