California employers with employees working outdoors need to take heat illness prevention seriously—especially during summer. Under Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard, employers must provide fresh, suitably cool drinking water at no cost. If…
Read ArticleEmployers direct hiring through a staffing agency who want employment disputes decided through arbitration should create a new arbitration agreement. That’s what the Court of Appeal said in Toothman v. Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, Inc.…
Read ArticleDisability discrimination claims often turn on whether an employer knew, or reasonably should have known, that an employee had a disability. A Court of Appeal recently clarified that California employers are not required to diagnose a disability…
Read ArticleThe IRS increased its optional business mileage rate to 76 cents per mile for travel beginning July 1, 2026. California employers are not required to use the IRS rate, but it is generally considered…
Read ArticleThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal workplace discrimination laws. It formerly issued “guidance” to help motivated employers design a voluntary affirmative action plan that are more likely to withstand a challenge of…
Read ArticleMany California employers know they owe one hour of premium pay when a compliant meal or rest break is not provided. Far fewer understand how that hour must be calculated. The premium is paid…
Read ArticleA growing number of West Coast cities are expanding workplace anti-discrimination laws to cover polyamorous and other “non-normative family and relationship structures” — including multi-partner, multi-parent, multi-generational, blended, and consensually non-monogamous relationships, as well…
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