We provide this 1/9/25 Cal/OSHA public notice:

Advisory – Release Number: 2025-06
January 9, 2025

Wildfire Smoke Alert: Cal/OSHA urges employers to protect workers from unhealthy air in Los Angeles County.

Cal/OSHA is reminding employers to protect workers from unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke. Several fires are currently impacting air quality throughout Los Angeles County. Refer to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) for the latest status on the fire, road closures and evacuation orders.

Currently, wildfire smoke is impacting many areas of Los Angeles County but could eventually spread even further.

What you need to know: Cal/OSHA’s Protection from Wildfire Smoke standard requires employers to protect workers from unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke.

To protect workers, employers must monitor air quality, adjust work practices, and provide N-95 respirators for voluntary use. Cal/OSHA’s standard also outlines specific training requirements. Full details, including resources in both English and Spanish, can be found at www.WildfireSmokeCalifornia.org and www.HumodeIncendios.org.

Monitoring air quality: When wildfire smoke might affect a worksite, employers must monitor the Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM2.5 before and throughout the work shift.

Where the AQI for PM2.5 is above 150, the employer must provide respirators to all workers and encourage workers to use respirators.

Where the AQI for PM2.5 exceeds 500, respirator use is required.

Air quality can be tracked through websites like the U.S. EPA’s AirNow or local air quality management district websites. Employers can also use their own instruments to measure PM2.5 at worksites per Cal/OSHA’s requirements.

Evacuation Zones: In California, it is illegal for employers to retaliate against workers for refusing to work in unsafe conditions, including in evacuation zones. Read more in the fact sheet Worker Safety Wildfire Smoke and Evacuation Zones.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
More resources for wildfire smoke safety:

• Protecting Workers Exposed to Wildfire Smoke Fact Sheet
  • Spanish fact sheet
  • Chinese (simplified) fact sheet
• Worker Safety: Wildfire and Evacuation Zones Infographic
  • Spanish infographic
  • Chinese (simplified) infographic
• Training video Wildfire Smoke Safety
  • Spanish training video
• CalFire incident tracking and resources

Cal/OSHA within the Department of Industrial Relations helps protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace in California. Cal/OSHA’s Consultation Services provides free and voluntary assistance to employers to improve their health and safety programs.

Workers who have questions about wildfire smoke hazards and protections can call 833-579-0927 to speak with a Cal/OSHA representative. Complaints about workplace safety and health hazards can be filed confidentially with Cal/OSHA district offices.

Employers with Questions on Requirements May Contact: InfoCons@dir.ca.gov, or call your local Cal/OSHA Consultation Office

Law Offices of Timothy Bowles
January 10, 2025

California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has penalized Van Nuys’ Parkwood Landscape Maintenance $276,425 for deliberately and knowingly violating state heat illness prevention regulations.

Cal/OSHA found the company:

• Failed to provide access to water or shaded areas;
• Did not conduct heat-related illness prevention training;
• Lacked written procedures for addressing high temperature work conditions in; and
• Required employees to purchase their own drinking water.

Marking its first willful heat violation citation, Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee stated: “Employers have a responsibility to protect their workers from the dangers of extreme heat. It is unacceptable for any business to blatantly ignore safety protocols, putting their employees at serious risk.”

Take-Aways:

Covered employers must correctly implement and comply with all applicable outdoor and indoor heat illness prevention procedures.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Maul Wake-Up Call – Cal/OSHA Fines LA Animal Shelter For Overcrowding, Staff Injuries (January 3, 2025)
• Chill Skill: California’s New Indoor Heat Rules July 23, 2024 (August 2, 2024)

Cindy Bamforth
January 10, 2025

California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has penalized San Pedro’s Harbor Animal Services Center $563,250 for permitting overcrowding that led to worker injuries, including a May 2024 mauling and hospitalization of a supervisor. According to the LA Times, the victim was getting a dog out of its kennel to show to a rescue group when it “flipped out” and attacked her leg.

Cal/OSHA found serious training and safety issues, including:

• Insufficient training;
• Animal overcrowding;
• Lack of proper personal protective equipment; and
• No effective communication system to permit rapid emergency response.

Debra Lee, Cal/OSHA Chief, stated: “This incident underscores the severe consequences that arise when employers fail to take proper measures to protect their staff from preventable risks. While we cannot undo the harm caused, we can hold employers accountable. Every employee deserves a workplace that prioritizes their health and safety.”

