Senate Bill 616, which was signed into law by Governor Newsom this month, amends existing law regarding paid sick leave to California employees. 

The Essentials:

Beginning January 1, 2024 –

• The number of paid sick days per year will be increased to 40 hours or 5 days, whichever is greater (increased from 24 hours or 3 days).
• Employers may cap an employee’s use of paid sick leave to 40 hours or 5 days in each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period (increased from 24 hours or 3 days).
• Employers may cap paid sick leave carryover accrual at 80 hours or 10 days, whichever is greater ...

After years of debate, and a looming referendum, a compromise between labor and business representatives has resulted in a final law regulating the fast-food industry. On September 28, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1228 into law. AB 1228 is a compromise version of the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, a law that initially became effective on January 1, 2023, but them became the subject of a referendum which halted enforcement.  Now that AB 1228 has been enacted, the referendum on the Fast Food Accountability and Standards ...

You may have heard the half-serious joke that California acts as its own independent country.  One example of this is California’s strong disfavor of non-compete agreements, which stands in contrast with the rest of the country which permits these agreements to varying degrees.

California has leaned further into its famed independence with the passage of Senate Bill 699, which will go into effect on January 1, 2024.  SB 699 seeks to strengthen California’s existing ban against non-compete agreements set forth in Business and Professions Code section 16600 which simply states ...

Q: I am a receiver for a corporation, in a case arising out of fraud allegations. I have asserted claims against various insiders. They are willing to settle with me for a significant sum, but only if the court bars investors, customers and vendors from suing them. Can the court issue such a bar order?

A: Maybe. It will depend on the types of claims the third parties possess. The issue of third party releases is a hot topic in bankruptcy. It recently arose in the infamous Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, where the Saclker family agreed to pay $4.55 billion, but only if they were released from any third ...

What goes up continues to go up!  As we pointed out here last year, the trend of increasing the minimum wage continues, as follows:

State:

On January 1, 2024, the California state minimum wage will increase from $15.50 per hour to $16.00 for employers of all sizes, reflecting a 3.5% increase, which is based on the expected rate of inflation.  The state minimum wage also governs the exempt employee threshold salary, which will increase accordingly.  The new minimum salary for employees who otherwise qualify to be exempt from overtime will be $66,560 annually for employers of all sizes.

On September 1, 2023, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill (“AB”) 418, the California Food Safety Act.

If the law is passed, then any person or entity will be prohibited from manufacturing or selling a food product for human consumption containing specified food additives. The banned additives include brominated vegetable oil (CAS no. 8016-94-2); potassium bromate (CAS no. 7758-01-2); propylparaben (CAS no. 94-13-3); and red dye 3 (CAS no. 16423-68-0).  The original version of the bill included a fifth additive, titanium dioxide. However, shortly before the ...

On September 11, 2023, industry, government, and union representatives announced that they had reached a deal to remove a California referendum on the Fast Food Accountability and Standards (“FAST”) Recovery Act from the 2024 ballot. The Fast Act has a storied history, commencing with legislation which was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2023, which prompted a responsive referendum and legal action.    

The compromise bill, Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1228 will increase the minimum wage for fast food workers in the state to $20 an hour in April 2024 if the fast food chain has more ...

Q: In a receivership I just wrapped up, the court approved my final account and report and awarded me final fees. Because there were insufficient funds in estate to pay my fees in full, the court ordered the defendant to pay my outstanding approved fees. The defendant, however, has not paid me. Am I entitled to interest on my outstanding fees even though I don’t have a judgment?

A: Actually, you do have a judgment and you are entitled to interest on your unpaid fees. As explained in a prior Ask the Receiver, “judgment” is defined differently in different sections of the Code of Civil ...

On August 15, 2023, a panel of judges for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived a class action lawsuit against Nestle regarding its “Premier White Morsels” Toll House product.  In the opinion, Prescott v. Nestle USA, No. 22-15706, the court vacated the district court’s ruling and asked the court to reconsider its decision in light of the California Court of Appeal’s decision in Salazar v. Walmart, Inc., 83 Cal. App 5^th 561 (2022).

Plaintiffs alleged that Nestle violated California state law, including the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL” ...

Companies reporting liability insurance claims need to be aware that the pertinent rules vary depending on whether a policy is “claims made and reported” or “occurrence”.

Most, if not all, Directors and Officers and Errors and Omissions policies are written on a claims made and reported basis. By contrast, Commercial General Insurance, or CGL insurance, is written on an occurrence basis. Under a claims made and reported policy, a claim must have arisen and been reported during the same policy period. By contrast, under an occurrence policy, the claim may be reported long ...