News

On July 24, 2020, the California Department of Public Health released its Employer Playbook For a Safe Reopening providing a summary of information, links and general guidance for California employers related to COVID-19 and safely re-opening business operations. The Playbook, which consists of 32 pages, contains links to state and local resources, provides checklists and… Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has been very busy recently. In the last COVID-19 update, we addressed the revised and updated FMLA forms published by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the DOL. The DOL has provided additional guidance and forms on various issues employers should be aware. The following information is provided courtesy of my esteemed… Continue Reading

Non-Supervisory Training Programs Available On-Line While we are all currently overwhelmed addressing workplace concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, employers must continue to deal with non-COVID-19 workplace concerns including staying compliant with the obligations and requirements imposed upon California employers. One of the non-COVID-19 obligations is to provide sexual harassment prevention training to ALL employees.  As… Continue Reading

PFL BENEFITS INCREASED TO 8 WEEKS OF WAGE REPLACEMENT AS OF JULY 1 Employees in California have been able to apply Paid Family Leave (PFL) which provides the employee with partial wage replacement benefits from the EDD if the employee needs to take time off of work for the following reasons: to care for a… Continue Reading

EDD GUIDANCE ON ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS EMERGENCY WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE ADJUSTMENTS EEOC POSITION ON ANTI-BODY TESTING IN THE WORKPLACE EMPLOYEES RISK LOSS OF EDD BENEFITS FOR REFUSING REINSTATEMENT The Employment Development Department (“EDD”) has issued a set of FAQ’s regarding unemployment insurance (UI) benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and specifically stated that individuals may be… Continue Reading

EEOC PROVIDES ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued updated guidance on June 11, 2020 for employers to address various COVID-19 issues relating to the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and other EEO laws.  The new guidance addresses medical examinations, age-related and pregnancy-related concerns. Below is a summary of the new information with the… Continue Reading

As if we did not have enough to cope with managing the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and trying to reopen and resume business operations, its important to remember that the next phase of the local minimum wage increase will take effect on July 1, 2020. While the State of California has set the state-wide minimum wage… Continue Reading

RETURNING TO WORK & POTENTIAL EXPOSURES As businesses begin to resume operations and employees return to work, there are going to be occurrences of exposure, or potential exposure, to COVID-19 by your employees. The CDC is continually updating its information to provide guidance on how best to address such situations. The CDC’S FAQ (last updated on… Continue Reading

U.S. Department of Labor Issues Alert on Social Distancing To Keep Employees Safe at Work During the Coronavirus Pandemic On May 2, 2020,the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an alert listing steps employers can follow to implement social distancing in the workplace and to help protect workers from exposure… Continue Reading

TEMPORARY POLICY ON EXPIRED LIST B DOCUMENTS FOR I-9 PURPOSES The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced a “temporary” policy relating to the documents that may be presented by an employee for purposes of complying with Form I-9 policy in the wake of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The USCIS recognized that newly… Continue Reading