In mid-December, we hosted our Annual California Update in Millbrae, CA. We were so pleased to see many of you in attendance.

Our End-of-Year Newsletter will hit inboxes shortly, but until then – here’s our top 10 New Year’s resolutions for multinationals in 2018:

Continue Reading Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions For California-Based Multinational Employers

In a flurry of high-profile decisions issued on the eve of NLRB Chairman Phillip Miscimarra’s term’s expiration, the NLRB has announced employer-friendly standards reversing recently adopted analyses and restoring the historical analyses in perhaps the two most watched (and criticized) categories of employer unfair labor practice (ULP) charges: (1) evaluating work rules for impact on protected concerted activity (formerly the Lutheran Heritage analysis); and (2) joint employer liability (formerly the Browning-Ferris analysis).

Impact on Employers:

As a result of the “new” work rule analysis, employers will be less likely to face scrutiny of employee handbook provisions. Employers now have broader discretion to implement and enforce handbook provisions relating to civility in the workplace and workplace safety (i.e., no cell phone/camera policies, social media). Employers who have dramatically trimmed employee conduct policies have some freedom to reinstate more usable and effective rules, but should note that this area of law is almost certain to fluctuate based on the presidential administration in power.

With the reversal of the joint employer analysis, employers will have less labor risk (bargaining obligations and strikes) when engaging third parties like staffing companies, temporary workers, or co-located workers. Critically, the prospect of becoming bound to a bargaining obligation with  another entity’s employees will be substantially less likely. Avoiding joint employer liability will focus more limiting actual control and direction of non-employees and less on the contractual arrangements with other entities supplying those employees. While this change is unlikely to dramatically change the scope of outsourcing, employers can have more certainty of the scope of potential ramifications and liability in using third party workers.Continue Reading Signaling Major Change, NLRB Yanks ‘Joint Employer’ Standard And Adopts A More Pro-Employer Stance On Workplace Policies

You’re invited to our live Annual California Employer Update on December 14 in Millbrae, California to discuss the adventures ahead for California employers.

Join us as we sit around the proverbial campfire to discuss the most significant legal developments in 2017 and how to prepare for 2018.

Covered topics will include:

  • New wage and hour

In a move that will surprise few, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has “stayed” the upcoming EEO-1 compensation data reporting requirement, pending further review. As we previously wrote about here, in 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) implemented a rule requiring employers with 100 or more employees (and federal contractors with 50 or more employees) to include compensation data in their annual EEO-1 reports. Covered employers were already required to file an EEO-1 report tracking race/ethnicity and sex; the stay does not impact this requirement.
Continue Reading Federal Government Hits Pause on Upcoming Pay Reporting Requirement

The days of the “one size fits all” job application may soon be coming to an end. As federal, state, and local governments increasingly heighten employer hiring process requirements, national employers must be diligent to avoid getting tripped up by the varying rules across different locations. This post will discuss three hiring requirements that are increasingly leaving companies exposed to risk.
Continue Reading Does Your Job Application Need a Check-Up? Three Costly Compliance Blunders to Avoid

After a contentious confirmation process, on April 7, 2017, the Senate confirmed Tenth Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court seat that has been vacant since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. On April 10, 2017, Gorsuch, a former clerk of current Justice Anthony Kennedy, was sworn in by Kennedy. Now that Gorsuch has taken his oath, he is ready to participate in the Supreme Court’s next round of oral arguments, which are set to begin on April 17.
Continue Reading Neil Gorsuch Fills Vacant Supreme Court Seat

In recent weeks, the developing landscape on immigration enforcement has dominated the media. In a quick refresh of an internet page, headlines alert us to new reports of potential immigration crackdowns, increases in deportations, confusion at ports of entry, legal challenges to the Executive Orders issued last month, and additional Executive Orders to potentially follow.

But wait there’s more. While President Trump’s Executive Order temporarily banning certain foreign nationals from entry into the United States is dominating the headlines these days, employers now have something else to worry about. Under a 2015 law, Section 7345 of the Internal Revenue Code, the State Department has the right to revoke a US