The 12 Days of California Labor and Employment Series – Day 9 "Expansion of Bases for Restraining Orders in the Workplace"

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On the ninth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me nine ladies dancing and SB 428. More ›

The 12 Days of California Labor and Employment Series – Day 6 "Employers Beware - Rebuttal Presumption Potentially Available for Retaliation Claims"

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On the sixth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me six geese-a-laying and SB 497. More ›

The 12 Days of California Labor and Employment Series – Day 4 "California and Non-Competes - It's a No-Go"

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On the fourth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me four calling birds, SB 699, and AB 1076. More ›

The 12 Days of California Labor and Employment Series – Day 3 "Healthcare Workers and a New Minimum Wage Structure"

In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 Days of California Labor and Employment" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On the third day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me three french hens and SB 525.

While the minimum wage may differ depending on the city in which you live, the current minimum wage is generally $15/hour. When the pandemic was ongoing, the importance of healthcare workers soared, and the realization of how much healthcare workers were needed and the shortage of healthcare workers hit an all-time high.  

To no surprise, specific cities attempted to increase healthcare workers' wages to assist during the pandemic. While some of those laws passed, others did not. This paved the way for SB 525, which creates a different minimum wage schedule, specifically a higher minimum wage schedule, for various categories of covered healthcare employees. More ›

Hinshaw Insights for Employers Alert: Chicago Adopts Significant New Paid Leave Requirements

Chicago employers are facing significant new mandatory paid leave requirements following action by the Chicago City Council late last week. The new ordinance requires both paid leave and paid sick leave accruals, effectively doubling the minimum number of paid leave days from five to ten days annually. 

On our main website, read our Q&A to get all your employer compliance questions answered about the new ordinance.

Texas Two-Step: State Passes Employee-Friendly Legislation

The 2021 regular session of the Texas Legislature produced two employee-friendly bills that found their way to the Governor's desk and were signed into law. Both laws will go into effect on September 1, 2021. More ›

DOL Withdraws Trump-Era Independent Contractor Rule

During the Trump administration, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new rule regarding the classification of independent contractors. Designed to streamline how a company determines whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor, the rule narrowed the factors in the "economic realities" test and focused the analysis on the two "core factors" of control and the opportunity for profit and loss. The proposed regulations were set to go into effect on March 8, 2021. With the change in administration, the DOL initially pushed the effective date back to May 7, 2021, to allow for further review and consideration. The DOL announced on May 5, 2021, that it is withdrawing the rule altogether. More ›

DOL Proposes New Regulations for Determining Independent Contractor Status under FLSA

Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new regulations designed to make it easier for companies to determine whether workers can be classified as independent contractors. The DOL proposed an "economic reality" test to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). More ›

A Win for "Gig-Economy" Employers in California

In a win for California’s “gig economy employers,” a California District Court held earlier this week that Chicago-based GrubHub, Inc. properly classified a food delivery driver as an independent contractor, not an employee. Accordingly, the driver's labor law claims, which require an employer-employee relationship, were precluded. More ›