New Use of Force Regulations

New laws restricting use of force by police were passed by Governor Newsom this year in response to the public outcry spurred by the events which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the ultimate death of George Floyd.  Protests took place in every state across the nation decrying police brutality.  While every state was forced to examine these issues, no...

My Employee has COVID, Who Must I Tell?

AB 685 – COVID-19 Employer Notice and Reporting Requirements: Signed into law on September 17, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom set forth standards that employers must follow to provide notice to employees and report information related to COVID-19 exposures to local public health agencies.  AB 685 specifically requires employers to provide the following four notices related to potential COVID-19 exposures in the...

New State Rules for Employing Minors

A new California law has created additional requirements for employers that have workers (including volunteers) under the age of 18. AB 1963 amends the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act to add to the list of mandatory reporters a human resources employee and frontline supervisor of an agency with five or more workers and that employs minors.This means that if an...

Suspension of Limitation on Retired Annuitant Hours for Disaster Recovery Efforts in Wildfire Impacted Counties

Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-81-20 on September 25, 2020.  He ordered suspension of the retired annuitant work hour limitation of 960 hours per fiscal year in those counties in which he had declared a state of emergency due to the impact of wildfires.  The counties affected are as follows:  Butte, Del Norte, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Los...

No More Thumbs Up on Social Media

On September 18, 2020, Governor Newson signed Assembly Bill (AB) 992 into law. AB 992 amends the Brown Act's provisions concerning serial meetings by addressing, for the first time, the use of social media by members of a legislative body. AB 992, which amends Government Code section 54952.2, clarifies what kind of communications a public official may have on social media and what...

California Propositions Are Their Own Beast!

In this election cycle, California voters are faced with several decisions to make following their fellow citizen’s use of the initiative power and placement of propositions on the ballot. Like most elections, many of those initiatives are related to taxation. A recent California appellate decision clarified an important issue about the required number of votes necessary for a proposition to pass...