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California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has issued a Guidance setting forth its view on COVID-19 related issues in the workplace. While the Guidance is not binding on courts, it does represent the DFEH’s policy and its interpretation of the law. Thankfully, most of the answers the DFEH provided are commonsense and logical….

The entire country shuddered when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced yesterday that unemployment in the U.S. could explode from all-time lows around 3% to around 20% — highs unseen since the Great Depression. Employers do not want to lay off employees, but given stay-in-place orders, quarantines, and the severe downturn in the economy, they may…

The coronavirus pandemic had led employers around the country to move employees to remote work, where that is possible. In the highly regulated California workplace, that trend raises a number of significant questions and possible pitfalls for employers. Meal and Rest Breaks The first, and most obvious, issue is tracking work time. Unlike offices, homes…

With all of the recent news about the coronavirus outbreak in China, employers have increasingly been left to wonder about protections they should take. The truth is that there is not a consensus among all medical professionals about the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19, and as a result, there is little in the way of…

On February 13, 2020, the California Supreme Court struck a blow to brick and mortar retailers in the State, finding that Apple must pay store employees for time spent undergoing searches of their bags or technology devices. In its unanimous decision in Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., the Court found that Apple employees undergoing such searches…