This Special Bulletin was authored by Gage C. Dungy and Lars T. Reed.
Since 2005, Assembly Bill 1825 has required private sector employers with 50 or more employees and all public employers provide two hours of sexual harassment training …
Guest Author
DFEH Provides Guidance on Impact of New SB 1343 Harassment Training Requirements: Some Questions Answered, Many Still Remain – Including Possibility that ALL Supervisory and Nonsupervisory Employees Need to Be Trained or Retrained Again in 2019
Posted in Harassment, LegislationCourt — and Legislature — Limit Employer Use of “Offer of Compromise” in FEHA Litigation
Posted in Legislation, Litigation
This post was authored by Jeffrey C. Freedman.
What happens when two totally valid legislative goals—that happen to contradict each other—collide? Like the title of the 2003 film with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, “Something’s Gotta Give!” In Huerta …
Questions and Answers Regarding Responding Quickly to Disasters
Posted in Public Safety Issues, Safety
This post was authored by Laura Schulkind, Jenny Denny and Eileen O’Hare-Anderson
Many of you are facing tremendous challenges with the current fires in both ends of the state. We wish we could stand next to you and be …
2019 Public Sector Employment Law Conference – Registration Now Open!
Posted in LCW Annual Conference
Registration is now open for the Annual Liebert Cassidy Whitmore Public Sector Employment Law Conference, which takes in Palm Desert on Thursday & Friday, January 24-25, with an optional pre-conference session on Wednesday, January 23. The conference is geared towards …
UPDATED – New Legislation Will Impact Litigation of FEHA Claims, Employer-Employee Agreements, and Necessitate Additional Employer Training
Posted in Employment
This post was authored by Geoffrey S. Sheldon & Andrew Pramschufer
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been revised from its original version that was published on October 1, 2018. The original version noted, among other things, that SB1300 amended …
Paid Time Off for Union Leaders: New Law Extends Requirements for Public Employers to Grant Leaves of Absence for Union Stewards and Officers
Posted in Labor Relations
This post was authored by Heather R. Coffman.
A concept known as “lost time” in some negotiated Memoranda of Understanding is now State law. Effective January 1, 2019, public employers may be required to grant paid leaves of absence …
It’s a New Fiscal Year – Time to Reset Your CalPERS Stopwatch
Posted in Pension, Retirement
This post was authored by Matthew Nakano.
As public agencies near the end of the first quarter of the new fiscal year, now is the ideal time for California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) agencies to verify that hours …
Voter – Backed Pension Reform Is Dealt a Blow by California Supreme Court
Posted in Pension
This post was authored by Frances Rogers and Brett A. Overby.
Last week, the City of San Diego’s Proposition B, a 2012 voter-approved ballot measure designed to save the City’s weakening pension system, was dealt a potentially fatal blow …
Mandatory Agency Shop Fees Ruled Unconstitutional in Janus v. AFSCME
Posted in Labor Relations This post was authored by Kevin J. Chicas.
The United States Supreme Court today, on Wednesday June 27, 2018, reversed the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Janus v. AFSCME, and held that mandatory agency shop service fees are …
Tips from the Table: Negotiating Personnel Rules
Posted in Labor Relations, Tips from the TableWe are excited to continue our video series – Tips from the Table. In these monthly videos, members of LCW’s Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining practice group will provide various tips that can be implemented at your bargaining tables. …
Don’t Click “Block” Just Yet: Judge Rules Public Officials, Including the President, Can’t Block People on Twitter
Posted in Social Media
This post was authored by Ashley Bobo.
It was only this past June that the Supreme Court emphasized the impact of social media on the modern world. The court made it clear in Packington v. North Carolina that social …
Preparing for Janus: What Local Agencies Can Do In Anticipation of the Most Important Public Sector Case of the Year
Posted in Labor Relations
This post was authored by Erik M. Cuadros.
Public-sector employers and unions anxiously await the outcome of Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, a case currently pending before the United States Supreme Court. Janus challenges agency shop arrangements and …
California Supreme Court Adopts New “ABC Test” for Classification of Independent Contractors: Potential Risk and Impact on Public Agencies
Posted in Wage and Hour
This post was authored by Richard C. Bolanos and Michael J. Le.
