Industry Updates

SINCE THE Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect in June 2023, there’s been a huge spike in lawsuits against employers alleging failure to reasonably accommodate workers covered by the landmark legislation. In the first 11 months following enactment of the law, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 1,869 complaints from workers who allege their employer …

Continue reading “Jan 2025 – HR Liability – Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Lawsuits Spike”

AN ALLEGEDLY Chinese state-sponsored hacker campaign dubbed “Salt Typhoon” has infiltrated major cell phone providers, including AT&T and Verizon, potentially exposing your company’s communications to threat actors. The attack has been described as the most significant telecommunications hack in U.S. history. While the breach is alarming for individuals, the implications for businesses are profound and …

Continue reading “Jan 2025 – Salt Typhoon – A New Cyber Threat Businesses Can’t Ignore”

WITH 2025 NOW upon us, so is a slew of new laws and regulations that will affect California businesses. Last year was a busy legislative session in addition to a rash of important rulemaking. The end result is another round of new legislation that California employers need to stay on top of. 1. ‘Captive audience’ …

Continue reading “Jan 2025 – Top 10 Laws and Regulations for 2025”

BUSINESSES WITH a web presence, particularly those that are consumer-facing, are increasingly being sued over website accessibility issues that prevent visually impaired individuals from using a website. While the number of such cases has been growing, 2,281 website accessibility lawsuits were filed nationwide in 2023, down from 2,387 the prior year and 2,352 in 2021, …

Continue reading “October 2024 – Lawsuit Risk – More Businesses Sued Over Disabled Website Access”

CAL/OSHA has proposed new regulations that would incorporate California’s new workplace violence prevention law — which took effect July 1 — into Title 8, the set of regulations that covers workplace safety in the Golden State. However, the proposed rules add a number of new requirements that some safety observers say would be unworkable in …

Continue reading “October 2024 – New Rulemaking – Proposed Workplace Violence Rules Sow Confusion”

ARE YOU due for a workers’ compensation premium audit? Audits are how insurance rates are determined, and it’s possible that an audit will uncover information that can actually save you money — or not if you’ve hired additional staff and haven’t notified your insurer. In any case, it pays to be prepared and you can …

Continue reading “October 2024 – Workers’ Compensation – How to Streamline Your Insurance Policy Audit”

CAL/OSHA is working on new rules that would crack down on and step up enforcement and penalties against California employers that commit “egregious” and “enterprise-wide” workplace safety violations. To enforce the impending rules, the agency is ramping up the hiring of investigators to identify egregious violators and to refer more employers for criminal prosecution. The …

Continue reading “October 2024 – Proposed Rules Take Aim at ‘Egregious’ Violators”

THE EQUAL Employment Opportunity Commission has issued updated workplace harassment guidance for employers, increasing possible exposure to employee-initiated lawsuits. These are federal guidelines, meaning that they open a new avenue for potential employment practices liability exposure. Employers should understand this new guidance to ensure they don’t run afoul of the law and risk being sued …

Continue reading “July 2024 – New Rulemaking – EEOC Issues Updated Workplace Harassment Guidance”

CALIFORNIA INSURANCE Commissioner Ricardo Lara on May 31 approved all of the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s recommended changes to class codes for some electronics manufacturing sectors, as well as increases to the wage thresholds for construction industry dual classifications. The following changes will take effect for policies incepting on or after Sept. 1, 2024: …

Continue reading “July 2024 – Workers’ Compensation – Changes Coming to Electronics, Dual-Wage Class Codes”

CHANGES ARE again coming to Fed-OSHA’s Hazardous Communications Standard, which governs the handling of chemicals and other dangerous substances. OSHA’s final rule, which takes effect July 19, 2024, will bring the standard in line with the latest update to the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. The update revises criteria …

Continue reading “July 2024 – Fed-OSHA Rulemaking – OSHA Updates HazCom Standard”