Employment News

The latest job figures reflect a still-strong labor market, with the U.S. economy adding a higher-than-expected 187,000 jobs in August.Amidst a controlled cooling in the bid to fight inflation, unemployment remains low and job seekers still hold a strong position. Many workers have been using current conditions to aim for better positions. But some employers have been cutting corners in the cutthroat race for workers, and job offer scams are part of the landscape too.Five Job Market … [Read more...]

California’s largest wildfire of the year has been burning through the California desert, threatening habitats, to be sure, but also adding to a growing health risk for people working outdoors in wildfire smoke.As of July 31, California had reported 3,880 wildfires that burned nearly 96,000 acres, according to CAL FIRE. A recent report published in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences attributed the surge of wildfires in recent decades almost entirely to climate … [Read more...]

A patchwork of laws during the past few years lays the groundwork for monetary relief for people who have suffered sexual assault, harassment and other types of discrimination.The latest in California, what is sometimes referred to as a “lookback window,” opened a three-year period — from 2023 through Dec. 31, 2026 — for adults who allege sexual abuse by another adult to pursue civil litigation.Laws That Ban Secrecy and Forced Arbitration Importantly, this joins recent laws that ban … [Read more...]

As California marches into its hottest months of the year — accompanied by predictions of above-normal temperatures — people whose livelihoods happen outdoors face potentially life-threatening dangers from exposure to that heat.Whether they’re harvesting produce, working in construction, or landscaping, California’s outdoor workers deserve basic heat illness prevention protections from their employers.California’s Heat Laws, and Whether Employers Follow Them The Golden State boasts some … [Read more...]

Do you work as a server in a restaurant or banquet hall where your customers are charged a “service fee” on their bills? Under California gratuity law, if customers reasonably understand the service fee to be a gratuity, and haven’t been informed to the contrary, servers are entitled to the full amount of the fee paid by patrons as a tip. What the Marriott Marquis Ruling Found A recent case, Ordono et al v. Marriott International Inc., shows how employers can violate this law. A California … [Read more...]