Afternoon Brief, January 15th

Bordeaux Wine Merchants in Court: Another busy week as more Bordeaux wine merchants end up in court, while the UK government reveals binges during Covid...

Afternoon Brief, September 9th

Grapes, Berries and Robots: Is Silicon Valley Coming for Farm Workers Jobs?: The global ag-tech revolution has sped up in recent years, spurring a debate on how it will affect the workforce...

Taking the Reins: The Next Generation Is Putting Their Mark on These Family-Owned Wineries

By Paul Vigna In an industry where a majority of the businesses nationally are owned and operated by families, meet three next gen owners who all tell a similar story […]

Afternoon Brief, September 2nd

California Harvest Races to Beat the Heat: With picking well under way in many regions, the California harvest has producers cautiously optimistic...

Verallia France, a subsidiary of the world’s third largest producer and European leader in glass  packaging for beverages and food products, has announced the winners of the 13th Verallia Design Awards. The theme “glass without moderation” around drinks with low or no alcohol, inspired students  and young graduates from design, packaging and fine arts schools. A total of 170 projects were submitted to the jury.  At the end of the deliberations on May 19th, three projects were selected in the categories ‘still &  sparkling wines’, ‘spirits’ and ‘beers’. One project won a special prize on the theme of sporting events and another one was awarded by Lucile Viaud the patron of this 2022 edition.  July 18th – Still & sparkling wine category, Mue wins Consumer trends are changing… and why not the packaging of bottles? The creator of Mue, Elise Souchet, has understood this well by imag

Verallia Design Awards Unveils the Winners of the 2022 Edition

Verallia France, a subsidiary of the world’s third largest producer and European leader in glass  packaging for beverages and food products, has announced the winners of the 13th Verallia Design […]

On May 23, 2022, the California Supreme Court issued a decision in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc., finding that meal period and rest break premium pay are considered wages.  This is in accordance with the purposes of the California Labor Code’s provisions regarding timely wage payment and wage statements.  As a result, the failure to pay and include meal period and rest break premium pay on wage statements can support additional penalties for wage statement violations under Labor Code Section 226 and waiting time penalties under Labor Code Section 203.  What We Thought The Law Was Under California law, employees are entitled to rest breaks and an unpaid meal period.  The number of breaks and periods depended on the number of hours worked but was typically two 10-minute rest breaks and one 30-minute unpaid meal period, per regular, 8-hour shift. An employer who failed to provide the requisite number or duration of the breaks during each workday

Remembering William Loew

April 19th – William Loew, of Mt. Airy, MD, passed away on Friday, April 15th, 2022, at the age of 96. A Holocaust survivor, Mr. Loew was born in 1925 […]

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT ADDS TO COST OF DOING BUSINESS BY REQUIRING EMPLOYERS TO PAY FOR MISSED BREAKS AT A HIGHER RATE OF PAY On July 15, 2021, the California Supreme Court decided in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, that employers must pay premium payments to employees for missed meal, rest, and recovery breaks at the employee’s “regular rate of pay” (used to calculate overtime payments) instead of the employee’s base hourly rate, as most employers have always done. The Court further held that the ruling is retroactive, which will likely result in a new wave of class action suits alleging that employers who have paid meal and rest period premiums over the last four years have done so at the incorrect rate, which in turn will trigger penalties and/or attorney’s fees. This Alert evaluates the nature and extent of the likely liability risk raised by this new decision, outlines proactive steps employers can take to reduce exposure, and explores other ar