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Stephanie provides representation and legal counsel to public entities in matters pertaining to employment law and labor law.  Stephanie’s practice includes advising clients on employment policies and providing litigation and arbitration support in a multitude of employment-related matters, including hiring, discipline, discrimination, disability, harassment, and retaliation.  Stephanie has extensive experience advising employers throughout the state on the Affordable Care Act, California’s Paid Sick Leave law, California’s Kin Care Leave, Family and Medical Leave Act, and California Family Rights Act. Stephanie has an extensive wage and hour practice and litigates wage and hour disputes.

This post appeared in November 2017.  It was reviewed in September 2024 to provide the most up-to-date legal information.

This principle used to be clear – paid administrative leave was outside the scope of adverse employment action.  This was based on court holdings that an employee suffers no substantial or material change in terms and

As public agencies head into the end of the 2020-2021 fiscal year and prepare for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, it is the perfect time of year for agencies that contract with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”) to refresh their knowledge about upcoming deadlines and requirements.  Below are the key CalPERS deadlines and requirements

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the work environment in many ways, including a significant impact on employer-sponsored health benefits.  The past year has resulted in changes to how frequently individuals visit the doctor (or do not visit the doctor), purchase eligible medical expenses, and need dependent care.  In response to the pandemic, the IRS, Congress,

As more businesses start to reopen, the COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term effects on the work environment beyond temperature checks and social distancing protocols.  One impact is that it may be harder for employers to justify denying a disabled employee’s request for an accommodation to work from home.  Whereas employers previously may have been reluctant

With Valentine’s Day upon us, cupid may have left a few arrows in the workplace.  People spend a lot of time with coworkers, including time at work and at social events, so it is not unheard of for workplace relationships to evolve into romantic relationships.  A U.S. workforce study found that 36 percent of workers

This post was authored by Stephanie J. Lowe and Frances Rogers.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) recently decided to change its Actuarial Amortization Policy (“Amortization Policy”), which will impact employer contribution rates for contracting agencies. The revised Amortization Policy will go into effect for public agencies in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, which

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 System (NDMS) has called upon some public employees with special skills to deploy to the