California Labor & Employment Law

10/01/2026

Can Employees Use a Previous Arbitration Loss by Their Employer to Block Arbitration for Hundreds of Other Workers?

A Ninth Circuit ruling in a wage dispute involving travel nurses answers that question with a clear no — and the decision carries important lessons for California employees about how arbitration agreements work, what rights employees have to challenge them, and why the outcome of one arbitration c...

09/30/2026

Tesla Goes to Trial Over California’s Claims of Widespread Race Discrimination at Fremont Factory

Tesla went to trial Monday in California over allegations that Black workers at its Fremont factory endured years of racial harassment and discrimination while the company failed to stop it.The case was brought by the California Civil Rights Department, which accuses the electric vehicle manufacture...

09/29/2026

Lawsuit Pressuring California to Decide Wage-Theft Claims Faster Moves Forward

The Labor Commissioner’s Office often takes years to decide workers’ claims of unpaid wages, though the agency said it has made improvements to reduce its backlog.

09/28/2026

Governor Newsom announces world-leading experts to deliver on his AI executive order, including advancing creation of a “kill switch”

State of California

09/27/2026

It’s supposed to be easy to make your boss pay up for lost wages. Instead it takes years

California’s understaffed labor agency has a backlog of wage and workplace claims that it has not investigated. A new lawsuit seeks to force it to move faster.

09/25/2026

Employment and Earnings Before, During, and After Experiencing Homelessness

Introduction Many assume people experiencing homelessness are not working. In Los Angeles County, which has the largest population of people experiencing homelessness in the country, a prior California Policy Lab report found that three-quarters of people who received homeless services had worked be...

09/24/2026

California Legislature Advances AI Employment Bills

At the end of August, the California legislature passed three bills that would regulate the use of AI in the employment context. These bills are now on

09/23/2026

California farmworkers get thousands in unpaid wages
California targets AI emotion recognition in the workplace

09/22/2026

California targets AI emotion recognition in the workplace

AB 1883 would prohibit employers from using AI to read or infer workers' emotional states

09/21/2026

When Does California Employment Law Follow a Remote Worker Out of State? Lessons from Saberin v. Alation

The widespread adoption of remote work has disrupted longstanding assumptions regarding which state’s employment laws govern a particular worker. A company may be headquartered in California, employ a worker residing in Utah, have that worker supervised from Washington, and have an employment deci...