The mission of the California Labor Commissioner's Office is to ensure a just day's pay in every workplace in the State and to promote economic justice through robust enforcement of labor laws. On one hand, sending untimely mass letters to employees may draw attention to the 60-day violation and prompt a lawsuit the employee was not previously considering. The Cochran court held that when an employee must use a personal cell phone for work purposes, the employer must provide reimbursement for a “reasonable percentage of [the] cell phone bills.” In theory, depending on the circumstances, an argument regarding the reasonable rate of reimbursement for expenses related to employee use of internet services, personal computers, or printers could be made. v. ABM Industries, Inc., a class action involving a California class of over 3,000 cleaning employees who claim that they were not reimbursed under Labor Code section 2802 for the expense of required use of their personal cellphones. $44,000,000.00 settlement for misclassified stock brokers Read On $7,200,000.00 settlement for cable installers who were not reimbursed for expenses and denied state mandated meal breaks and rest breaks Read On $4,250,000.00 settlement for employees denied state mandated meal and rest breaks and required to pay check cashing fees Read On Employers should be careful to reduce hours in a way that does not appear discriminatory. This means that all employees who work for employers who have 500 or more employees nationwide can receive COVID-19 related supplemental paid sick leave under California law. ©2020 Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP. But what if urgent circumstances do not allow for 60 days’ notice? Only “necessary” expenses that employees incur must be reimbursed; expenses that are incurred voluntarily need not be reimbursed by the employer. Because there is presently no clear authority on whether the COVID-19 crisis qualifies as a “physical calamity” within the meaning of the Labor Code, employers run a risk that a judge presiding over a WARN Act class action case disagrees and finds no “calamity.” Conceivably, a judge could rule that layoffs were a mere option to stem business losses caused by lessened customer demand and not because of the actual contracting of a contagious virus, the number of victims which thus far total less than one-percent of the population. The WARN Acts are essentially designed to give employees and the government agencies advanced notice to prepare for mass layoffs. The EDD publishes on its website the names of the employers, the date of the layoffs and the date of the notice. Under California Labor Code Section 2802 and court decisions in Gattuso v. Harte-Hanks Shoppers, Inc., 42 Cal.4th 554 (2007) and Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., 228 Cal.App.4th 1137 (2014), employers are required to reimburse employees for all “necessary” and “reasonable” expenses. A Refresher on California Reimbursement Requirements in a COVID-19 World California Labor Code Section 2802 requires employers to reimburse California employees for “all … If employers fail to give 60 days’ notice, such employers often find themselves defending class action lawsuits seeking back pay up to 60 days, statutory penalties, and attorney’s fees. However, printer ink and printer paper costs may be reimbursable when paperless work is not possible. 3. Employers in the hospitality industry are bracing to engage in mass layoffs in light of the dramatic drop in foot traffic and laws that temporarily prohibit dining in restaurants. Search California Codes. How about internet service? NOIs inform employers of the initiation of an I-9 audit and typically require employers to be. The cost of office supplies such as pens, pads, lamps, and furniture are not reimbursable unless the employer requires the use of specific types of supplies. Section 2802 operates to prevent an employer from passing its operating expenses to employees. The federal House of Representatives is in the process of passing bill H.R. California Labor Code section 2802 obligates employers to reimburse employees for “all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, …” The Cochran decision posed, and answered, the “threshold question” presented on appeal as follows: "It comes down to the necessities," Anderson said. 20STCV41117, is currently pending in the Los Angeles County Superior … Must an employer reimburse remote workers for all cell phone usage since supervisors are calling employees at home? (b) For purposes of this section, the term “necessary expenditures or losses” shall include all reasonable costs, including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees incurred by the employee enforcing the rights granted by this section. Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB1867 into law, which provides supplemental paid sick leave benefits for California workers. division 4.5. workers' compensation and insurance: state employees not otherwise covered [6100 - 6149] Employers are reminded that laid-off employees are entitled to their final paychecks immediately upon separation. However, as the state and local stay-at-home orders have been extended into May, employers may want to review their expense reimbursement policies to ensure that they are not leaving themselves vulnerable to claims and litigation later. Significantly, the WARN Acts require the employer to give the group of affected employees sixty (60) days’ notice of the layoffs. 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