WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2013 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Meal and rest period cases continue to arise after the welcomed California Supreme Court decision in Brinker v. Superior Court. 

Related cases were placed on hold pending the Brinker decision, and some have been decided on review. In two of those cases, Flores v. Lamps Plus (Lamps Plus Overtime cases) and Hernandez v. Chipotle, courts issued decisions that were favorable for employers — in both, the courts denied class certification.

The Brinker court held that employers must only provide a meal break and not ensure it is taken. In light of this finding, the Lamps Plus and Hernandez courts found that whether the employer was liable for a meal break violation required an individualized inquiry as to why any particular employee missed a specific break. 

As a result, class certification was not appropriate because courts would have to consider individual issues and facts to make a determination about employer liability. These cases were both initially published. 

However, the employee plaintiffs asked the California Supreme Court to review the decisions. The Supreme Court denied review, but at the same time depublished the cases. The decision to depublish these cases is an indicator that the Court disagreed with the underlying analysis on the class certification issue. 

California employers still face a tough legal landscape. Wage-and-hour class action suits will not disappear any time soon. 

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity recently launched the 2013 Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) database. 

The database contains nearly 3,000 profiles of postsecondary students and recent graduates with disabilities, including veterans. According to a press release announcingthe launch, the candidates have been interviewed and pre-screened by federal recruiters.

Private sector employers can access the WRP through ODEP’s national Employer Assistance and Resource Network’s website or by making a toll-free call to 855-275-3276.

On the surface it looks like California is maintaining a moderate momentum, according to the latest report of the California Chamber of Commerce Economic Advisory Council (EAC).

In September 2012, the state added 262,000 jobs on a year-over-year-basis; the second fastest year-over-year absolute nonfarm job growth in the nation behind Texas.

Today, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved amendments to California’s pregnancy regulations proposed by the Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC). The amendments take effect December 30, 2012. 

The approved pregnancy disability regulations make significant changes to state law, including:

This year, California’s Legislature passed Senate Bill 863, containing wide-ranging workers’ compensation reform measures. SB 863 takes effect on Jan. 1, 2013. 

Some of its provisions will be effective immediately, requiring changes to notices that explain employee rights and employer obligations. California employers must post a notice explaining employee rights and employer obligations under the state workers’ compensation system and must provide all employees with a workers’ compensation pamphlet at the time of hire.

CalChamber worked with the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) to obtain approved language for the required workers’ compensation notice and pamphlet. CalChamber’s 2013 California and Federal Employment Notices Poster and Workers’ Compensation pamphlet both contain language required by law for January 1, 2013, and approved by the DWC. The 2013 California and Federal Employment Notices Postercontains the 16 state and federal employment notices every California employer must post. 

Although some of the bill’s measures will take effect January 1, other provisions require administrative/regulatory action prior to implementation. 

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2013 optional standard mileage ratesused to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. 

The rates take effect on January 1, 2013. According to the IRS, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

Voters in San Jose agreed this week to hike the city’s minimum hourly wage to $10 per hour — $2 per hour above the state minimum wage. 

San Jose is now the second city in California to set its own minimum wage. Three other cities nationwide set their own minimum wage: Washington, D.C., and Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M. 

The first California city to set its own minimum wage, San Francisco, did so in 2003. The current minimum wage in San Francisco is $10.24 an hour. The San Francisco rate increases to $10.55 an hour beginning January 1, 2013. 

The San Jose law applies to employers who either maintain a facility in the city of San Jose or who are subject to the city’s business license tax (Chapter 4.76 of the city’s municipal code). 

Like San Francisco, the new San Jose ordinance comes with a posting requirement for employers. Employers will be required to post a notice setting forth the current San Jose minimum wage rate. 

California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced rate changes for the computer software employee exemption and the licensed physician or surgeon exemption.

The new rates take effect January 1, 2013.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced in mid October that it issued 341 decisions in contested cases during from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012. The agency issued decisions in 277 unfair labor practice cases and 64 representation cases. 

The NLRB also said it cut the median age of pending cases to 108 days from 219 days – a reduction of nearly 50 percent. All Board decisions can be found on the NLRB website. Some highlights of FY2012 case production follow: