We have sent out previous Alerts regarding the evolution of the San Diego Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance. There are now further developments to report. An Implementing Ordinance, previously approved by City Council, was approved by the Mayor on August 3, 2016, and will take effect September 2, 2016.

The article Dealers have to provide suitable seating to their employees under specified circumstances. Do you know what they are? appears in ADOMA's August NewsTrax.

Consumer advocacy groups have urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Mercedes Benz’s marketing of its 2017 E­-class sedan misleads consumers by overstating the car’s autonomous capabilities. The consumer groups claim such advertising is likely to cause consumers to believe the car is self­-driving when it is not, and creates a false sense of security.

OSHA’s controversial new “Reasonable Reporting Procedure” rules may require a second look at the mandatory post-injury drug testing policies frequently implemented at dealerships.

It is not uncommon for employers to implement paid vacation policies in which the employee receives a lump sum of vacation time upon reaching a certain length of service or anniversary date, rather than accruing the vacation over time. For example, the employee receives zero paid vacation time in their vacation bank during their first year of employment, but at their one-year anniversary date, they are suddenly credited with one week of paid vacation. This practice is not compliant and can expose an employer to substantial liability.

Dealers are continually challenged in complying with California’s meal and rest break laws. And although it is commonly known that employers must provide off-duty meal breaks of at least 30 minutes for work shifts of more than 5 hours, many dealers overlook the timing requirements of these breaks.

With the passage of SB-836, a number of important changes in Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) requirements went into effect on July 1, 2016. Though not as expansive as originally proposed, the changes do demonstrate the Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s interest in monitoring PAGA claims and their settlements.

The City of San Diego implemented its new minimum wage and sick leave ordinance effective July 11, 2016. The ordinance was passed through a ballot vote on June 7, 2016, however, the ordinance as drafted at the time of the vote, left some loose ends on how the sick leave requirements would work. Acknowledging that the sick leave provisions needed some additional refining, the City Council asked the City Attorney for guidance on an implementing ordinance that would clarify provisions of the new law. Today, the City released a first version of an implementing ordinance to address these issues and has announced that it will conduct a second reading of the implementing ordinance on July 26, 2016.

The article by Scalilaw attorneys Christian J. Scali, Robert D. Daniels and John P. Swenson, titled What autopilot crash could mean for Tesla, was published in the Perspective section of Wednesday's Daily Journal. In it our attorneys discuss the implications for Tesla of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opening a preliminary investigation into the Autopilot feature in 25,000 Tesla Motors Model S cars.

Stay informed on the latest laws and trends affecting the Automotive Industry. Join us for Coffee Break, a monthly newsletter and video series that provides a quick shot of corporate compliance and ethics topics including dealership human resource topics and wage and hour regulations, advertising and regulatory compliance and other new and trending issues affecting dealership operations. In under two minutes, our attorneys will provide you with perspective and implementation ideas for new and trending compliance issues at your dealership.

By ballot vote on June 7, 2016, the citizens of the City of San Diego passed a minimum wage and sick leave law that exceeds the California enhancements in these areas. This new law’s effective date is still unknown until the ballot vote is finalized and certified, but it is expected to take effect during the month of July.

We recently reported on the new minimum wage and sick leave law in the City of Los Angeles. The new ordinance covering minimum wage and sick leave benefits applies to employees who perform at least two hours of work within a particular week within the City of Los Angeles. However, the bounds of the City of Los Angeles are not always obvious. In fact, there are a number of areas and neighborhoods within the greater Los Angeles area that are neither a part of the City of Los Angeles, nor within the bounds of another incorporated city.

As we previously reported, On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) which creates a federal civil cause of action for trade secret theft and provides protection for certain “whistleblower” employees, and obligates employers to notify their workers of these protections. For example, an employee who discloses a trade secret “solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law” would be protected from liability.

Summer is here! When we think of summer, we usually focus on fun activities in the heat and sun, but this warm weather can be dangerous for those dealership employees who perform their jobs outdoors or in non-air conditioned areas. As such, it is important for dealerships to be mindful of the Cal-OSHA rules related to outdoor places of employment, which were updated a little over a year ago.

Joshua Brown was a Navy SEAL and Tesla enthusiast who praised his Tesla’s Autopilot feature for avoiding a car accident in April. Ironically, when that same system failed to protect Brown’s life a month later, Brown became an unfortunate statistic: the first American to be killed in a car with AV technology—whose proponents promise a future of safer vehicles and roadways.