Workforce Bulletin

By Dena L. Narbaitz and Marisa S. Ratinoff

While everyone awaits the California Supreme Court's ruling in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) – which is expected sometime in early 2012 and will determine the scope of an employer's meal and rest period obligations – employers must not lose sight of other important developments in California employment law. Below are brief summaries of some of the legislative enactments in California that will affect employers. Unless otherwise noted, these laws will take effect on January 1, 2012.

Read the full advisory ...

By Eric J. Conn and Amanda R. Strainis-Walker

As the clock winds down on 2011, a truly remarkable year of OSHA enforcement, it is time to think about 2012.  Notwithstanding the fact that 2012 is an election year, and much of OSHA's rulemaking activities will be shelved until the day after the election, 2012 is likely to be another remarkable year in the OSHA universe, from significant enforcement initiatives to the completion of some major rules.

Below is a list of the 5 most important developments we expect to see out of the agency in the upcoming year:

1. Nationwide Chemical Facilities ...

by Dena L. Narbaitz and Marisa S. Ratinoff

While everyone awaits the California Supreme Court's ruling in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) – which is expected sometime in early 2012 and will determine the scope of an employer's meal and rest period obligations – employers must not lose sight of other important developments in California employment law. Below are brief summaries of some of the legislative enactments in California that will affect employers. Unless otherwise noted, these laws will take effect on January 1, 2012.

Read the full advisory online

 By Michael Kun

 On January 1, 2012, the minimum wage for employees working in San Francisco will rise to $10.24 per hour.　

This is, to our knowledge, the first time the minimum wage in any U.S. city has ever exceeded $10 per hour.

Employers with employees in San Francisco will need to make sure that they make appropriate adjustments to their payroll systems and practices to account for the increase.

By:  Evan Rosen

Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) voted, 2-1, to approve its Resolution to drastically amend the rules governing union elections.  While the Board’s stated reason for the amendment is to reduce unnecessary litigation, it is apparent that this purpose is a sham, and that the real reason is to make it significantly easier for unions to organize employees, especially those in the highly targeted hospitality industry. 

The Board did not vote on the entire proposal detailed in their June 22, 2011Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, but rather ...

by William J. Milani, Jeffrey M. Landes, Susan Gross Sholinsky, and Jennifer A. Goldman

For the first time, in 2012, New York employers must provide all New York employees with an annual notice and acknowledgment of pay rate and pay date ("Notice") pursuant to the Wage Theft Prevention Act ("WTPA"), which amended the New York State Labor Law ("Labor Law"), effective April 9, 2011.

As we previously reported (see Act Now Advisory "Governor Paterson Signs Overhaul of New York State Labor Law" (Dec. 15, 2010), and Act Now Advisory "They're Here – New York State Department of Labor Issues ...

On November 17, 2011, the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions About Affordable Care Act Implementation (Part VII) and Mental Health Parity Implementation.  In FAQ 1, the Departments noted that they received many comments on the proposed regulations concerning the requirement to provide group health plan participants and beneficiaries with a summary of benefits coverage that accurately describes the benefits and coverage available under the plan and a uniform glossary of terms (“SBC”).  The FAQs provide that ...

By:      Forrest Read

The new Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) standards (the “2010 Standards”), set to take effect on March 15, 2012, create new compliance obligations and contain technical specifications impacting what have become fixtures in most hotel lobbies or common areas: automatic teller machines (“ATMs”).  As is customary when new standards are set to take effect and become enforceable, hotels with existing ATMs want to know whether and how their ATMs will be impacted by the 2010 Standards and whether they will be afforded any safe harbor protections for ...

by Jennifer A. Goldman and Peter M. Panken

Since the Wage Theft Prevention Act (“WTPA”) became effective April 9, 2011, New York employers have faced harsher penalties for failing to pay employees minimum wages and overtime.  As reported in two previous Act Now Advisory’s, (December 15, 2010, and April 4, 2011) the WTPA, which amended New York’s Labor Law, significantly increased employers’ penalties for unpaid wage and hour violations, among other things.

Prior to the effective date of the WTPA, liquidated damages were capped at 25 percent of the unpaid wages due. Under ...

Our colleagues Douglas Weiner and Meg Thering at Epstein Becker Green recently posted the following on the Wage & Hour Defense Blog:

On October 20, 2011, the Computer Professionals Update Act (“the CPU Act”) – one of the first potential pieces of good news for employers this year – was introduced in the U.S. Senate. If passed, the CPU act would expand the computer employee exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). S. 1747.

Unlike much of the other legislation affecting employers that has been proposed or passed this year, the CPU Act would make business easier for ...