California Archives - Laborsphere

California Supreme Court: Whistleblower Statute Protects Employees Who Disclose Allegedly Unlawful Conduct Even When it is Already Known to the Employer

Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled in The People ex rel. Lilia Garcia-Brower v. Kolla’s Inc. that California’s whistleblower protection statute (Labor Code § 1102.5) protects employees who disclose unlawful conduct, even when the recipient of the disclosure is already aware of the conduct. This ruling expands the definition of “disclose” such that the law now covers a wider array of employee retaliation claims against employers.

Background

Section 1102.5(b) states that employers may not retaliate against an employee for disclosing information (or because the employer believes that the employee has disclosed or will disclose information) about conduct which the employee reasonably believes is unlawful.

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California Supreme Court: PAGA Plaintiffs Can Pursue Representative State Court Claims Even if Their Individual PAGA Claims Are Compelled to Arbitration

The California Supreme Court recently held that Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) plaintiffs do have standing to pursue their representative PAGA claims in state court even if their individual PAGA claims are compelled to arbitration.

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State & Local Employment Law Developments: Q2 2023

The trend of increasing workplace regulations by state and local governments continued throughout the second quarter of 2023. Although it is not possible to discuss all state and local laws, this update provides an overview of recent and upcoming legislative developments to help you and your organization stay in compliance.

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California Pay Data Reports Due May 10, 2023

On May 10, 2023, employers must submit their pay data reports to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). As previously reported here, Senate Bill 1162 amended Labor Code section 432.3 and Government Code section 12999 as part of California’s ongoing efforts to promote workplace pay transparency as a means to combat pay discrimination. Employers are required to comply annually with the obligation to not only report data for their W-2 employees, but also the new obligation to compile and report data for workers supplied by their labor contractors that are either working at, or assigned to, California locations.

Which employers must report?

Private employers with 100 or more employees (with at least one employee based in California) must file a “Payroll Employee Report.” New in 2023, all private employers with 100 or more workers hired through labor contractors in the prior calendar year (with at least one worker based in California) must file a “Labor Contactor Employee Report.”

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State & Local Employment Law Developments: Q1 2023

The trend of increasing workplace regulations by state and local governments continued throughout the first quarter of 2023. Although it is not possible to discuss all state and local laws, this update provides an overview of recent and upcoming legislative developments to help you and your organization stay in compliance. (Please note that developments related to issues such as minimum wage rates are not included.)

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Ninth Circuit Rules California Employers Can Require Arbitration Agreements

Some good news for California employers: recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that California employers can require employees and applicants to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment, reversing its own prior decision which vacated U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California’s grant of a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51).

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