On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (S222732), in which it established …
CalPERS Issues Circular Letter Regarding Employer Obligations for Out-of-Class Appointments, But Many Questions Remain
Posted in Retirement
This post was authored by Michael Youril.
On April 27, 2018, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”) issued Circular Letter No.: 200-021-18, which discusses limitations imposed on “out-of-class appointments” by Assembly Bill 1487, which added Government Code …
Unwrapping the Box – Putting California’s New Statewide Ban-the-Box Law into Practice to Avoid FEHA Liability
Posted in Employment, Hiring, Legislation
This post was authored by Victoria E. McDermott.
California’s new Ban-the-Box Law is now in effect, and employers across the state are questioning its impact on their hiring practices. Assembly Bill 1008, codified as section 12952 to the Fair …
California Court of Appeal Issues A Contrary Decision Addressing “Vested Rights” of Public Employees in the Aftermath of PEPRA: Where Will the Supreme Court Land?
Posted in Pension, Retirement
This post was authored by Frances Rogers and Brett A. Overby
A California Court of Appeal recently issued a decision with implications that can affect all public employers in California and in contrast to a decision by another Court of …
ACA Reporting Relief – Written Statement to Covered Individuals Now Due March 2, 2018; Good Faith Penalty Relief Extended
Posted in Employment, HealthcareThis post was authored by Erin Kunze and Heather DeBlanc.
1. Written Statement to Covered Individuals Now Due March 2, 2018 for the 2017 Calendar Year Reporting Period
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued an automatic, 30-day extension …
Labor Negotiations in 2017 – My Life at the Table
Posted in Labor Relations, Negotiations, Pension, Wage and Hour
This post was authored by Peter J. Brown
As 2017 comes to a close, it is a time of reflection for me since I have spent so much time this year in collective bargaining negotiations and in Board and Council …
To Be or Not to Be an Adverse Employment Action – What is Paid Administrative Leave?
Posted in Employment, Public Sector, Workplace Policies
This post was authored by Peter J. Brown, Stephanie J. Lowe and Brett A. Overby
This principle used to be clear – paid administrative leave was outside the scope of an adverse employment action. This was based on court …
Governor Brown Vetoes Bill To Codify Into State Law Federal Regulations And Repealed Federal Guidance On Student Sexual Assault
Posted in Education, Harassment, Legislation
This post was authored by Alysha Stein-Manes and Jenny Denny
On October 15, 2017 Governor Brown vetoed Senate Bill (SB) 169, a bill that would have codified into state law federal Title IX regulations and recently-repealed guidance on sexual assault …
Supreme Court Agrees to Look Again at Mandatory Agency Shop Fees
Posted in Appeals, Constitutional Rights, First Amendment, Litigation, Public Sector
This post was authored by Amit Katzir
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review Janus v. AFSCME, a case out of Illinois challenging the constitutionality of mandatory agency shop fees for public employees. Illinois, like California, is …
Disaster and Medical Relief Workers: How to Compensate Public Employees Deployed to Help Others
Posted in Labor Relations, Military Leave, Wage and Hour, Workplace Policies
This post was authored by Stephanie J. Lowe and Brett A. Overby
Over the past two months, a series of hurricanes has caused devastation to the United States, Puerto Rico, and other regions. As a result, the National Disaster Medical …
Affordable Care Act Reporting Draws Near
Posted in Healthcare
This post was authored by Heather DeBlanc
Over the last year we watched multiple unsuccessful attempts to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Now, ACA’s reporting deadlines are merely months away and the chance of …
An Employee Has Raised a Disability for the First Time During a Skelly. What Now?
Posted in Appeals, Disability, Discrimination, Employment, Personnel Issues
This post was authored by Kristin D. Lindgren
Intro
Employers are well aware that employee disabilities can create mine fields due to the technical nature of disability discrimination laws. Even the most well-intentioned employers can run into trouble. But, what …