A Flurry of New California Laws Going Into Effect January 1, 2018

Monday was California Governor Jerry Brown’s final day to sign new legislation.  This included a flurry of new laws impacting California employers.  All new legislation goes into effect on January 1, 2018.  Highlights below. New Parent Leave Act for Small Employers (SB 63)  This New P
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Compliance With California’s New Transgender Regulations

Effective July 1, 2017, California issued a new set of regulations expanding protections under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) related to the transgender community. Transitioning/Transitioned Employees The new regulations expressly prohibit discrimination against an indiv
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Revised Form I-9 Now Available

In an effort to become more user-friendly, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office (“USCIS”) released a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, in July of this year.  All employers must use the revised form starting September 18, 2017. T
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PSL – Time for a Review

Beginning July 1, 2017, Arizona employers were required to begin allowing their employees to accrue paid sick leave (“PSL”) under the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act, Arizona’s new paid sick leave law. The Basics • Employees must accrue 1 hour of PSL for every 30 hours worked. • R
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Does Title VII Prohibit Discrimination in Employment on the Basis of Sexual Orientation?

The answer is still no – unless you employ individuals in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin. On April 4, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, became the first U.S. Court of Appeals to rule that discrimination on the basi
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Judge Dismisses More Than 1,000 Lawsuits Against Small Businesses for Alleged Violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Beginning in 2016, Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities Foundation, Inc. (“AID”) filed a flood of lawsuits—eventually totaling more than 1,700—in Arizona Superior Court against small businesses in Arizona. In the lawsuits, which were largely “copy-and-paste” versions of one ano
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Arizona’s 2017 Minimum Wage and Earned Paid Sick Time Posters Now Available

On November 9, 2016, my colleagues David Barton and Christie Hammerle blogged about Arizona’s new minimum wage and earned paid sick time law called the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act.  That article can be found here. The Industrial Commission of Arizona has since released Notices
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Federal Court Blocks Implementation of Department of Labor’s New Overtime Rule

On May 18, 2016, President Obama and the Department of Labor released a Final Rule updating federal overtime regulations. The key provisions were detailed on the BurnBarton blog here, but most notably, the Rule more than doubled the salary threshold for “white collar” workers—from $45
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