Legislation passed earlier this year changes some of the rules relating to smoking in the workplace and expand already-existing smoke-free workplace protections. The changes were effective on June 9, 2016. Existing law prohibits employers from knowingly or...

Effective April 1, 2016, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) was amended to address numerous aspects of discrimination, harassment and other workplace issues. One issue that has become an recent “hot topic” is whether an employee is permitted to bring their...

Historical Gender Based Wage Differentials It has been reported that in 2014 a woman working full-time in California earned an average of $.84 to every dollar a man earned, and the national average is a wage gap of $.78 to the dollar. The wage gap is much worse for...

Last year,  Labor Code Section 226.7 was amended to prohibit employers from requiring employees to work during a recovery period taken in accordance with heat illness regulations.   This year, SB 1360 confirms that rest and recovery periods are paid breaks and count...

Under current law, an employer who pays less than the minimum wage is subject to a Labor Commissioner citation that includes a civil penalty, restitution and liquidated damages (Labor Code Section 1197.1). AB 1723 authorizes the Labor Commissioner to also recover...

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) has been amended by AB 1443 to: •    Provide protections against harassment to unpaid interns and volunteers; •    Provide protections against discrimination in an unpaid internship or in another limited duration ...

California Labor Code Section 2801 requires that employers must reimburse employees for certain expenses incurred in the course and scope of performing their job duties - this obligation includes the expenses associated with the employee's business related use of...

As was discussed in prior our Newsletters, effective January 1, 2013, all commission agreements must be put in writing. The amendment to the Labor Code applies to all employers whether or not located within California, with employees located within the state....

Californian court recently held that it was not retaliation when the employer took disciplinary action against an employee who filed a false report of harassment. (Joaquin v. City of Los Angeles) In this case, a police officer sued the City of Los Angeles, claiming...

Under California law, it has been well established that an employee who uses medical marijuana is not protected under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Because there is no legal protection for the use of medical marijuana at work, employees may not report to...

There will be times when an employee presents a complaint regarding some workplace conduct. Depending on the nature of the complaint, the process that should be used in handling such employee complaints should not be overly complicated. Once the complaint is received,...

Many employers are of the belief that if they hire an insurance company, bank or financial institution to administer their 401(k), pension, health and welfare (including group medical, dental and vision plans) or Section 125 (cafeteria) plans, they no longer have...

In the recent weeks there has been considerable controversy over employers seeking to require applicants to provide the passwords to their Facebook accounts or other social media sites as part of the application process and as a condition of hiring. The issue has...

Employers must understand their legal obligations when an applicant or employee asserts that they are disabled, or when an employer regards the person as disabled, or if the person has a record of a disability. Failing to understand the strict legal requirements can...

As was reported in our previous newsletters, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument on the Brinker case on November 8th. And under the Rules of Court, the Supreme Court is required to issue decisions 90 days after a case is submitted, so a decision was...

Disability discrimination litigation seems to be on the rise. For this reason, it is critical for employers to understand their obligations and the protections provided to employees and applicants under both state and federal laws. These laws provide that individuals...

As discussed in our Year End Newsletter, one of the laws affecting California employers, effective January 1, 2012, is the requirement to provide a notice to new hires which complies with newly enacted Labor Code §2810.5(a) entitled Wage Theft Protection Act of 2011....

The California Court of Appeal recently found that employees are not entitled to "reporting-time pay" when they report to work for a scheduled shift (such as for a meeting) and work at least one-half of the scheduled time, even when that time is less than two hours....

On February 16, 2011 the California Court of Appeal issued a ruling that is going to significantly increase the number of meal and break lawsuits and will make settlement of these claims more expensive! California law provides an employee is entitled to be paid one...

An increasing number of wage and hour lawsuits and administrative wage claims before the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement include claims based upon the automatic deduction of meal periods. In many instances, employees do not actually clock out and in for lunch....