Employment and Labor Law Update: This week, the Court of Appeal held that the California state legislature may constitutionally exercise authority over minimum wages applicable to both private and public employees, despite the constitutional reservation of authority in charter cities to legislate as to their municipal affairs. (See, Marquez v. City of Long Beach - filed Feb. 25, 2019, Second District, Div. Seven -- 2019 S.O.S. 880.) In Marquez v. City of Long Beach, the plain

Wage and Hour/Labor Law Update: The California Supreme Court's 2014 decision on Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC -- which held that agreements to waive the right to bring Private Attorney General Act of 2004 representative actions in any forum are unenforceable -- remains controlling authority notwithstanding the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 opinion in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. (See, Correia v. NB Baker Electric, Inc. (2019 S.O.S. 872).) In short, courts are s

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.’s 2019 Regional Forecast and Economic Outlook predicts that California’s economy is expected to add 322,700 jobs this year and 318,500 next year. By comparison, California added 424,200 jobs in 2014, 474,000 in 2015 and 427,100 in 2016. The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. further predicts that California’s average annual income will hit $52,447 in 2020, an annual increase of $7,572 from 2014.

In U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Global Horizons, Inc., 2019 S.O.S. 16-35528, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that the common-law agency test should be used to determine whether an entity is a joint employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, not the economic-reality test. Under the common-law test, the principle guidepost is the element of control. Please contact us if you have questions regarding how this ruling may impact you.