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...

AB 1897 imposes new liability on employers who contract for labor to hold them accountable for any wage-and-hour violations if they use staffing agencies or other labor contractors to obtain workers. In summary, the law provides that if a labor contractor fails to pay...

Labor Code Section 98.6 prohibits an employer from undertaking any action that is discriminatory or retaliatory against an employee who complains of Labor Code violations.  Such conduct can result in a $10,000 penalty against the employer. Under AB 2751, the Labor...

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...

Currently employees are allowed time off to perform services as emergency rescue personnel.  The law has been revised by AB 2536 to expand the definition of "emergency rescue personnel.”  The new definition shall include an officer, employee or member of a disaster...

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 ...

Currently Labor Code Section 1019 provides protection to employees from "unfair immigration-related practices." The new law, AB 2751, expands the definition of “unfair immigration-related practice” to includes   threatening to file or filing a false report or...

Under a law passed last year, AB 60, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is scheduled to begin issuing driver's licenses to undocumented persons who can submit satisfactory proof of identity and California residency.  AB 60 also made it unlawful for a...

AB 1792 adds Government Code Section 13084, which prohibits an employer from: •    Discharging, discriminating or retaliating in any manner against an employee who enrolls in a public assistance program; •    Refusing to hire a beneficiary for reason of being enrolled...

Cal/OSHA has the responsibility to oversee workplace safety issues and can require an employer to correct any serious workplace safety violations.  Cal/OSHA can and does issue civil penalties for such violations. Under a new law (AB 1634) the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board...

For several years California law has required employers, with 50 or more employees, to conduct management training every two years to address issues of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention. California now requires employers who are subject to...

As we addressed in our prior newsletter, one of the most significant pieces of employment-related legislation is the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014  which provides for mandatory paid sick leave to all employees. Accrual, Caps & Carryover Employers...

The California Supreme Court was recently asked to decide if an employee's refusal to sign for the "receipt" of a disciplinary notice is "misconduct" which would disqualify him from receiving Unemployment Insurance.  The answer is NO. In the case, the Employer...

As has long been established by federal law, in order to obtain employment, a newly hired employee must complete the I-9 form and must present documentation to establish their identity and eligibility to work in the United States.  Employers must honor the documents...

Recently, a Florida district court ruled that a daughter's Facebook post mentioning the settlement of her father's lawsuit breached the confidentiality clause in the settlement agreement  resulting in the father having to forfeit his settlement proceeds. The father...

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...

Hiring the right person for the job is what every employer hopes to achieve. But finding good employees can be difficult and employers use various methods to help screen candidates. With the abundance of information on-line, Employers are looking to social media in...

With the new trend of 'e-cigarettes' the question becomes whether the use of such devices can be prohibited from the workplace. An e-cigarette is a battery powered device that provides inhaled doses of vaporized liquid, which usually contains nicotine and is an...

California Minimum Wage Increases to $9.00 July 1, 2014 As has been widely publicized, California’s  minimum wage will increase to $9.00 per hour effective July 1, 2014.  This is the first of a two step increase with the second increase to $10.00 per hour effective...

WINTER 2013     Well its that time of year again... time for planning the holidays, planning for the new year and with that comes the planning required with the legislation signed into new law in 2013 that will take effect during 2014. Below is a summary of many of...

All employers must have newly hired employees complete a I-9 form to establish their identity and their right to work in the United States.  The I-9 form has been revised many times and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security just issued an updated I-9 Form. While...

Now that the end of the year is fast approaching, it’s time to review what new laws the Governor has signed into law from the 2012 legislative session. Some of these new laws have previously been addressed in prior newsletters, but they are worth mentioning again...

The NLRB also recently held that standard at-will language in a non-union Employee Handbook violates section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. The Employee Handbook stated:  “I further agree that the at-will employment relationship cannot be amended, modified or...

Many employers conduct a criminal history check with the background investigation of applicants as it is both reasonable to do so, and in some circumstances necessary to do so to avoid claims of “negligent hiring”.  Some businesses cannot legally employ felons and...

Many employers are increasingly frustrated with the decisions granting unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to terminated employees.  Since a termination does not automatically preclude an employee from collecting benefits,  it is important to understand the EDD’s...

Advising Employees to Maintain Information Confidential Violates Section 7 of the NLRA Most private employers are under the impression that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the governing National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) only govern union employment...

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....

An employer is obligated to pay all “hours worked” by a non exempt employee.  “Hours worked” includes all time the employee is “required or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.” In Section 2 of Wage Orders 4 and 5 (which govern Professional, Technical...

Employers should continue using the current Form I-9 until further notice. This form has a control number expiration date of August 31, 2012. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services states that this form should continue to be used even after August 31,...

Governor Brown recently signed AB 1964, which will modify the California Fair Employment and Housing Act's (FEHA) relating to discrimination based on one's religious beliefs. While religious beliefs have always been included in FEHA as a “protected classification” and...

California employers may want to be aware of a number of employment-related bills still pending before the California Legislature, some of which are listed below.  Pending bills must be passed by each house by August 31.  After that, the Governor has until September...

In a recent decision the California Appellate Court determined that an employee who was terminated for refusing to sign a disciplinary notice had committed misconduct under the Unemployment Insurance Code, and thus was not entitled to unemployment insurance benefits....

As the weather heats up during the summer months, some employees may take it upon themselves to modify the manner in which they dress, and some companies may also wish to implement a more casual summer dress code. Either of these situations require some attention to...

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...

As employers recognize there are circumstances when employees have legitimate reasons to be absent or tardy, or employees may need to leave early to attend to personal matters. There are other times however when employers suspect that an employee's stated reason for...

Under California law, it is the general principal that each side pays its own attorney's fees. However, many laws specifically entitle the "prevailing party" to recover reasonable attorney's fees from the losing party. Other provisions of the Labor Code provide that...

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...

The Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) (commonly referred to as the “Labor Commissioner”) has revised the  “Notice to Employee”  that must be provided to newly hired non-exempt employees in accordance with the new regulations which became effective...

As we have discussed in prior editions of the Newsletter, there has been considerable controversy and legal challenges regarding the legality of the NLRB’s mandate to require all employers covered by the National Labor Relations Act, (which essentially includes all...

The California Court of Appeal upheld a jury verdict awarding $160,000 in damages and over $700,000 in attorney fees and costs to a former employee who alleged that two of her supervisors subjected her to hostile work environment sexual harassment under the California...

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...

Under California, law which became effective January 1, 2012, (see our Year End 2011 Newsletter), employers are required to continue to maintain and pay for health coverage under a group health plan for eligible female employees who take a Pregnancy Disability Leave...

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...

It is becoming increasingly difficult, according to many studies, for unemployed persons to find employment if they disclose that they are “unemployed”.  As a result, legislation has recently been introduced on the state and federal level to make amendments to the law...

California wage and hour laws provide that certain employees, such as executives, managers and administrative employees, are  “exempt” and  are not regulated by certain aspects of the Labor Code and the IWC Wage Orders, specifically  in relation to overtime...

For years it has been an acceptable practice for California employers to “round” up or down the recorded work time of their employees for payroll purposes, as long as the rounding practices followed the Labor Commissioner’s guidelines and did not serve as a method to...

Employers with 50 or more employees are currently covered by both the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the federal Family and Medical Care Act (FMLA) which permits employees who have worked more than 1250 hours in the most recent 12 month period of time to take...

Courts are regularly asked to review arbitration agreements relating to employment claims and more and more often are finding them to be invalid for a variety of reasons.  In a recent case, yet another court found an employer’s arbitration agreement invalid as to...