Though technological innovation is always happening, in the past year there has been an almost inescapable reference to a decades-old science fiction term: AI, or Artificial Intelligence.  Seen as a watershed moment of research and development in the past, AI is now a buzzword for content creation, software features, and product design.  Whether you are

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will be an age of automation and analytics powered by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”). It promises futuristic realities with deep-level analytics, next-level automation, and omnipresent algorithmic workplace monitoring.

As AI tools and technology becomes more affordable and widely available, it is likely that public agencies, like other employers, will adopt AI in

For practicing Muslims, Ramadan began on March 10, 2024, and concludes on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.  Ramadan is a month in the Islamic calendar devoted to fasting and prayer.  Although not all Muslim students participate in fasting during this month, many schools throughout California do serve students who are abstaining from food and drink from

Conducting comprehensive and accurate workplace investigations is an integral part of an employer’s duties.  Whether the investigation involves allegations of minor violations of policy or more serious allegations of discrimination or harassment, each instance should be carefully analyzed to ensure all the relevant facts are uncovered so the employer can respond appropriately.  If left unaddressed

On October 4, 2023, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (“SB”) 616 into law.

SB 616 amends the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (Labor Code sections 245-249) to increase the minimum number of paid sick days to which employees, including public employees, are entitled as well as the minimum number of days employees may

Spring cleaning is a time-honored tradition that many people use to refresh and reorganize their homes and workplaces.  For employers, it is also a great opportunity to revisit and update your employee handbooks.  Maybe you had the best intentions of revamping your employee handbook at year end but the holidays came and went and your

This year, the California Legislature passed and the Governor approved the Contraceptive Equity Act of 2022 (Senate Bill 523 or SB 523), a piece of legislation intended to increase the ability of Californians to exercise full control over their reproductive decisions and to expand coverage and decrease access barriers to reproductive health services.

Among other

Social media sites have become the new “public square” where individuals share opinions and information about all types of political and societal events.  Public sector employees, as much as anyone else, use social media to post viewpoints and to participate in public debate.  Problems arise, however, when a public employee posts harsh, derogatory, defamatory, or