On November 19, 2020, pursuant to emergency rulemaking authority, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“OSHSB”) adopted temporary regulations regarding measures that employers must undertake in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace (“emergency regulations”).

The emergency regulations, which will likely take effect on November 30, 2020, apply to public

On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay and transgender employees from discrimination.  The Court’s decision was 6-3 and the opinion was authored by Justice Gorsuch, who was joined in the decision by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”) has answered several outstanding questions concerning how paid leave hours taken under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) should be tracked and reported.  On April 16, 2020, CalPERS issued Circular Letter No. 200-021-20 which explains how to report compensation and track hours for employees taking leave under

Note: This is the first of a two-part series concerning federal unemployment assistance.

On March 27, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) into law. Under that Act, the federal government established two programs to expand unemployment assistance to workers who lose their jobs

On March 19, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20 (“Order”), which effectively imposed a statewide shutdown of non-essential business and governmental operations.  This Special Bulletin was updated on April 6 to reflect the most current guidance and orders.

The analysis provided in this Bulletin relies on an interpretation of the term “essential”

The figures related to the COVID-19 pandemic have become grim in the United States.  As of March 30, 2020, at least 160,700 individuals have tested positive for the virus, with approximately 6,800 of those cases in California. As the number of positive COVID-19 cases continue to rise, we anticipate that many agencies will unfortunately be

On March 30, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-40-20 which extends various statutory deadlines due to the State of Emergency in California relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Under the Executive Order, the deadline specified in Government Code section 3304(d) for opening and completing investigations of alleged misconduct by public safety officers is extended

On March 27, President Trump signed into law HR 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, which provides for $2 trillion in relief assistance to businesses, non-profits, state and local governments, public agencies and special districts, public elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, and individuals.

The Act includes numerous provisions

Last week, we published several special bulletins covering COVID-19.  Below are short summaries and links to the updates published since our last COVID-19 round up.

We will continue providing these special bulletins and updates as needed.  Please visit https://www.lcwlegal.com/responding-to-COVID-19 for the most up-to-date bulletins.

Governor Newsom Amends Brown Act Changes in Subsequent Executive Order

On March 18, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in an effort to reduce the impact of the virus on American families, the Senate passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the Act) and President Trump signed the bill into law a few hours later.  The law will go into effect within 15