Monthly Archives: January 2020

minimum wage

January 27, 2020

CO Department of Labor and Employment Adopts New Wage and Hour Rules

Read our article about the most recent updates to the COMPS order.

By Brad Williams

Brad Williams

What’s new?

On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (“CDLE”) adopted the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order (“COMPS Order”) #36, which replaces Colorado Minimum Wage Order #35. The adopted rules will go into effect on March 16, 2020.

The two most significant changes between Minimum Wage Order #35 and the new COMPS Order that will impact Colorado employers are:

  1. The new COMPS Order applies to all Colorado employers, unless specifically exempted; and
  2. The new order raises the minimum salary threshold required for employees to qualify for exemptions from overtime protections under Colorado law.

The new COMPS Order also makes numerous additional—albeit less significant—changes and clarifications to Colorado wage and hour rules. These include changes and clarifications relating to pre- and post-work time, tips, rest periods, and other issues. Read more >>

January 14, 2020

Summary of California Employment Law Changes for 2020

by Dora Lane and S. Jordan Walsh

Dora Lane

AB 5 (Codifies the “ABC” Test for Contractor Status)

AB 5 codifies the “ABC” Test for determining contractor status which was adopted by the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles. Under the “ABC” Test, a person providing labor or services for remuneration shall be considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the employer
demonstrates that all of the following conditions are satisfied:

  1. The worker is free from the control and direction of the employer in connection
    with the performance of his or her work—both in contract and in fact;
  2. The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the employer’s
    business; and
  3. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade,
    occupation, or business that is of the same nature as the work being performed.

S. Jordan Walsh

Subject to specific exceptions from the definitions of “employee” in the appropriate context, AB 5 applies to claims rooted in: (1) the California Labor Code, (2) California Wage Orders, (3) the California Unemployment Insurance Code, and effective July 1, 2020
(4) the Workers Compensation Code.

There are a number of industry-specific exceptions to AB 5, which must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Independent contractors who are members of these industries and meet certain conditions are exempted from AB 5. The bill also exempts business-to-business contracting relationships from the ABC Test if specified conditions are met.

If the ABC Test requirements do not apply to the particular situation, then the employee vs. independent contractor status will be determined by using the multi-factor test articulated in S.G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations, 48 Cal.3d
341 (1989).

Read more >>