Good morning, welcome to my latest edition of Monday Morning Briefing. Actually, I’m really just popping on here to check in with you all, because I know if I miss two weeks in a row, some of you worry if I’m still alive. Truth is, I have another full day mediation today, the second in just three days, and they suck the life out of me. And if you are asking, yes, these are class action/PAGA cases.
But I also wanted to take this opportunity to send my holiday wishes this April, so to those who are celebrating or observing, have a happy and blessed Ramadan, Caesar Chavez Day, Pesach, Easter, or just Spring (some of you, like my family, may celebrate more than one of these). Hope you will get to find time with your families and friends and enjoy some overdue, well deserved warm spring weather.
Next week I will have much to share with you, including more case law updates impacting the status of AB 5 and the Viking River Cruises saga, and a rundown of those minimum wage hikes coming in July (including Los Angeles!), and other fun legal tidbits.
And while I am giving you off a few weeks to ponder that very long last Briefing I sent, I truly hope most of you are doubling down on all the compliance we discussed in there. Because every time I do one of these mediations, and these mediators puts under a microscope every single practice that these poor, small employers do, and attaches it to hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars – I think of all the rest of you, and how some of this could still be stopped in time for you. So while my Briefing may be taking a break this week, don’t think you can. Compliance never sleeps, my friends. Just like rust.
So on that cheery note, enjoy your holiday(s) of choice or just enjoy the weather! I will be toiling away trying to protect the rights of small businesses in California. But I will also be making matzah balls and brisket this week, and hosting my first Sedar in my new home.
In all seriousness, now more than ever, make sure you to find time to reconnect with those priorities – family, friends, the earth. Thanks to Lara Ekwall, I used this bird app she sent, and I could identify the songs of 22 species of birds just in my yard. Nature, man. We will figure out the rest. We always have.
Back next week, y’all. Stay safe until then.