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Have you ever “just” had a cold, and decided it wasn’t bad enough to keep you from working? Have you ever “toughed it out” and showed up to the office, even though you weren’t feeling 100 percent?

COVID-19 in 2021 continues to create hardships for many. That is why the Treasury Department and IRS extended the deadline for the federal income tax filing and payments for the year 2020 to mid-May.

Over the past year-plus, remote meetings have become not only a necessity in a quarantined work environment but part of a revelation. Zoom, Skype, and even FaceTime have turned into valuable workplace tools for running meetings in lieu of face-to-face contact. As more businesses discover that the remote setup actually works quite well, pandemic or not, teleconferencing seems here to stay. But have the rules of etiquette changed? For the sake of professionalism and continuity, we hope not!

Two controversial bills passed the California Assembly on Monday—AB 84 and SB 95. At the heart of each is, yet again, COVID-19 leave.

Scrap the practice of “guesstimating” when it comes to your employees’ meal periods.

Most employers (and, we would hope, their employees) have an understanding of what sexual harassment is.

You walk into the break room and a hush falls among the employees who are huddled around each other in the corner. Checking your watch, you wonder how long they’ve been in there. How long have they been neglecting their work duties to engage in what is clearly a gossip session? These employees have smirks on their faces that indicate they surely aren’t talking about work.

Recognizing the sweeping nature of Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards and the breadth of the challenge to organizations in complying with requirements in the short timeframe allowed, CalChamber has requested Cal/OSHA make changes to the Standards and extend an enforcement grace period to employers. 

Think of workplace litigation as a bitter, ugly, contested divorce—lots of drama, years of hearings, depositions, stress, and $250-an-hour attorney’s fees. Ultimately you may get rid of the employee or even escape with some sort of win, but in the end, you still lose.

In early December, Cal/OSHA doubled down on workplace safety by passing the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards requirements, the purpose of which is to keep our workplaces—and employees—as safe and illness-free as possible.