As most California employers now know, California does not have just one minimum wage. Depending on your location and your industry, minimum wage can vary greatly in our lovely golden state. Some of these minimum wages increase in January, when the state minimum wage hikes. Others, like Los Angeles, Los Angeles County (unincorporated!), and other…
Category: Wage & Hour
State of Play in PAGA and Class Action Litigation
Last Monday, the Labor & Employment Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association held its annual Symposium, and I was honored to speak on the panel entitled “State of Play in PAGA and Class Action Litigation.” The Symposium was an all-day event, comprising numerous panels addressing key issues in employment litigation in 2026. I…
Compensating For Employees Using Cell Phones
I have touched on this issue before, but I notice there is still confusion about the issue of employees using their cell phones for work purposes. So, let’s break this down and eliminate any misunderstanding. There is a growing trend of employers using workplace apps to communicate with their employees. I got sense of this…
Minimum Wage Rises in California and Many Jurisdictions Within the State, Effective January 1, 2026
As has been our new year tradition in California now for a decade, the state minimum wage is increasing at the start of the year. The CALIFORNIA minimum wage effective January 1, 2026, is now $16.90. When the state minimum wage increases, so does the salary threshold for most exempt employees, which is now $70,304….
Let’s Talk About Payroll Compliance
Retain copies of all payroll documents, especially before you switch payroll providers – This issue seems to crop up on nearly a daily basis for us. My team and I are responding to demand letters from lawyers, asking for the payroll records for an employee. We are defending wage and hour lawsuits, single employee, class…
Refresher on Meal and Rest Break Compliance in California
Meal and rest break claims are still at the heart of nearly every wage and hour lawsuit – whether it’s a class action, a PAGA suit, or an individual lawsuit or administrative claim. When these lawsuits hit, my clients all assure me that they are “compliant;” yet often, when we dig in, we uncover issues. …
Revisiting Regular Rate of Pay – How to Calculate it and When to Pay It
Many California Labor Code sections, as well as federal wage and hour law, require that we pay our non-exempt employees based on the REGULAR RATE OF PAY (“RROP”), not the “base pay” or hourly pay that we agree to pay them. For example, overtime (under BOTH federal and state law) must be paid at the…
PAGA Reform – One Year Later
I get questions all the time; did the PAGA Reform deliver on providing the changes it promised. The short answer is “maybe.” Every lawyer’s favorite response, right? The truth is, it’s still a little early to even know. In the world of litigation, especially collective action litigation (PAGA and class actions), time moves very slowly. …
Time For the July 1 Wage Hikes and Maybe Other Changes
For the past several years, California has been increasing its minimum wage annually, on January 1. This year, minimum wage for the state grew to $16.50. Many municipalities, such as Oakland and San Diego, also hike their minimum wages effective the start of the year. However, many other cities, including the City of Los Angeles,…
The Latest Developments with PAGA, California’s Gift That Keeps on Giving
With the advent of the much-hailed Private Attorney’s General Act (PAGA) Reform that came last June, attorneys for the plaintiff’s bar just keep finding ways to push their agenda. And one of those maneuvers includes their continued attack on our dearly beloved arbitration agreements. As you all should recall, we have had a bit of…