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Many thanks to our data privacy colleagues for co-authoring this post: Lothar Determann, Helena Engfeldt and Jonathan Tam.

2022 is looking to be an unprecedented year for California companies’ privacy law obligations. The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) takes effect on January 1, 2023, with a twelve-month look-back that also applies to the personal data of employees and business contacts. The new California Privacy Protection Agency is preparing regulations that will sit on top of existing rules from the California Attorney General. Meanwhile, the California Legislature is enacting privacy laws even though it has not repealed or streamlined any of the myriad California privacy laws that continue to apply in addition to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

On March 1, we held a webinar focused on the employment law implications stemming from these significant changes and covering a handful of critical hot topics (e.g., how to process vaccination information, the treatment of employees of PEOs, and EORs). If you missed it, here are the major highlights you should know!

Employment Takeaways

Preparing for CCPA / CPRA Compliance
  • CPRA amendments to CCPA take effect January 1, 2023; this ends the transitional exemptions for “HR” and “B2B contact information” and includes a 12-month look-back to January 1, 2022.
  • “At collection notices” have been required since January 1, 2020, with increased disclosure requirements since December 16, 2020. For more detail, click here.
  • Businesses must declare on January 1, 2023, in privacy policies whether they have been selling or sharing personal information of employees and B2B contacts in the preceding 12 months and, if yes, offer opt-out mechanisms and alternatives without discrimination.
  • Businesses must update service provider agreements, including with recruiters and IT, cloud, payroll, benefits, and other providers.
  • Businesses must offer broad access, deletion, rectification, portability and other rights to California employees and B2B contacts, and prepare for what may be the end of confidentiality in the employment area; employers should conduct training, and implement robust data governance policies (incl. deletion and discovery).
Data Access / Deletion Requests from Employees
  • Under existing employment law, California employees (not contractors) have the right to inspect and receive a copy of the personnel files and records that relate to their performance or any grievance concerning them within 30 days of their written request. The existing right to inspect does not extend to records relating to the investigation of a possible crime, letters of reference, or various ratings or reports.
  • By contrast, the new “right to know” under the CPRA/CCPA goes further. It encompasses two distinct rights: (i) the right to a disclosure explaining how the employer collects and handles the individual’s personal information; and (ii) the right to copies of “specific pieces of personal information.” The “right to know” applies to California consumers, which goes beyond employees (i.e., including contractors). In theory, it could extend the scope of the “right to know” from simply the personnel file to include, for example, informal communications about the employee, investigations, etc. Employers must generally comply with such requests within 45 days.
  • The “right to know,” however, is not absolute, and employers can refuse if the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive (e.g., if the purpose is to harass) and does not cover privileged information (e.g., communications with in-house and external counsel).
  • The CPRA/CCPA also introduce a new right to “data deletion.” This right is not absolute either. An exception should apply for most categories of personal information reasonably necessary to managing or administering current or past employment or contract work relationship.
  • Finally, the CPRA/CCPA gives California residents other rights including the right to limit the processing of sensitive information. There are exceptions to the right to limit the processing of sensitive information, but none of the statutory exceptions apply squarely to HR data.

Continue Reading A Quick Primer On New Privacy Law Obligations For California Employers

Special thanks to Lothar Determann, Helena Engfeldt, Jonathan Tam, Andrea Tovar, and Vivian Tse.

2022 is looking to be an unprecedented year for California companies’ privacy law obligations. The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) takes effect on January 1, 2023 with a twelve-month look-back that also applies to the personal…

California has always kept employers on their toes when it comes to changing employment laws. This year is no exception. Here is our roundup of the top 10 developments California employers need to know. (And scroll down to see what’s on the horizon!)

  1. Minimum Wage Increases

Effective January 1, 2022, the California state minimum wage increased to $15.00 per hour ($14.00 per hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees). As a result, the minimum monthly salary for California exempt employees increased to $5,200, or $62,400 on an annual basis (which is two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment).

For computer software employees, their minimum hourly rate of pay increased to $50.00 and the minimum monthly salary increased to $8,679.16 ($104,149.81 annually).  And for licensed physicians and surgeons, the minimum hourly rate of pay increased to $91.07 .

