With the usual flurry of activity at the end of the legislative session, California enacted a slew of bills with labor and employment implications. Closing out his first year in office, Governor Newsom signed more than 40 such bills on varied topics.
With Canada’s federal election fast approaching, Canadians will also be marking the anniversary of a major legislative change that has had a significant impact on the employment law landscape in this country: the legalization of cannabis.
The California Supreme Court recently held that unpaid wages are not civil penalties under California Labor Code section 558 and are therefore outside the reach of California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
In a recent decision, the NLRB adopted the broader, more employer-friendly “contract coverage” standard for evaluating whether an employer is required to negotiate with a union about a particular topic.
The California legislature has passed a bill that entirely redefines the standard for determining whether a person providing labor or services for remuneration may be classified as an independent contractor rather than an employee.
On August 20, 2019, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion permitting arbitration of a breach of fiduciary duty claim filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
In line with recently passed legislation in New York and California, Illinois’ legislature rallied to create a bill that would help increase employee protections by combating discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
