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Public Agencies No Longer Required to Contract with DIR Registered Contractors for Small Projects

Senate Bill (SB) 96, passed this June as part of the California state budget, contains provisions designed to encourage more contractors to participate on small public works projects.

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Employers Must Provide Information on Rights of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Victims

California employers with 25 or more employees must now inform their employees in writing about the legal rights of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking victims. Employers, including public agencies, must provide this information using the form prepared by the California Labor Commissioner or in a notice that is substantially similar to the Labor Commissioner's form in content and clarit

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OCR Issues New Instructions on Transgender Student Complaints

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued new instructions to its regional directors regarding how to handle complaints involving transgender students. The document is intended to offer OCR staff additional guidance in light of recent court developments and the Trump Administration's withdrawal of the Obama Administration's guidance on transgender students.

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New Law Requires Union Access to Employee Orientation Sessions

Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation that requires public agency employers to give union representatives access to new employees during orientation sessions. The bill, which went into effect immediately after Brown signed it on June 27, is part of Assembly Bill (AB) 119, a budget trailer bill.

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DFEH Releases Guidelines on Anti-Harassment Policies, Training and Notice Regulations

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently released a Workplace Harassment Guide that includes recommended practices to enable employers to comply with California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) regulations aimed at preventing, investigating a

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Public Entities Must Proceed with Caution When Preparing an Addendum to a Negative Declaration

A California appellate court has held that a public entity violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by preparing an addendum to a mitigated negative declaration.

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Attorney General Sessions Defines Federal Funding Subject to Withholding Due to Sanctuary Policies

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions provided clarity on which federal funding would be subject to a withholding for implementing "sanctuary" policies that direct employees to refuse to communicate with, or frustrate communication of immigration status information to, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as required by federal law.

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Meet-and-Confer Requirement Does Not Apply to Pension Reform Measure Placed on Ballot through Voter Initiative Process

In Boling v. Public Employment Relations Board (Apr. 11, 2017, D069626) ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Boling), the Fourth District Court of Appeal invalidated a decision by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) holding that a city council violated the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) by placing a voter initiative to amend the city's charter on the ballot without first meeting and con

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Supreme Court Returns Transgender Student Rights Case to Lower Court

On March 6, 2017, the United States Supreme Court sent the case of Virginia transgender high school student Gavin Grimm back to an appellate court, which must now consider the case and the parties' arguments "in light of the guidance document issued by the Department of Education and Department of Justice on February 22, 2017" that rescinded the Obama administration's May 2016 guidance on transgen

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