ARTICLES
California Paid Family Leave Update
Last week, California's Governor signed into law AB 908, which established that, beginning January 1, 2018, it increases the wage replacement rate for employees receiving disability insurance and/or paid family leave benefits through the state. Effective January 2018, this amount will increase from the current 55% to 60 or 70% of the employee's compensation, depending on the employee's income level. The new law will also eliminate the 7-day waiting period for receipt of paid family leave benefits.
Meal & Rest Breaks in California
Meal and rest break policies continue to be the source of a myriad of litigation in the state of California. Understanding California's meal and rest break requirements are important for employees to protect their rights, and for employers to avoid unnecessary litigation. To comply with these rules, employers must do everything possible to communicate the legal requirements of California's employee break laws to nonexempt workers and provide them opportunities to take meal and rest breaks.
California’s Paid Sick Leave Act
California recently became only the second state to guarantee some annual paid sick leave for most full and part-time employees. Connecticut is the only other state to do so, having passed similar legislation in 2012, though it has modified the original law somewhat since then. With substantial bipartisan support in the Assembly and Senate, Governor Jerry Brown has announced he plans to sign the bill, called the “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act,” placing California in line with 10 other states that require employers to provide paid sick leave.
Worked to Death?
Can an employee die from too much work?” It seems inconceivable that such a scenario could take place in America today unless it involved undocumented aliens who were being forced to work in sweatshops by exploitative employers or risk being turned over to immigration authorities and deported.