The 2023 California legislative session saw the passage of a number of new and important labor and employ- ment laws.
As in prior years, the California Legislature continued to expand employee leave rights this session. They
increased the amount of paid sick leave employers are required to provide under California’s existing paid sick
leave law and established a new reproductive loss leave for employees.
Noncompete agreements also remained at the forefront of California law. The Legislature has declared that
noncompetes, which have long been unenforceable in California, are now also unlawful. In addition, the new
law indicates an employer will commit a civil violation any time it enters into a noncompete agreement even if
the employer doesn’t seek to enforce the agreement. Further, California employers are required to notify cer- tain current and former employees that a previously signed unlawful noncompete is void by February 14, 2024.
Another key area for the Legislature is cannabis laws. Based on a law that passed in 2022, and beginning on
January 1, 2024, employers may not take any adverse employment action against employees for off-duty mari- juana use. This year, the California Legislature expanded the law to protect applicants from discrimination based
on prior cannabis use.
In response to higher rates of workplace violence, the Legislature also established the country’s first set of
general industry workplace violence safety standards. Beginning in 2024, employers...
Turkish base fake news in Armenia For several days, a video has been circulating on social media claiming that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan allegedly signed a “secret agreement” with EU ...