FELS Newsletter: May & June 2025

FELS has learned of significant immigration enforcement activity in some rural areas in Southern California, particularly in Ventura County, occurring on June 9 and 10. Reports indicate that several packinghouses were visited by immigration enforce­ment agents seeking entry without a valid warrant. Reports indicate entry was denied as required by California law. In one instance, […]

June 6 was the last day for both houses of the Legislature to pass bills originating in the respective houses, causing the usual last-minute rush to pass bills before this deadline. Senate Holds PAGA Reform End-Run Bill: Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) moved his SB 310 to the inactive file on June 5, effectively killing […]

Merced Farm Labor Center presented to the monthly meeting of the Cal/OSHA Standards Board a proposal to revise the Zoonotic Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard (Zoonotic ATD) and formally submitted Petition 608 to the Board on March 21. The petition calls for paid sick leave (in addition to the 40 hours or five days of paid […]

With summer around the corner and early-season high temperatures expected throughout the California, FELS Newsletter readers are reminded of several important ways you can protect employees from heat illness: You can find more heat illness resources on FELS website at Environment & Weather-Related Safety.

Revocable, prospective, “blanket” meal period waivers are enforceable if they are not unconscionable or unduly coercive for employees, the California Court of Appeal ruled in April 21. In Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., two employees sued their employer on behalf of themselves and a putative class of employees alleging that Vicar Operating violated California meal […]

Oregon’s automatic minimum wage increase for non-exempt employees will take effect on July 1. Oregon law requires the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to calculate an annual minimum wage increase based on the Consumer Price Index increase from March of the prior year to March of the current year. In April, BOLI announced […]

The Western Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at UC Davis is surveying ag employers and others with insight on skills and training needed by agricultural employers and employees. The survey is short, and your input will be valuable! You can take either the English version or the Spanish version of the survey.

Salinas-based FELS Labor Management Consultant Santos Martinez reported recently that Cal/OSHA enforcement agents working from the agency’s Salinas office are engaging in enforcement activity along the U.S. Highway 101 corridor in southern Monterey County. This likely reflects stepped-up Cal/OSHA enforcement activity targeting agriculture from the agency’s new Agricultural Enforcement Task Force and Outreach Unit. (See […]

Falls Church, VA (May 8, 2025). AIHA—the association for scientists and professionals dedicated to occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—announced the release of Heat Stress App 2.0, its next-generation mobile tool that now includes risk factors unique to indoor workers. This new version follows the successful launch of AIHA’s original heat stress app, which […]

Several California localities will see their minimum wages increase on July 1: Many of these city and county ordinances have special provisions that apply their requirements to employees working for very short periods of time in those cities, and in some cases require employers to post information about their minimum wage requirements. FELS urges you […]