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UPDATE: Does Your Employee Handbook Have a Lactation Accommodation Policy? (And Are You Abiding By It?)

Recently, a federal jury awarded a City of Tucson Fire Department paramedic $3.8 million after it found that the department violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) when it failed to provide her with a private space to lactate, denied her requests to […]

Does Your Employee Handbook Have a Lactation Accommodation Policy?

Many employers are familiar with break and meal period requirements applicable to their organization under state and federal law. Often overlooked, however, is an employer’s responsibilities toward nursing mothers. We take a look at some of the requirements employers should be aware of when reviewing their lactation accommodation policies here.

2019 Legislative Changes for California Severance and Settlement Agreements

Employers often find themselves in a bind – they need to let an employee go quickly and they want the employee to sign a release of all claims, so they dust off the severance agreement they used last time around, change the name and payment terms, and present it to the employee. Attorneys will warn […]

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H-1B Employment Visa Lottery for 2019!

On April 1, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting H-1B visa petitions for the next fiscal year with a start date of October 1, 2019. The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a […]

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OSHA Updates (Part 2) – OSHA Clarifies Position on Incentive Programs and Drug Testing

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published its Final Rule on May 12, 2016 regarding safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing. However, recently, OSHA published a clarification of its Final Rule on these two topics. OSHA’s main purpose in publishing this clarification memorandum is to ensure that employers know that OSHA does not […]

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Irish Citizens Get Access to Unused Australian E-3 Work Visas

H.R. 7164, passed by the House of Representatives recently, proposes to provide Irish workers with access to the coveted E-3 visa program. The bipartisan Bill seeks to provide Irish citizens with access to any unused E-3 visas from the prior fiscal year. Currently, E-3 visas are  only available to Australian citizens. The Bill is a […]

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Can California Payroll Companies Be Held Liable for Wage Statement Claims?

California law provides that a payroll service provider cannot be held liable for labor code violations –  but, a California appeals court recently held that employees may pursue tort claims against payroll service providers under a theory that the payroll service provider is a third-party beneficiary of the employer’s contract with the employee. On December […]

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AM
Former Associate

Might There Be an End in Sight to the Private Attorney General Act?

On November 28, 2018, a newly created association representing California-based employers called the California Business & Industrial Alliance filed a complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief against the California Attorney General seeking to enjoin the enforcement of the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) and declare it unconstitutional. While PAGA took effect in 2004 – to […]