Where to begin? Well, for openers and staying with the theme of a January 1 effective date, a ban on the use of latex gloves in restaurants throughout California takes effect with arrival of the New Year. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation back in September (SB 677) making the Golden State the 7th in…
Read More »From those who gave us the $15 minimum wage and dramatic expansion of paid sick leave and other employee benefit mandates across much of the country, they’re establishing a new priority moving forward – Fair Workweek laws. The Fight for $15 and its associated labor groups have seemingly shifted gears and are now organizing in…
Read More »A spooky court decision released on Halloween stirred up a cauldron of surprises for California employers over the question of contractual service charges. An appellate court in California ruled that mandatory service charges added by banquet facilities to their contracts may actually (and legally) be defined as gratuities and owed to banquet service employees! The…
Read More »The extremism just doesn’t seem to stop out on the West Coast as California is now taking recycling to a whole new level with a new law that becomes effective next year. Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 827, which was referred to as the “Green Restaurants Bill”. The mandate…
Read More »I would submit one probably wasn’t too surprised by Seattle, Philadelphia and a host of California cities adopting additional taxes on sugary beverages, so-called soda taxes, but Utah?? Well, it seems that the soda tax proposal is part of an array of Tax Reform Proposals being entertained by the Tax Restructuring and Equalization Task Force…
Read More »With its recently enacted legislation, AB-5, which significantly alters the ground rules for the classification of employees, California has advanced the political “acceptability” of the “ABC” test first implemented in Massachusetts. Now, it would appear that New York State may be the next state to fall in line on “ABC” classifications. A new labor-backed coalition…
Read More »On the positive side of the ledger, one can point to the first increase in the median real wage for US workers in quite some time. But, there’s also a flip side to that coin, and it is taking a toll on restaurants in major cities such as New York City and San Francisco. The…
Read More »Before the ink was even dry on the California Governor’s signature on Assembly Bill 5 (the sweeping worker classification law that codified the Dynamex decision) last week, rideshare company Uber was hit with a class-action suit alleging the company had illegally misclassified its drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The plaintiff’s attorney, Shannon Liss-Riordan…
Read More »After supporting minimum wage increases just about anywhere and everywhere that they are proposed, organized labor is now looking at the resulting turn toward automation with an eye on restricting or limiting such business options. In Oregon, where the current minimum wage for most counties is $11.25 an hour ($11 in non-urban counties and $12.50…
Read More »On Wednesday of this week, the California legislature gave final approval to AB-5, legislation that makes it much more difficult for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors. The bill essentially codifies the Dynamex Operations West decision of the California Supreme Court, which adopted the Massachusetts model of determining employee status with an “ABC test”.…
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