It might be Furry, but it’s not the kind of present you are looking for… Avoid unpleasant and expensive surprises and keep track of all employee hours, even exempt ones.

Do you need a love contract? While Cupid’s arrow can strike at any time of the year, Valentine’s Day is a good time for employers to review certain workplace policies to ensure that office romance doesn’t give way to sour feelings and bitter recriminations.

Los Angeles Business Journal said it created the list to highlight "particularly stellar minority attorneys in the L.A. region who happen to be from a broad cultural spectrum." The list includes only those considered particularly impactful on the legal scene, "while serving as trusted advisors in the LA region, along with maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards, and for contributions to the Los Angeles business and legal community at large."

Starting January 1, 2019, vehicles sold at retail that do not already display permanent license plates must display a temporary license plate. In addition, dealers will no longer use a pre-printed Report of Sale form and display it in retailed vehicles. Instead, they must complete an electronic Report of Sale and display the temporary identification section of the ROS form created through that system in the sold vehicle.

On November 1, 2018, The Fourth District Court of Appeal in AMN Healthcare held that a post-termination employee non-solicitation provision for one year or longer was void under Section 16660, was an unlawful restraint on trade because it prohibited the employees from being able to practice their chosen profession.

National Law Journal says it compiles the list to "spotlight those making a big difference," and describes those chosen for the honor as having "shown a deep passion and perseverance in pursuit of their mission, having achieved remarkable successes along the way."

Time rounding is the practice of adjusting an employee’s hours worked (either up or down) to a certain increment of time. Some employers opt to round time entries for increased administrative ease and efficiency in recording and calculating hours worked. The most conservative approach an employer can adopt is to pay per actual time punches and not round at all, but time rounding can be legally compliant under certain conditions.

Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court set forth a new “ABC” test for determining whether someone working for a business is an employee or an independent contractor. In Dynamex, the court held that the ABC test applies in claims brought by workers under Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders but did not decide whether the test would apply to non-wage order claims. The wage orders regulate the minimum working conditions for employees in various industries (with different wage orders applying to different industries). In making its decision, the Dynamex court rejected the multi-factor standard that the California Supreme Court had previously adopted in S.G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations, but it remained unclear whether the Borello test could still apply to cases involving non-wage order claims.

By now employers know that rest breaks must be paid and if an employee is paid on a piece-rate basis, the rest break must be compensated at the higher of minimum wage, or their average hourly rate for the workweek. In Certified Tire and Service Centers Wage and Hour Cases, Plaintiffs sued their employer, Certified Tire, claiming that their pay plan was an “activity-based” pay system and did not separately compensate them for non-productive time and rest periods because it allowed them to earn a higher hourly rate based on production. They argued that because they could not increase their hourly rate while working on certain activities or taking rest breaks, this time was unpaid. The employees claimed Certified Tire had wrongly averaged their earnings to contend they were being paid minimum wage for all hours worked, such as in Armenta v. Osmose, Inc.

As we previously reported, back in 2016, OSHA issued a rule that amended its regulations (29 C.F.R. § 1904.35(b)(1)(iv)) to prohibit employers from retaliating against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses. The subsequent interpretive guidance on this regulation discouraged employers from implementing certain aspects of workplace safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing. On October 11, 2018, OSHA issued a new memorandum to clarify its position on these issues and to supersede prior guidance and interpretations that it issued.