We have a confession to make. We are lawyers who do not like lawsuits. Having been in the trenches for the last decade, working as plaintiff attorneys, we have come to realize that in the employment field, too many businesses are unaware of their legally required obligations. One problem is that human resource professionals are spread too thin, with responsibility for hiring, firing, maintaining payroll, facilitating discussions amongst coworkers and between the employees and their supervisors, fixing broken machines, ordering stationary, and ensuring that the company is staying in compliance with all relevant employment laws. There are few jobs in a company that carry such a broad range of duties and responsibilities. This need for such broad expertise in so many different fields can lead to a host of costly problems.
WorkWise Law’s “Aha” Moment
We have a confession to make. We are lawyers who do not like lawsuits. Having been in the trenches for the last decade, working as plaintiff attorneys, we have come to realize that in the employment field, too many businesses are unaware of their legally required obligations. One problem is that human resource professionals are spread too thin, with responsibility for hiring, firing, maintaining payroll, facilitating discussions amongst coworkers and between the employees and their supervisors, fixing broken machines, ordering stationary, and ensuring that the company is staying in compliance with all relevant employment laws. There are few jobs in a company that carry such a broad range of duties and responsibilities. This need for such broad expertise in so many different fields can lead to a host of costly problems.
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Alexis James
Refresher on Cal/OSHA rules on exclusion from work; extension to I-9 flexibility policy and EEO-1 reporting deadline
Cal/OSHA rules on exclusion from, and return to, work
On August 31, 2021, we provided an update on the new Los Angeles County isolation and quarantine orders. These govern when, and for how long, persons who either have COVID-19 (isolation order) or were in close contact with a COVID-19 case (quarantine order) must stay away from others (i.e., stay at home) and when this period of isolation/quarantine can end. These orders are similar to, but not quite the same as, Cal/OSHA’s regulations (the Emergency Temporary Standards, or ETS), which govern when employees in California who either have COVID-19 or were in close contact with a COVID-19 case must be excluded from the workplace and when this period of exclusion can end.
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New Right to Unpaid Bereavement Leave
Effective January 1, 2023, a new California statute, AB 1949, requires employers in California to give eligible employees up to five days of unpaid bereavement leave after the death of a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law.