Some counties and cities have imposed their own higher minimum wage rates, including Los Angeles, where a $15 minimum wage for all employers took effect in July 2021. The following local minimum wages took effect on January 1, 2022, regardless of employer size:Continue Reading Top 10 California Employment Law Updates for 2022

Special thanks to Melissa Allchin and Lothar Determann.

Our California Employer Update webinar is designed to ensure that California in-house counsel are up to speed on the top employment law developments of 2021 and are prepared for what’s on the horizon in 2022.

With our “quick hits” format, we provide a content-rich presentation complete…

Pressure is mounting on U.S. and multinational employers to require COVID-19 vaccines for employees, as the Delta variant spreads voraciously, spiking infections and hospitalizations across the country and forcing employers to once again shutter worksites or change their workplace safety protocols. But can (and should) employers mandate vaccination?

Vaccine mandates received strong support on Thursday, July 29 when President Biden announced that all civilian federal employees and onsite contractors either must be vaccinated or submit to regular testing, social distancing, mask requirements, and restrictions on travel. The same day, the U.S. Treasury Department released a policy statement directing state and local governments to use funds from the $350 billion American Rescue Plan to incentivize vaccines by offering $100 to individuals who get vaccinated.

Separately, more than 600 universities have announced mandates for students or employees. And state and local governments have joined in, with California and New York City announcing mandates this week for government employees and certain healthcare workers, and the federal Department of Veterans Affairs announcing that frontline VA health care employees must get vaccinated or face termination.

Large employers are joining the fray, with global technology companies, financial institutions, healthcare systems, retailers, transportation companies and media companies recently announcing that vaccination will be required for everyone in their workplaces.

So can private employers adopt mandatory vaccination policies? What follows is a framework for understanding whether such an approach is permissible both in and outside the US, as well as some of the key considerations for such policies.

Bottom line: in the US, private employers can legally mandate vaccines under federal law, subject to the legal considerations outlined below. State law, however, differs by jurisdiction, with some states authorizing vaccine mandates while at least one has banned them.  For illustrative purposes, we discuss California law in the framework below.

Continue Reading Mandating COVID-19 Vaccination? Before You Act, Consider These Key Issues For US and Multinational Employers

Our four-part Global Guided Tour webinar series is your passport to ensure that your organization is up to speed on the key labor and employment issues affecting business operations in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.

In each regional 60-minute webinar recording, our in-market presenters discuss the most recent political…

Special thanks to presenters Jeremy Hann (Toronto), Liliana Hernandez-Salgado (Mexico City), Leticia Ribeiro (Sao Paulo – Trench Rossi Watanabe), Maria Cecilia Reyes (Bogota) and Matias Herrero (Buenos Aires).

Our four-part Global Guided Tour for US Multinational Employers webinar series is your passport to ensure that your organization is up to speed on the key labor…

Join us for an educational trip around the globe without leaving the comfort of your home office. We know that the pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for US multinational employers. In addition to keeping your employees safe and maintaining business continuity, it is difficult to keep track of the rapidly changing legal environment for employers…

Not surprisingly, summer internships look a bit different this year. Some are cancelled outright, others cut short, and many are virtual. Amidst these changes, we know employers have more than a few questions . . .

Q. If my company is cancelling its planned summer internship, do we have to provide any cash compensation?

A. Not unless there is a contract in place to do so. Nonetheless, we’ve seen a number companies offer to pay a portion of the expected wages (and a few very generous employers have sought to pay the entire amount).

Q. And, if we want to pay our intern some amount for the lost opportunity, do we have to put them on the payroll?

A. Yes. The IRS takes the position that, from a tax perspective, paying any amount, in lieu of wages to a prospective employee who is never actually employed is nonetheless wage income subject to income tax withholding, social taxes, etc. Some employers are a little stumped by how they can set somebody up on the payroll just to make this one lonesome payment. But, it is doable. It requires some administrative tasks like getting the required federal and state withholding forms and setting the person up in the employer’s payroll system. For federal purposes, the required form is the Form W-4 that an employee fills out during onboarding for a new job, which form will require the employee to provide a social security number (or other taxpayer identification number) and other information needed for the payment to be properly reported on Form W-2 and withheld upon.Continue Reading FAQs About Summer Internships During the Pandemic

We hope you found last week’s video chat series helpful and informative. Due to popular demand, we are continuing this series of quick and bite-sized video chats, where our employment partners team up with practitioners in various areas of law to discuss the most pressing issues for employers navigating the return to work.

This series

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