WARN Act Inapplicable to Remote Employees

The WARN Act normally applies to layoffs or plant closings at "single" sites of employment. There are detailed regulations on what constitutes a "single site." These regulations extend the "single site" concept to mobile workers (such as traveling salespersons), who receive work assignments and report to management at a "headquarters." These mobile employees may be covered by WARN under those special circumstances.

In Bader v. Northern Line Layers Inc., the workers were at construction sites in several states. Headquarters was in Billings, MT. The workers argued that because the construction assignments were temporary, and the Billings office handled all accounting, billing, payroll, and other administrative functions, they were actually employed in Billings for WARN purposes. The Ninth Circuit disagreed. The court noted that work assignments were made locally. Most of the employees were not Montana residents. The supervision was located locally, not in Montana, etc.

WARN is tricky and each layoff or shutdown needs to be closely examined in light of the applicable regulations and case law.

Pending California Bills

Every year at this time, the California Legislature sends a raft of proposed laws to the Governor for signature or veto. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of the employment-related bills awaiting action by Governor Schwarzenegger this year. Click the link for the text of the bill.

We of course will analyze the ones that are passed in future posts. We also will cover all the new laws and major court decisions at our annual legal update, held in Sacramento and San Francisco later this year. Get details here.

AB 504 - Lockouts - fines for employers

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0501-0550/ab_504_bill_20070910_enrolled.html

AB 622 - Independent Contractors

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0601-0650/sb_622_bill_20070906_amended_asm_v95.html

SB 936 - Workers' Compensation benefits

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0901-0950/sb_936_bill_20070913_enrolled.html

SB 942 - (More) Workers' Compensation benefits

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0901-0950/sb_942_bill_20070906_amended_asm_v94.html

AB 8 - Health care tax on employers to fund universal health care

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/ab_8_bill_20070910_enrolled.html

AB 124 - applying meal period laws to certain government employees

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0101-0150/ab_124_bill_20070821_amended_sen_v94.html


SB 549 - Mandated bereavement leave

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0501-0550/sb_549_bill_20070907_enrolled.html

SB 836 - Familial status discrimination

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0801-0850/sb_836_bill_20070910_enrolled.html

AB 377 - Labor contractors and pay records

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_377&sess=CUR&house=B&search_type=email

SB 727 - Expansion of Paid Family Leave

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0701-0750/sb_727_bill_20070906_enrolled.html

AB 1707 - new requirements for personnel files

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1701-1750/ab_1707_bill_20070910_enrolled.html

SB 180 - "card checks" for agricultural employees seeking union representation

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0151-0200/sb_180_bill_20070828_enrolled.html