Attorney Portrait

Can Employers Require COVID-19 Vaccination?

Can Employers Require COVID-19 Vaccination? Whether employers can require employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination is governed by state and federal laws protecting disabled employees. In California, employers can generally require employees to receive an FDA-approved vaccination in order to return to the workplace. California’s Department of Fair Employment...

Attorney Portrait

California Passes Covid-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

Even as we see hope on the horizon, employees and their families are still being ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. Luckily, the California Legislature has seen the impact the pandemic has had on those employees on the front lines and has passed additional emergency relief in the form of...

Attorney Portrait

Systematic Problems and Fraud at COVID Laboratories

Following Sacramento’s CBS13 blockbuster expose on failures at California’s new billion-dollar COVID testing lab and the company running the lab-PerkinElmer, the station has reported on a wild series of events, including systematic failures at the lab and potential destruction of evidence. Inconclusive Tests and Reduced Capacity Despite the fact...

Attorney Portrait

Do I Have a Right to Paid Sick Leave?

With the COVID-19 virus still ravaging our communities, the issue of employment sick leave takes on even greater importance for employees, who face a daily struggle with the virus and other health issues. We previously posted about COVID-19-related employment issues; this post discusses sick leave more generally, but is...

Attorney Portrait

An Update on Pregnancy and the FFCRA

Last week, we blogged about a question we’ve been getting a lot during the pandemic: do I have rights as a pregnant mother under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)? The answer was complicated because the law doesn’t apply to many (even most) employers and pregnancy per se doesn’t...

Attorney Portrait

Here We Go Again – School Closings in the Age of Coronavirus

Just this week, the limited Los Angeles schools that had been providing in-person education, primarily to special needs students in small group settings, were ordered to return to a fully virtual model. Orange County schools affected by fires have also transitioned temporarily to remote-only learning. Even parents with the...

Attorney Portrait

Can Your Employer Require You to Bear the Cost of Working Remotely?

Employers are Required to Reimburse Necessary Business Expenses In California, Labor Code § 2802 requires employers to reimburse employees for all “necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties.” This rule exists because the State legislature recognized that, if...