2025 Employment Law Updates 

Bianca Saad

General Counsel, Labor and Employment, Bianca N. Saad, a member of the CalChamber legal affairs team since April 2018, was named general counsel, labor and employment in October 2023. Since mid-November 2021, she has been developing and leading the content and training strategy for existing and emerging products and training, as well as overseeing CalChamber associate general counsel and subject matter experts. She serves as a co-presenter for CalChamber compliance seminars and webinars. Before her promotion to leading content and training strategy, Bianca oversaw CalChamber coverage of the ever-expanding area of employment-related local ordinances. She brought to the CalChamber legal affairs team the perspective of an employee representative, coming from nearly eight years in private practice as an employment litigation attorney. She has represented plaintiff workers in various types of employment cases, including unlawful discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower claims, and wage and hour disputes. She represented her clients in administrative agency matters and arbitration and through all phases of litigation, including depositions and other discovery, settlement negotiations, mediation and jury trials, facing both private and public employers. Her experience includes five years as a senior associate/litigation attorney with a boutique employment litigation firm in Sacramento. Bianca graduated with honors from the University of Miami with a B.B.A. in business management. J.D. California Western School of Law

Matthew Roberts

Associate General Counsel, Labor and Employment, Matthew J. Roberts, a member of the CalChamber legal affairs team since July 2019, was named associate general counsel, labor and employment in October 2023. He explains California and federal labor and employment laws to CalChamber members and customers, and since October 2021 has served as manager of the Labor Law Helpline. Matthew brought to CalChamber a decade of experience representing business owners on California wage and hour and anti-discrimination employment laws for law firms in Sacramento and Davis. He came to CalChamber from the Shaw Law Group, P.C. of Sacramento, where he was a senior attorney and authored articles on emerging issues in employment law. In addition to representing employers in all phases of litigation before state and federal employment law enforcement agencies, he provided training and developed training materials on topics such as sexual harassment prevention training, wage and hour and leaves of absence issues, and conducting sensitive workplace investigations for public and private employers. During the preceding eight years as an attorney in private practice with Davis and Sacramento firms, Matthew represented clients in all phases of litigation involving claims for violations of state and federal anti-discrimination laws, whistleblower protection acts, and wage and hour laws, as well as representing clients in internal grievances and alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration. He received a B.A. in government from California State University, Sacramento. J.D. McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific

Erika M. Barbara

Senior Employment Law Counsel, Erika M. Barbara rejoined the CalChamber team in April 2024 continuing her career of helping employers navigate the ever-changing landscape of California employment law. She will be co-presenting seminars and webinars, conducting in-person harassment prevention training, and providing guidance to employers on employment issues through the CalChamber Labor Law Helpline and compliance publications. Barbara fulfilled similar responsibilities while serving as CalChamber employment law counsel from 2015 to 2019. Barbara has almost two decades of experience at employment law firms in Sacramento and San Francisco, where she defended employers in California and federal employment law litigation, including class action and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits involving a range of workplace-related issues, including wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims, and investigated and responded to administrative complaints before federal and state agencies. She also provided advice and counseling, handbook reviews and conducted employment law training seminars. Barbara holds a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. J.D. University of San Francisco School of Law