Legal Insights

Increase to Minimum Wage; Maximum Tip Credit; and Minimum Cash Wages for Tipped Employees in Maine
Hilary St. Jean

Reminder of Maine Wage Changes as 2024 Approaches

The State of Maine is enacting more protective laws for its residents in the arena of employment law. It is worth reminding businesses of what’s to come in the near term and in the longer-term future of Maine employment laws. It is the second state in 2023 to set up a state-based paid family and medical leave program (see below).

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Hilary St. Jean

Classification of Employees and Independent Contractors in Maine

Why Does Classification of Service Providers Matter? Appropriately classifying workers is extremely important for several reasons under applicable employment, labor and tax laws and is a matter of both federal and state law. Misclassification of workers is illegal. Some employers may intentionally misclassify workers as independent contractors instead of employees in order to avoid paying for and observing certain employee-related

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Avoiding Labor & Employment Disputes From Onboarding To Exit.
Hilary St. Jean

Avoiding Labor & Employment Disputes from Onboarding to Exit. (Mitigating Risk of Liability in the Employee Lifecycle)

Introduction Now more than ever companies must be on top of staffing and employment issues. It’s always important to properly document onboarding employees and contractors, any issues that arise in the lifecycle of the employment relationship and any exit documentation, but in difficult economic times it is especially important to maintain recordation thereof and any human resources issues.  Mitigating Labor

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Understanding Cal-OSHA Injury and Illness Prevention Program ( IIPP )Requirements for California Cannabis Businesses
Rogoway Law Group

Understanding Cal-OSHA Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)Requirements for California Cannabis Businesses

Introduction Most commercial cannabis businesses in the state of California spend a significant amount of time ensuring they are compliant with the regulations promulgated by the California Department of Cannabis Control (the “DCC” and “DCC Regulations”). However, there are a number of non DCC rules and regulations that all commercial cannabis businesses must also comply with that often get overlooked.

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Changing Labor Peace Agreement Requirements for California Cannabis Licensees and License Applicants
Rogoway Law Group

Changing Labor Peace Agreement Requirements for California Cannabis Businesses

As more and more States legalize medical and/or adult-use cannabis, the issue of worker’s rights in the cannabis industry has taken center stage. Many States with regulated commercial cannabis business industries, including California, require applicants for licensure and licensed cannabis businesses with a certain number of employees to enter into and abide by the terms of a Labor Peace Agreement. 

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Workplace misconduct -- such as health and safety violations, retaliation, drug and alcohol use, and theft or fraud -- ranks among the most important legal challenges a cannabis or beverage company might encounter
Josh Zetlin

Investigate Workplace Misconduct…Don’t Turn a Blind Eye!

The mountain of legal issues facing businesses in regulated industries often seems overwhelming. But, thoughtful management can utilize an important tool – internal investigations – to uncover and mitigate potential workplace-related liabilities before they spiral out of control.  What is Workplace Misconduct? Workplace misconduct — such as health and safety violations, retaliation, drug and alcohol use, and theft or fraud

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Labor Peace Agreement Requirement for Cannabis Operations in California as required by AB 1291
Rogoway Law Group

Getting “Real” About Labor Peace Agreements: Assembly Bill No. 1291 And Its Implications

Earlier this month, Governor Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill No. 1291 (“A.B. 1291”), which amends Section 26051.5 of California’s Business & Professions Code to strengthen California’s pro-union requirements for cannabis companies. Specifically, the new law, which will go into effect on January 1, 2020, rewrites the express union organizing commitments cannabis companies must make as part of their state

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U.S. Supreme Court through its decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela confirms that arbitration agreements should be taken seriously.
Rogoway Law Group

Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela Confirms (Yet Again) That Arbitration Agreements Should Be Taken Seriously

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, 587 U.S. ____ (2019), reported at 2019 WL 1780275, a case with at least three striking lessons: Lesson #1 Because arbitration agreements are formed by contract through mutual consent, parties negotiating arbitration agreements should pay very careful attention to the specific words used in the contract.

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Section 26065 of MAUCRSA (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 26065), which provides simply that employees “engaged in the cultivation of cannabis under this division shall be subject to Wage Order No. 4-2001 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
Rogoway Law Group

Cannabis Cultivator Beware: A Wage & Hour Trap for the Unwary

Sometimes California’s cannabis laws can be surprising, even to the experts. Our firm came across one example of this recently: Section 26065 of MAUCRSA (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 26065), which provides simply that employees “engaged in the cultivation of cannabis under this division shall be subject to Wage Order No. 4-2001 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.” A Brief

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A Wage & Hour Primer for HR Managers of California Cannabis Businesses
Rogoway Law Group

A Wage & Hour Primer for HR Managers of Cannabis Businesses

We are offering the following observations so that HR managers in the cannabis field can better understand some of the rules that govern wage and hour requirements here in California. These rules are important because failure to follow them can expose employers (the operating cannabis companies) and sometimes their executives to significant civil fines and penalties and, in the case

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