California Municipal Law Blog

Paid Sick Leave and Expanded Family Medical Leave for Coronavirus COVID-19 under the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act”

by on March 25, 2020

posted in Employee Benefits, Family and Medical Leave, Legislative Updates,

Congress Approved H.R. 6201, the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” (FFCRA) with new requirements for employers with fewer than 500 employees and public employers.  The text of the law may be found here. The Act requires certain employers to provide FFCRA paid sick leave, and also to extend family medical leave act benefits, in certain circumstances; and employers are able to retain an amount equal to the qualifying sick leave and child-care leave that they pay from payroll taxes.  The Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division is responsible for the administration and enforcement ... Continue Reading

tags: COVID-19, Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, Families First Coronavirus Response Act,

Claims Act Deadlines Extended 60 Days

by on March 22, 2020

posted in Claims Act,

Yesterday, the Governor issued another in a series of executive orders in light of the COVID-19 emergency.  We provide a separate update concerning that order’s suspension of portions of the Brown Act.  In this blog post, we note that this latest executive order also extended the time for filing or responding to any claim (often referred to as a “tort claim”) under the Claims Act.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Claims Act, COVID-19, Executive Order,

Governor’s Latest Executive Order further Suspends Portions of Brown Act

by on March 22, 2020

posted in Meetings,

On March 21, 2020, the Governor issued the latest of many executive orders concerning the COVID-19 public-health emergency.  This most recent order addresses a number of subjects, including local agency meetings under the Brown Act.  As to these meetings, the order suspends the Act’s prohibition against taking action on “off-agenda” business items under limited circumstances.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Brown Act, COVID-19, Executive Order, Off-Agenda Items,

Governor Suspends Deadlines for Converting to District Elections

by on March 21, 2020

posted in Elections,

On March 20, the Governor issued another in a series of executive orders related to the COVID-19 public-health emergency that, among other things, suspended the deadlines related to the process of converting from at-large to district elections.  Specifically, the order suspends the deadlines provided in Elections Code section 10010 related to voluntary conversions undertaken in response to claimed violations of the California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”).  Effectively, this means that cities and special districts that have received demands to convert to district elections, and cities and districts ... Continue Reading

tags: At Large Elections, California Voting Rights Act, COVID-19, District Elections, Executive Order,

URGENT: Updated Executive Order Further Relaxes Public Meeting Requirements Due to COVID-19

by on March 18, 2020

posted in Meetings,

On March 17, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order No. N-29-20 concerning COVID-19 (the “coronavirus”) that, among other things, supersedes the provisions of Executive Order No. N-25-20 related to partial suspensions of the Brown Act. This previous order and its effect on local agencies was covered in our previous blog post. The new executive order suspends portions of the Brown Act to allow local government to implement recommended or imposed social distancing measures to prevent or slow the spread of the coronavirus.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Brown Act, COVID-19, Public meetings,