California Workplace & Employment Law Blog

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court closed out its term for the year, during which it recently issued an opinion that is a big win for California employers in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana. The decision will allow employers to keep employee lawsuits under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) out of court, and in arbitration.

Yesterday, Cal/OSHA approved new workplace rules that allow most fully vaccinated workers to stop wearing masks, and ends physical distancing requirements for all workers. Due to an executive order issued by the governor, the new rules go into effect immediately.

The key takeaways are as follows:

In March 2020, businesses across the country had no choice but to shutter their workplaces and permit their employees to work from home (also called “telecommuting” or “teleworking”). With vaccine distribution ramping up and government restrictions loosening, employers are starting to bring their employees back to work.

Now that many employers have been able to conduct business with a telecommuting workforce for the last year, many employers are grappling with the question of whether they will ever be able to deny an employee the ability to work from home as a reasonable accommodation in the future.