Employers in California no longer can force victims of harassment or discrimination to keep quiet about those experiences. As of Jan. 1, the “Silenced No More Act” expands state law to cover all settlement agreements regarding harassment or discrimination, closing a loophole in prior law. The new law (SB 331) bans confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses about such violations from being folded into severance agreements, building on a 2018 law (SB 1300) that banned such clauses in … [Read more...]

As California — and the rest of the nation, for that matter — tries to figure out what to do with gig workers, a protracted legal battle has come out in favor of the little guy. At least for the moment.  The case pits a former Grubhub driver, Raef Lawson, against the company, pursuing minimum wage, overtime and expense reimbursement claims. But the law is far from straightforward.  A tangled web  The state has been going back and forth about how to categorize people who take on … [Read more...]

Starting Jan. 1, employees who work in warehouse distribution centers will gain important new protections in the state of California.  Targeting behemoths such as Amazon, state lawmakers passed AB 701 in the fall. The law aims to protect workers from extreme productivity quotas that lead to injuries or skipped breaks. With Amazon and its massive package-delivery workforce pressuring other retailers to follow along, California wants to clarify unacceptable practices now.  “We cannot allow … [Read more...]

A new California law meant to help employees avoid arbitration got a partial boost from a California court, but nothing is final yet. The law, signed late in 2019, seeks to protect workers who don’t want to sign employment agreements that force arbitration — as opposed to suing in court — if they end up at odds with their employers. Consumer advocates and others have said mandatory arbitration agreements often yield one-sided solutions, keeping secret employer wrongdoing and blocking … [Read more...]