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In 2020, California enacted several new laws affecting employers and their employment policies and procedures. While some of these laws are already in effect, others go into effect over the course of the next few months and years.

Laws That Took Effect in 2020

Workers’ Compensation COVID-19 Liability

By signing SB 1159 into law on September 17, 2020, California Governor Newsom codified his earlier issued executive order, which states that under certain circumstances, when an employee tests positive for COVID-19, there is a rebuttable presumption that the employee contracted the virus while at work and, therefore, said illness is covered by the employers’ workers’ compensation insurance coverage.…
Continue Reading 2021 Employment Law Spotlight: California

Last year, several major employment laws were enacted in the State of Illinois, and specifically in the City of Chicago. Employers in Illinois and/or Chicago should be reminded of these laws for 2021. Here are just a few of the highlights:

  • The Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”) was amended to cover “single-employee” employers and to require employers to report to the Illinois Department of Human Rights (“IDHR”) all adverse judgements and rulings relating to harassment and discrimination;
  • Employees covered by the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance now have a private right of action against employers for violations of the law;
  • Chicago Enacts COVID-19 Anti-Retaliation Measures; and
  • Class action lawsuits under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) are expected to continue to rise in 2021.

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Continue Reading 2021 Employment Law Spotlight: Chicago and Illinois

The impact of the legal definition of “employee” versus “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) and other employment laws cannot be understated. The FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements—along with a vast array of other legal obligations employers owe to employees—simply do not apply to independent contractors. Unhelpfully, various regulatory agencies and courts have looked in the past to similar, but not quite identical, tests of independent contractor status. With so much riding on the right classification both in terms of lawsuits and dollars, any clarification of which test an employer should look to is absolutely critical guidance to U.S. businesses.

Enter the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and its January 7, 2021 publication of the final rule on classifying “Independent Contractor Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act” (the “Final Rule”), which goes into effect on March 8, 2021.  …
Continue Reading Independent Contractor Final Rule (For Now)

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in on January 20, 2021, signaling the official change in administration. Employers can certainly expect to see a shift in the direction of federal labor and employment laws. Already, Biden’s recent appointment of Marty Walsh, a union official, to Secretary of Labor, signifies a new era in NLRB activity and pro-employee and pro-union labor laws.  Further, the DOL and EEOC are bound to be more aggressive in undertaking many initiatives overlooked by the Trump Administration.

Federal labor and employment laws aside, New York employers should be reminded of new state laws for 2021.  Here are just a few of the highlights.…
Continue Reading 2021 Employment Law Spotlight: New York

A new year means new challenges in the world of employment law. To help employers comply with new laws and navigate today’s complex employment challenges, the Kelley Drye Labor and Employment team will be offering its second virtual WORKing Lunch Webinar Series in the coming months. The 2021 series consists of five webinars covering hot…

In an effort to ensure that Los Angeles County employers are complying with COVID-19 workplace safety guidelines, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted an ordinance allowing for the formation of Public Health Councils – voluntary groups of employees at the worksite tasked with monitoring their employer’s compliance with COVID-19 safety requirements. Specifically targeting industries with significant workplace-related coronavirus outbreaks, including warehousing and storage, food manufacturing, restaurants, and apparel manufacturing, the $5 million program essentially deputizes the employees participating on the councils, burdening employers with yet another layer of oversight of workplace safety during the pandemic.

With guidance from the Department of Health, the newly formed Public Health Councils will be paired with third-party organizations (certified by the county) and receive training on health orders and the violation reporting process. While employers are not required to pay their employees for time spent participating on the councils, the Board does encourage employers to not only pay their employees for that time, but also permit the use of company premises for council meetings as well as aid in council outreach to interested employees.

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Continue Reading Employers Beware: LA County Approved New Ordinance To Allow Employees to Monitor and Report On COVID-19 Workplace Safety Compliance

On January 20, 2021, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. Whichever side of the political spectrum you fall on, there can be no question that this is going to signal changes – and not all of them positive – for employers. For all…

On September 17, 2020, Governor Newsom signed a historic expansion of the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”).  Here’s what California employers need to know about the expanded law, which becomes effective on January 1, 2021:

The new law expands which companies are required to provide job-protected family and medical leave.

  • Businesses with as few as

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The independent contractor/employee classification conundrum is nothing new. Courts, state legislatures, and even the IRS have developed a slew of multi-factor tests to assess whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Mixed among these tests is arguably the most significant-the U.S. Department of Labor’s six-factor test, which is now being given a much-needed makeover. On September 22, 2020, the DOL released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, announcing an employer-friendly proposed rule that nixes a balancing test in favor of a test that focuses on the two factors that matter.

As the rule currently stands, the DOL has a six-factor test to assess the worker’s economic dependence on the business, including: (1) the business’s control over the workers; (2) the permanency of the relationship; (3)the workers’ investment in facilities and equipment; (4) the skill required to complete the work; (5) the opportunities for profit or loss; and (6) the extent to which the workers’ services are integrated into the business. No one factor is given more weight than any other.…
Continue Reading It Takes Two: The DOL’s Proposed Rulemaking Regarding FLSA Worker Classification

Today, most Americans live in a jurisdiction that has enacted a “ban-the-box” law (also known as a “fair chance” law).  Ban-the-box laws restrict employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal background at various stages of the hiring process.  The purpose of these laws are to enable an ex-offender to display his or her qualifications in the hiring process before he or she must disclose a criminal record.  In fact, the origin of the laws’ colloquial name is the “box” that initial job applicants must check if they have a prior conviction.  These laws benefit an estimated 70 million people in the United States (or almost one in three U.S. adults) who have prior arrests or convictions.

Currently, there is no federal ban-the-box law generally applicable to private sector employers.  However, on December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Fair Chance Act (also known as the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019) which prohibits federal agencies and government contractors from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history before making a conditional employment offer, unless a specified exception applies.  The law includes exceptions for law enforcement and national security positions that require access to classified information, and where an employer is legally obligated to conduct a criminal background check before making a conditional employment offer.…
Continue Reading North Carolina Also Bans-The-Box