Take-Aways:

Attention to and investment in workplace safety and accident prevention are not backburner matters.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Chill Skill: California’s New Indoor Heat Rules July 23, 2024 (August 2, 2024)

Helena Kobrin
January 3, 2025

AB 3234, enacted to enhance transparency, requires an employer to post a website link to the child labor findings of any voluntary self-audit on workplace practices, including:

(1) When the audit was conducted (year, month, day, time, and whether conducted on a day or night shift);
(2) The result – i.e., did the employer engage in or support use of child labor (persons under 18);
(3) A copy of any written policies and procedures regarding child employees;
(4) Any exposures to hazardous or unsafe situations for minors;
(5) Work during or outside school hours or night hours; and
(6) A statement that the auditing company is not a government agency and is not authorized to verify compliance with state and federal labor laws or other health and safety regulations.

This new law begs the question of whether a public posting requirement actually discourages employers from engaging in such audits by opening them to government scrutiny, rather than confidentially looking for errors and fixing them.

Take-Aways:

Employers should follow all child labor laws when hiring minors. When determining compliance after-the-fact, they should obtain attorney advice to decide if conducting voluntary self-audits of child labor will be more helpful than harmful and the safest way to do so. If an attorney conducts the audit, it may shield the results from public posting as confidential attorney work product and attorney-client privileged communication.

See also:

• We Offer an Ounce of Prevention: Make a Wage Audit a Priority (February 15, 2024)
• Safe Harbor or Shipwreck?: New U.S. Department of Labor Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) Program to Voluntarily Address Payroll Errors (March 3, 2018)

Helena Kobrin
December 27, 2024

The Internal Revenue Service has announced its 2025 optional standard mileage reimbursement rate for employee business use of a personal vehicle, effective January 1, 2025, up from 67 to 70 cents/mile.

These rates apply to fully-electric and hybrid automobiles, as well as gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.

These standard business mileage rates stem from annual government studies of fixed and variable automotive operating costs, including insurance, repairs, maintenance, gasoline and oil.

Under California Labor Code section 2802, employers must reimburse employees for all actual work-related expenses necessarily incurred.

Take-Aways:

Employers applying the IRS standard should reimburse work-related employee vehicle use at the new 70 cents/mile rate starting January 1, 2025.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Out-Of-Pocket Procedure – Business Expense Reimbursement Policy (December 2, 2022)

Cindy Bamforth
December 20, 2024

Effective January 1, 2025, California minimum wage will increase to $16.50 per hour for all employers, regardless of size.

The California cities and counties below have ordinances with higher minimum wage standards.  Employers must comply with the local rules.  For more information, the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education publishes regular updates.

Covered employers must post conspicuously the current wage notice, which can be downloaded through the links above.

Employers with remote workers in more than one location may need to apply different minimum wage rates in each. Employers can solve this complexity by paying the highest applicable rate across the boards.

California employers in the fast food and health care industries should check their applicable minimum wage increases.

See also:

• What’s New in 2024 – Minimum Life Support – Health Care Facility Pay Hikes Take Effect October 16, 2024 (October 23, 2024)
• California Minimum Wage Mid-Year Rate Increases (June 28, 2024)

Helena Kobrin
Daniska Coronado
December 13, 2024

“No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.” Plato

We lawyers, if worth our salt, are in the truth business. In the game this firm plays, also known as California employment litigation, this is our daily task: to educate and bring management-side clients to grips with the largely no-win task of fighting their way through often inflated or sometimes fully imaginary accusations. See, Trust Me, I’m A Lawyer, Mass Employment Litigation is No Fun (August 30, 2024)

There is perhaps nothing more frustrating for an employer than to face a court challenge under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claiming a kitchen sink collection of Labor Code violations. Perhaps rightfully proud of years of well-intended workplace practices, management can nevertheless find themselves being held up for civil suit ransom over technical violations that pose millions in penalties.

“New class action and California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) filings have grown exponentially in recent years and reached record numbers in 2023. This trend is raising concerns for California employers as the state courts have expanded liability risks for more claims and further restricted the applicability of arbitration agreements to PAGA claims.” The Data Is In—California Class Action and PAGA Filings to Hit New Highs (Ogletree Deakins, Jan. 12, 2024)

Of course, an employer’s best defense is perfect timekeeping, perfect pay statements, and perfect everything else in compliance with California’s extensive, stringent and regularly expanding Labor Code requirements. PAGA’s 2024 revisions are designed to bring some relief to business, emphasizing the sooner an employer strives to achieve that ideal the better, with zero or reduced potential liability for those taking such initiative.

