The California Supreme Court has finally issued its decision in the case of Augustus v. ABM Security Services, finding that state law precludes “on duty” rest breaks, including “on-call” rest breaks. The Court held that employers must relieve employees of all duty during rest breaks, and relinquish any control over how employees spend their break time. The case reverses a decision of the Court of Appeal for the Second District, which held that on-call rest periods were permissible. Plaintiff Jennifer Augustus and others, formerly security guards employed by defendant ABM Security Services, Inc., brought a class action against ABM on the ground that ABM failed to provide rest periods required
California requires employers to reimburse employees for expenses associated with using a personal automobile for business purposes. As an alternative to manually calculating such expenses, the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement has long taken the position that reimbursement at the optional standard mileage rates established by the IRS is presumably sufficient to cover all expenses associated with employee use of a personal automobile. Yesterday, the IRS issued the optional standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks), which will become effective January 1, 2017: 53.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (down from 54 cents in 2016). 17 cents pe
Each year presents new challenges for employers regarding compliance with California employment laws. Below is an overview of some of the key provisions taking effect on January 1, 2017. Minimum Wage Under existing law, California’s minimum wage for all industries is $10.00 per hour. Beginning January 1, 2017, the minimum wage will be $10.50 an hour for employers with 26 or more employees. There is no increase in minimum wage for employers with 25 or fewer employees until January 2018, at which time those employees must also be paid $10.50. Each year thereafter, the minimum wage will increase until January 1, 2022, at which time minimum wage for all employees will be $15.00 per hour. Not
