
Sophia is a student at Harvard Law School. Prior to law school she was an organizer at SEIU 32BJ in New York City where she helped building service workers unionize. She is on the bargaining committee for the Harvard Graduate Student Union's (HGSU-UAW Local 5118) current contract campaign.
In today’s news and commentary, the Michigan Supreme Court grants heightened judicial scrutiny over employment contracts that shorten the limitations period for filing civil rights claims; the California Labor Commission gains new enforcement power over tip theft; and a new Florida law further empowers employers using noncompete agreements.
Michigan law grants workers a three-year limitations period to bring a civil rights claim against their employer. However, some employers deploy a boilerplate employment contract that shortens that window to just six months. On Thursday, in a 5-1 opinion in the case of Rayford v. American House Roseville I LLC, the Michigan Supreme Court held that a boilerplate employment agreement that shortens the statute of limitations period for civil rights claims below three years must be reviewed by judges for reasonableness in addition to unconscionability. The state court also noted that an adhesion contract — a contract where the parties are of such disproportionate bargaining power that the weaker party could not have negotiated changes to the terms — may be procedurally and substantively unconscionable. The decision is a win for workers across the state who feel forced to sign unreasonable employment contracts in order to make a living.
On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 648 into law, which authorizes the State Labor Commissioner to investigate and issue a citation or file a civil action against any employer found guilty of withholding or taking their workers’ tips. Before SB 648 employees were only able to pursue lengthy civil court actions to recuperate stolen gratuities even though Section 351 of the California Labor Code declared “[e]very gratuity” to be the “sole property” of the worker who received the tip. The state labor commission’s new enforcement power over tip theft under SB 648 will hopefully deter employers from violating the law and help workers avoid lengthy and draining litigation.
Florida lawmakers passed the Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act, which went into effect on July 1. Under the new law, Florida employers may now restrict their former employees and independent contractors from working for a competitor for up to four years by issuing a covered garden leave agreement or a covered noncompete agreement. The CHOICE Act establishes that these two types of covered agreements are not restraints of trade or attempts to monopolize commerce and even more notably, requires a court to issue a preliminary injunction upon a covered employer’s motion seeking enforcement of an agreement. To get a preliminary injunction, a covered employer no longer has to show that it has a legitimate business interest to protect, that the former employee disclosed confidential information, or that the employer will suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction. This law empowers Florida employers to win preliminary injunctions against former employees on an allegation of breach of a covered agreement alone.
Daily News & Commentary
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August 28
contested election for UAW at Kentucky battery plant; NLRB down to one member; public approval of unions remains high.
August 27
The U.S. Department of Justice welcomes new hires and forces reassignments in the Civil Rights Division; the Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments in Brown v. Alaska Airlines Inc.; and Amazon violates federal labor law at its air cargo facility in Kentucky.
August 26
Park employees at Yosemite vote to unionize; Philadelphia teachers reach tentative three-year agreement; a new report finds California’s union coverage remains steady even as national union density declines.
August 25
Consequences of SpaceX decision, AI may undermine white-collar overtime exemptions, Sixth Circuit heightens standard for client harassment.
August 24
HHS cancels union contracts, the California Supreme Court rules on minimum wage violations, and jobless claims rise
August 22
Musk and X move to settle a $500 million severance case; the Ninth Circuit stays an order postponing Temporary Protection Status terminations for migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal; the Sixth Circuit clarifies that an FMLA “estimate” doesn’t hard-cap unforeseeable intermittent leave.