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9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that employer per diem payments may function as wages rather than reimbursement for purposes of calculating an employee’s overtime rate of pay in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

  • By: Scott McLeran
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that employer per diem payments may function as wages rather than reimbursement for purposes of calculating an employee’s overtime rate of pay in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Plaintiffs worked as traveling clinicians for Defendant’s healthcare staffing company.  In addition to receiving designated hourly wages, Plaintiffs also received a weekly per diem benefit, which Defendant claimed was provided as a reasonable reimbursement for work-related expenses while traveling, thus were not wages.  Plaintiffs sued Defendant, claiming that their weekly per diem benefits operated as wages and were improperly excluded...

It’s Time to Redistrict

  • By: Margaret E. Long
It’s Time to Redistrict After the completion of the U.S. census every 10-years, public agencies with officers elected from geographical districts must “redistrict.”  This requires review of the recent Census population data and, if necessary, adjustment of voting area boundaries to keep them as nearly equal in population as possible, allowing for certain variances due to geography, topography, communities of interest, etc., all as...

The Scoop on Mandating Vaccines in the Workplace

  • By: P.J. Van Ert
The Scoop on Mandating Vaccines in the Workplace Recently, it was reported that a local California law firm was requiring its employees to obtain a Covid-19 vaccine. This was reportedly the first law firm to do so.  The policy in question “encourages” all employees to get the vaccine as soon as they become eligible. The policy continues to require employees to practice public health safety guidelines when in...

California Pay Data Reporting – SB 973

  • By: Gretchen Dugan
California Pay Data Reporting – SB 973 California employers of 100 or more employees must report pay and hours-worked data by establishment, job category, sex, race and ethnicity to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) by March 31, 2021, and annually thereafter.  The “snapshot period” for reporting is a single pay period between October 1 and December 31 of the Reporting Year.  An employer has...

FPPC Authority to Promulgate Regulations Which Further the Purpose of the Public Records Act Reinforced by the Los Angeles County Superior Court

  • By: Sean Cameron
FPPC Authority to Promulgate Regulations Which Further the Purpose of the Public Records Act Reinforced by the Los Angeles County Superior Court The California State Association of Counties and the California School Boards Association (“Associations”) brought suit against the Fair Political Practices Commission (“FPPC”) in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, challenging regulations that the FPPC promulgated, which made certain expenditures by a public agency that advocates for an election result or ballot measure subject to reporting requirements.  (California State Association of...

Recovery of Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to CCP § 1021.5 Requires Showing that the Disclosed Records Conferred a Significant Public Benefit

  • By: Michelle Nasise
Recovery of Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to CCP § 1021.5 Requires Showing that the Disclosed Records Conferred a Significant Public Benefit In Burgess v. Coronado Unified School District, Cal.App.5th, 2020 Cal.App.LEXIS 2020 (4th Dist. Div. 1 Dec. 24, 2020) (D076263), a news outlet, Voice of San Diego (Voice),   a PRA request was made to the Coronado Unified School District (District) regarding an employee, Randall Burgess (Burgess), who had been the subject of unsubstantiated molestation allegations.  Burgess then sued the District...