Compliance Toolkit and Next Steps – The New City of Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance

Hannah Sweiss represents a broad range of clients, from small businesses to national companies, in a variety of industries including trucking, hospitality, travel, manufacturing, and healthcare. Hannah’s practice is focused on representing and defending employers in class action wage and hour lawsuits as well as representative lawsuits brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Hannah has been lead counsel on numerous complex wage and hour/PAGA lawsuits achieving great results in cases with less than twenty members to cases with thousands of members.

Hannah has also handled a full range of Labor and Employment matters, from single plaintiff to multi-plaintiff actions with claims including, harassment, discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination.  Hannah has unique experience with individual matters and audits before the Employment Development Department (EDD), Department of Labor (DOL) and California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE).

Additionally, Hannah advises employers on preventative measures to litigation arising from various issues including wage and hour compliance, workplace safety, employee classification, independent contractor classification, mass layoff strategy, and management training. 

Hannah Sweiss is a member of the firm’s COVID-19 Taskforce, a cross-disciplinary team of attorneys dedicated to advising employers on the many workplace law aspects of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Benjamin M. Ebbink is a partner in the Sacramento office. With two decades of experience in labor and employment law and in assisting the development of California labor law and regulations, he focuses on legislation introduced at the state and local level. Benjamin assists employers with navigating evolving legislative and regulatory landscapes in a variety of areas including employment classification, workplace discrimination, employee privacy, wage and hour, employee compensation, trade secrets, employment contracts and terms, healthcare, immigration, employee leave, workers’ compensation, and workplace safety. 

For nearly 15 years, Benjamin served as Chief Consultant to the California Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment where he was the primary policy advisor on labor and employment matters for the California State Assembly. Benjamin played a key role in virtually every major labor and employment issue to come before the Legislature during his tenure, and personally drafted hundreds of legislative proposals. During his service in the Legislature, Benjamin earned a reputation for his integrity, his ability to work with diverse stakeholders on all sides, and his skill as a problem-solver.

His legislative experience and deep connections in the stakeholder community allow him to provide services to clients that have legislative or regulatory issues that benefit from his unparalleled experience and strategic guidance. Benjamin is also a registered legislative advocate and represents clients on labor and employment matters before legislatures in California and in other states.

Benjamin began his legal career as an associate with Beeson, Tayer & Bodine, focusing on federal and state labor law, bankruptcy law and ERISA. He received his J.D. in 2000 and his B.A. in 1997 from the University of California, Davis. He lives in Roseville, California with his wife and eight children.