Laborsphere

New California Laws for 2021: What Employers Should Know

Several new laws in California impact employers in a multitude of operational areas. From leave regulations to workers’ compensation, safety enforcement, wages and more, business leaders have much to research when it comes to compliance. All employers with operations in California should be aware of these new laws, understand how these laws may affect their operations and consult with counsel to address any questions on these new obligations.

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Hostile Environment Claims in a Work-From-Home World

The work-from-home trend presents a host of employment law challenges, including unavoidable changes to how employers investigate and defend claims of hostile work environments. Non-traditional work settings may even give rise to new types of harassment and discrimination, challenging employers to rethink workplace policies and training to make sure they apply to all work environments, whether in the office or remote.

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OFCCP Issues FAQs on Executive Order Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has issued nine Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to address Executive Order 13950, which is intended “to combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating.” The FAQs include a range of topics — from the effective date of the Executive Order and examples of race or sex stereotyping or scapegoating, to how to file a complaint for unlawful training programs.

For the full alert, visit the Faegre Drinker website.

Lynne Anderson Comments on California Law Requiring Employers to Report Pay Info by Gender and Race

In the article “California Steps Up to Collect Pay Data, With Feds at Square One,” Bloomberg Law reports on new California legislation that authorizes a collection of wage data, broken down by race, sex, ethnicity, and job category, on or before March 31, 2021.

The legal industry publication turned to labor and employment partner Lynne Anderson for insight on the law and whether other states may follow suit.

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Update: California Leads the Way for Pay Data Collection and Reporting

On September 30, 2020, California Governor Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 973, which requires California private employers with 100 or more employees to submit an annual pay data report to the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing beginning on March 31, 2021. See our previous alert for additional details. We recommend that employers with 100 or more employees in California work with legal counsel as soon as possible to conduct privileged pay audits prior to collecting pay data and submitting the report to California.

The Impact of COVID-19-Related Factors on Courts’ Enforcement of Employee Post-Employment Restrictive Covenants

In the best of economic times, some courts can be reluctant to grant immediate injunctive relief and enjoin an employee from working in order to enforce employee post-employment restrictive covenants. Now that we are in the midst of a global pandemic and an economic recession, that challenge has grown. Current economic considerations are causing some courts to weigh the “balance of harms” on injunctive relief applications in favor of employee defendants who are faced with the difficulty of finding other work in an economic downturn with high unemployment. Nevertheless, our review of recent decisions from around the country indicates that courts remain willing to consider injunction motions on an emergent basis to enforce restrictive covenants, particularly where there is a threat of trade secret misappropriation.

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