Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Analysis and Development in Employment & Labor Issues

Latest from Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives - Page 2

California Court Temporarily Enjoins Enforcement Of Law Prohibiting Arbitration Agreements As A Condition of Employment

December 30, 2019

arbitration agreement and gavel_1200x675

Earlier today, District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, granted a temporary restraining order that temporarily prohibits the state of California from enforcing AB 51, a law that would prohibit companies in California from requiring arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. You can read more about AB51 here and here.…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

The NLRB Revises its Election Regulations to the Benefit of Employers

By J. Marshall Horton, Ronald Meisburg & Kurt G. Larkin

December 19, 2019

Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board published a final rule modifying its representation case procedures. The final rule takes effect April 17, 2020, and scales back—but does not completely undo—the changes to election regulations instituted by the Obama-era’s Board that have caused employers heartburn since 2015. Those changes effectively sped up the election process and cut down on employers’ ability to litigate many important legal issues prior to voting, putting employers at a disadvantage.…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

California Appellate Court Rules that a Service Charge Could Be a Gratuity under the Labor Code

By Katherine P. Sandberg & Ryan A. Glasgow

December 17, 2019

A recent California appellate court decision has held that a banquet hall’s “mandatory service charge” could, under the right circumstances, be a “gratuity” that must be paid to employees under California Labor Code § 351. In O’Grady v. Merchant Exchange Productions, the defendant-employer added on a percentage service charge for all banquet contracts for food and beverages. Some, but not all, of the service charge was distributed to managers who did not serve food or…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Injunction Sought to Stop California’s Anti-Arbitration Law

By Karen Jennings Evans & Roland M. Juarez

December 13, 2019

Labor and employment_California_Road Sign

On December 6, 2019, a coalition of both national and state business organizations and trade associations filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The lawsuit seeks both a preliminary and permanent injunction against implementation and enforcement of the recently enacted California law that makes it unlawful for California employers to require employees to sign arbitration agreements, under certain circumstances.…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Chicago and Denver Increase Minimum Wage

By Andrea R. Calem & Robert T. Dumbacher

December 12, 2019

The competing interests of the business community and tipped workers continue to inform public policy decisions about the minimum wage. We have previously written about increases in the minimum wage on the state, county and municipal level. Most recently, the cities of Chicago and Denver tackled this issue and joined the many jurisdictions across the country to approve increases to their minimum wage.…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

The EEOC Settles Six-Year-Old Lawsuit Attacking Background Check Policy

By Jessica Knapp Little & Robert T. Quackenboss

December 12, 2019

Criminal_background_check_form_glasses_pen_1200

Dollar General and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently settled a six-year-old Title VII lawsuit. The EEOC brought its race discrimination claim on behalf of a Charging Party and a class of Black job applicants, alleging that Dollar General’s use of criminal justice history information in the hiring process had a disparate impact on Black applicants.…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Unlawful Actions May Become Lawful When Negotiations Conclude

By Lukas Moffett & Alan J. Marcuis

December 9, 2019

Labor and employment_businessman working with new modern computer-business strategy

In an October Advice Memorandum, the Office of the General Counsel for the NLRB (General Counsel) concluded that a union’s continued actions of unlawful insistence are not a refusal to bargain if bargaining negotiations have ceased.…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Boeing Test Takes Off as NLRB Holds Employer’s Confidentiality and Media Contact Rules Lawful

By Cullan E. Jones & Robert T. Quackenboss

December 3, 2019

The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) under the current administration continues to issue employer friendly rulings in the context of evaluating whether employer work rules violate the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”). In LA Specialty Produce Company, 368 NLRB No. 93 (October 10, 2019) (“LA Produce”), the Board’s first ruling applying the standard in The Boeing Co., 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017) for determining the validity of rules, policies and handbook provisions under the…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

The NLRB Rules that Unpaid Interns Are Not Employees Under the Act

By Truc Nguyen & Ronald Meisburg

December 2, 2019

In Amnesty International of the USA, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 112 (2019), a number of paid staff of the nonprofit advocacy group joined a petition circulated by Amnesty’s unpaid interns, seeking compensation of their volunteer work. In response to the petition, the director of the organization made statements that she was “disappointed” that the signers of the petitioners had not availed themselves of the organization’s open door policy to discuss the matter with her…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Safety Footwear: Reimbursement Obligation for Restaurants in California?

By Andrea R. Calem & Roland M. Juarez

November 21, 2019

California Labor Code §2802 requires employers to reimburse employees for all “necessary expenditures” incurred by an employee in the discharge of his or her duties. Business travel expenses fall into this category, as do uniforms, and even the portion of personal cell phone costs that can be attributed to business use. Thus, theme-based businesses that clothe employees in specialized uniforms or costumes (like the sailor outfits in Season 3 of Stranger Things) must provide those…

Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Analysis and Development in Employment & Labor Issues

California Court Temporarily Enjoins Enforcement Of Law Prohibiting Arbitration Agreements As A Condition of Employment

The NLRB Revises its Election Regulations to the Benefit of Employers

California Appellate Court Rules that a Service Charge Could Be a Gratuity under the Labor Code

Injunction Sought to Stop California’s Anti-Arbitration Law

Chicago and Denver Increase Minimum Wage

The EEOC Settles Six-Year-Old Lawsuit Attacking Background Check Policy

Unlawful Actions May Become Lawful When Negotiations Conclude

Boeing Test Takes Off as NLRB Holds Employer’s Confidentiality and Media Contact Rules Lawful

The NLRB Rules that Unpaid Interns Are Not Employees Under the Act

Safety Footwear: Reimbursement Obligation for Restaurants in California?

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