“PAGA provides employers the opportunity to cure, or correct, certain violations during the notice period and avoid PAGA litigation and penalties. For notices filed on or after June 19, 2024, the PAGA reform legislation expanded the types of violations that can be cured. Violations that can be cured now include claims for minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest breaks, necessary expense reimbursement, and all requirements for itemized wage statements, among others. All cure notices or proposal and cure disputes must be submitted online through the PAGA Filing Portal.” Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Frequently Asked Questions, California Labor Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) (2024).

Take-Aways:

As the LWDA’s FAQs underscore, correction of workplace practices under PAGA’s guidelines can involve many moving parts. Yet, whatever the cure, its cost in resources and attention are a vast savings over the often-crushing expense and potential business-ending consequences of a PAGA lawsuit that otherwise could have been avoided.

For more information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• PAGA Monster Declawed; Major Relief for Responsible Employers (June 28, 2024)
  
• PAGA Monster Grows More Legs – Best Protection Against Potentially Devastating Group Labor Claims is … Prevention (February 2, 2024)
  
• The PAGA Monster Is Hungry – Non-Compliant California Employers at High Risk under Special Law (May 14, 2021)

Tim Bowles
December 13, 2024

Effective January 1, 2025, SB 399 bans employers from holding any mandatory meetings (also called “captive audience meetings”) to discuss politics or religion with their employees, defining those subjects as:

• “’Political matters’ means matters relating to elections for political office, political parties, legislation, regulation, and the decision to join or support any political party or political or labor organization.”

• “’Religious matters’ means matters relating to religious affiliation and practice and the decision to join or support any religious organization or association.”

Employees may decline to take part in any such meetings or discussions and employers may take no consequent adverse action (e.g., discrimination, retaliation, threats of discharge). If employees continue working rather than attending a political or religious meeting, the employer must pay them.

Violations of SB 399 are subject to a $500 fine.

Religious organizations not covered by discrimination laws, political organizations, educational organizations or non-profits requiring coursework or other mission-related political or religious requirements, are exempt from this law. Communication about such subjects in the context of civil rights or other required education of employees is also permitted.

On the federal level, in Amazon.com Services LLC, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has banned captive audience meetings where employers present their positions on unionization.

Neither SB 399 nor the Amazon.com Services decision prohibits employers from holding such meetings with advance notice of the subjects and voluntary employee attendance.

Take-Aways:

Employers must ensure any discussions with employees about religion, politics, or unionization are entirely voluntary. And they should never take any kind of retaliatory or discriminatory action for an employee’s non-participation.

See Also:

• Grin and Bear It: Political Views in the Workplace (July 12, 2024)
• Religious Ruling Favors Employees: Supreme Court Requires Accommodation Unless Substantial Cost Burden (September 1, 2023)
• Take a Deep Breath: Workplace Political Speech Dos and Don’ts (October 21, 2022)

Helena Kobrin
December 6, 2024

Since 2014, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) has prohibited national origin discrimination against an individual for holding a so-called “AB 60” driver’s license available to undocumented workers under California Vehicle Code 12801.9. However, this has not barred employers for rejecting applicants or terminating workers for lacking any driver’s license.

Taking this further, recently-enacted SB 1100 amends FEHA making it unlawful to include mandatory driver’s license statements in job advertisements, postings, applications, or other employment materials unless the employer:

• Reasonably expects driving to be one of the position’s job functions; and

• Reasonably believes using an alternative form of transportation (such as a ride hailing service, taxi, carpool, bicycling, or walking) would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer using his/her own vehicle.

The legislature explains that “[b]asing hiring decisions on whether or not a candidate has a driver's license or owns a vehicle can perpetuate broader systemic biases and assumptions about who is considered a ‘desirable’ or ‘reliable’ employee. This can contribute to discrimination against marginalized communities and reinforce socioeconomic disparities while also perpetuating car dependency, as people are made to feel that they must own a vehicle in order to gain employment.”

In effect, SB 1100 makes not having a driver’s license a protected class unless the employer can meet the above exceptions.

Take-Aways:

As of January 1, 2025, even employers who can satisfy the first condition cannot ask for a driver’s license unless they properly evaluate and determine that alternate forms of travel would not suffice. All covered employers should review their job postings and job descriptions and train their HR team to ensure compliance.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• What’s New In 2025 Combo Protection – California Recognizes Hybrid Forms of Workplace Discrimination (November 15, 2024)
• No Fly Zone Approaching - October, 2020 “REAL ID” Requirements for Air Travel Will Not Impact Employment Eligibility (September 19, 2019)

Cindy Bamforth
December 5, 2024