The California Supreme Court heard oral argument today in Adolph (Erik) v. Uber Technologies, Inc., S274671, on the question of whether Private Attorneys’ General Act claims under Labor Code section 2698, et seq. (PAGA) can be brought on behalf of other employees in court despite a plaintiff’s agreement to arbitrate his/her individual PAGA claims. Continue Reading Individual Arbitration Agreements and PAGA Representative Claims—Where Do We Stand Now?
As a reminder to employers in Chicago, anti-sexual harassment training is required by Chicago’s Human Rights Ordinance and must be completed by July 1, 2023. This requirement applies to all Chicago employers, regardless of size or industry.Continue Reading Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Deadline Approaches for Chicago Employers
In late 2022, Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP Act. Both Acts are among a number of protections passed to address working conditions for women workers.Continue Reading Pregnant or Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Get Some Relief
On February 15, 2023, the Ninth Circuit struck down AB 51, a California statute that imposed criminal and civil penalties against employers who required employees to enter into an arbitration agreement as a condition of employment, finding the statute to be an “unacceptable obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives” of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. Bonta, et al., No. 20-15291 (9th Cir. 2023).Continue Reading Non-Negotiable Arbitration Agreements May Be Required as a Condition of Employment
On January 24, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released new guidance to help employers comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (“ADA”) requirements for job applicants and employees with hearing impairments. The guidance titled “Hearing Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act,” replaces a May 7, 2014 resource titled “Deafness and Hearing Impairments in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act,” and provides an overview of the ADA’s requirements for hearing impaired individuals, including the definition of a disability, pre- and post-job offer disability-related questions, and providing reasonable accommodations in the workplace.Continue Reading The EEOC Releases Updated Guidance on Hearing Disabilities and the ADA
Electronic monitoring of employees’ remote work has increased in the last few years as employers have become concerned with employee productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Monitoring technology can track the websites an employee visits and for how long, the number of keystrokes or mouse movements an employee has in a given time period, when an employee is away from their computer and even what an employee is typing, reading or watching. Though generally legal, the use of this technology has prompted California to propose a bill aimed at, among other things, restricting employers’ use of such technology to specific times of day, activities and locations.Continue Reading Who is Watching The Watchers? California Seeks to Limit Monitoring of Remote Employees
On October 19, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released an updated “Know Your Rights” poster, replacing the previous “EEO is the Law” poster. Federal law requires all covered employers to prominently display updated posters at their workplaces. Employers should take this time and check to see if the EEOC posters placed or distributed in their workplaces are the most recent versions.Continue Reading EEOC Releases Updated “Know Your Rights” Poster
As we predicted in our prior post (here), California passed new pay transparency legislation requiring employers to report contractor compensation data and list employee pay ranges (salary or hourly rates of pay) on job postings. Effective January 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1162, known as the Pay Transparency for Pay Equity Act, mandates that employers submit pay data reports to the California Civil Rights Department revealing compensation paid to contractors broken down by gender, race, and ethnicity. Following Colorado, Washington, and New York City, California employers with 15 or more workers also must disclose salary ranges on all job advertisements, whether posted by the employer or a third party. Employers of any size must provide existing employees with the salary range for their positions if requested.Continue Reading California Passes Public Pay Disclosure Reporting Requirements for Employers Hiring Contract Workers
The three-judge panel that decided AB 51 was (mostly) lawful, and that employers could not retaliate against employees who refused to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment, withdrew the decision and agreed to take another look. On August 22, 2022, two of three members of the panel that decided Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. v. Bonta voted to withdraw the ruling sua sponte and agreed to a rehearing in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana.Continue Reading Prohibiting Mandatory Arbitration: Ninth Circuit Agrees to a Re-Do
On August 16, 2022, a split Fourth Circuit panel became the first federal appellate court to hold that gender dysphoria qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). In Williams v. Kincaid, the panel’s majority held that gender dysphoria, a disabling medical condition that affects many transgender people, is distinct from the “gender identify disorders” Congress excluded from the law’s protections upon passage in 1990, meaning the ADA’s protections in employment settings, public accommodations and transportation now extend to people with gender dysphoria under the circuit’s jurisdiction.[1] Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Holds ADA Protections Cover Gender Dysphoria