California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has approved new regulations that expand the protections available for people who identify as transgender. The regulations also expand protections for gender identity and gender expression.

The California Court of Appeals has ruled that employees who are paid solely on a commission basis must receive separate compensation for rest breaks. What this means is that even if commission employees are paid advances or draws against future commissions, they must still be paid separate compensation for rest periods and non-productive time.   

As of March 13, 2017, certain San Jose, California employers must offer additional work hours to existing qualified employees before hiring new employees, subcontractors, or temporary staffing and must prominently post a notice informing employees of their rights under the Opportunity to Work Ordinance (Ordinance).  

California is the first state in the nation to propose and enact standards specifically aimed at protecting health care workers against workplace violence.  Under the rules, all California employers operating health care facilities, home health care programs, drug treatment programs, emergency medical services, and outpatient medical services for correctional and detention settings must: (1) establish, implement, and maintain an effective workplace violence prevention plan; (2) provide training to address workplace violence risks that employees are reasonably anticipated to encounter in their jobs; (3) report violent incidents to the Division of California Health and Safety (Cal/OSHA) within specified timeframes; and (4) comply with increased recordkeeping requirements.