The laws in California are protective of the rights of employees against discrimination and harassment from employers. This extends to actions taken by employers to punish or deter employees when they make these claims against their employers, act as whistleblowers against employer impropriety, or engage in some other activity that their employer doesn’t like. This is referred to as retaliation, and it is illegal. It is therefore important as an employee in California to be aware of your many legal protections from retaliation. Employee Actions Protected From Punishment California Labor Code 98.6 provides that “A person shall not discharge an employee or in any manner discriminate, retaliate, or take any adverse action against any employee or applicant for employment because the employee or applicant engaged in any conduct delineated in this chapter”, including an employee: Who exercises “recognized constitutional rights” off hours and away from the worksite. Who runs as a candidate who runs for public office.…Read More
The California Labor Code and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provide broad protections for employees in California. Most of the workforce is California is classified as non-exempt. Most of the overtime and wage protections provided by the Labor Code and FLSA directly address non-exempt employees. However, there is also a classification of “exempt” employees, to whom a different set of rules may apply. The classification of an employee as exempt versus non-exempt is incredibly important, and employers are often caught improperly classifying employees as exempt. Non-Exempt Employees Non-exempt employees enjoy broad state and federal protections, including: (1) the highest minimum wage dictated by the federal, state, or local government; (2) 8 hour workdays and 40 hour work weeks; (3) overtime when they work past 8 hours in a day; and (4) mandatory breaks. Unfortunately, the “exempt” in exempt employee means they are not guaranteed these same protections. Exempt Employees Employers that classify employees…Read More
According to current overtime laws, agricultural workers receive overtime pay if they work more than 10 hours in a day and more than 6 days per work week. This is a different standard than the overtime laws that most California employers must comply with of more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a work week. California lawmakers recently passed a bill that will close in the gap for eligible overtime hours for farm employees. Beginning in July 2019, overtime pay will begin a half hour sooner each year, starting with 9 1/2 hours per day and 55 per work week, until it reaches 8 hours per day and 40 hours a work week in 2022. Smaller farms of 25 or fewer workers have until 2025 to comply with the new regulations. The bill was introduced by California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego). It passed in the state senate by 21-14 and was…Read More
Substance abuse is an incredibly sensitive topic because alcohol addiction and drug addiction are diseases that many people struggle to overcome. Addiction is dangerous, deadly, painful, embarrassing, and hurts loved ones. For this reason, many people go to great lengths to keep this struggle private. When it comes to employment laws, drug testing really tests the balance of a person’s right to privacy versus an employer’s right to employ people who can fulfill their job duties. U.S. Constitution And Californians’ Right To Privacy The United States Constitution, Fourth Amendment, states that: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Further, the California Constitution states that: “All people are by…Read More
We all know that a work week in America is forty hours, that there is a minimum wage that an employer can pay you, and that children are not allowed to do hard labor. This hasn’t always been the case. Established in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was landmark legislation enacted in response to unregulated and oppressive working hours imposed by businesses on adult and child employees. The impact of the FLSA on American work life cannot be overstated. It provided sweeping reforms as to how the American working class are treated and paid. Characteristics And Provisions Of The FLSA A basic understanding of the FLSA is important for everyone in the workforce, because it has shaped the way employees are protected from their employers. The FLSA applies broadly to employers in the private sector, as well as federal, state, and local government employment. Significantly, the FLSA: Established a federal minimum wage. It…Read More
You work hard for your bonus. You keep track of every performance measure that your employer sets for you and you do your best to hit those marks. You do so relying on that promised bonus. So what happens if you are not paid your bonus, or it doesn’t come when it is supposed to? Do you simply throw up your hands because it was “extra” money? To answer that question, it is important to understand how California labor laws treat bonuses. Types Of Bonuses California law views bonuses in two categories, “discretionary” and “non-discretionary” bonuses. These are also referred to as “unearned” and “earned” bonuses. Discretionary bonuses are “sums paid as gifts at a holiday or other special occasions, such as a reward for good service, which are not measured by or dependent upon hours worked, production or efficiency, are not included for purposes of determining the regular rate of pay.” An example is…Read More
Domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking each constitutes a traumatic violation of a person. These criminal violations are life altering and often require victims to take significant time to address through numerous forms of intervention, such as law enforcement involvement, seeking protective orders, relocating, medical assistance, and extensive therapeutic or psychiatric help. Victims need support and deserve respect. What they don’t need is to be subjected to further harm by their own employers. California Law Prohibits Discrimination Against Victims California has some of the country’s strongest employee protections in the Country, and this extends to victim protections. Existing California law prohibits an employer from firing, threatening to fire, demoting, suspending, retaliating against, or “in any manner” discriminating against an employee who has been “a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking for taking time off from work for specified purposes related to addressing the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.” The “specified purposes” envisioned in Labor…Read More
Your parents or grandparents may have been ripped off but they are too embarrassed to tell you. An Allianz Life Insurance Company survey found that 37 percent of seniors have experienced some kind of fraud or financial abuse. That startling number was 20 percent higher than Allianz found in 2014. These victims lose on an average of $36,000. AARP has found that tech support scams alone result in $1.5 billion from 3.3 million people. Remarkably, 40 percent victims are scammed more than once. Why Is This Happening? The population of the elderly is going up so there is more opportunity. They have the money because they’ve been saving for retirement. An estimated 5.4 million of them have Alzheimer’s disease, which compromises their ability to make sound financial decisions. Even without dementia the elderly have a pattern of making imprudent financial decisions called age-associate financial vulnerability. While it’s hard to monitor the behavior of senior citizen all the…Read More
The Federal Trade Commission has negotiated a settlement in its deceptive advertising lawsuit against DeVry University. Previously, two separate groups of former DeVry students had sued the university over inflated graduate employment claims, but both suits have already been settled. In its advertising, DeVry claimed that around 90 percent of its graduates landed jobs within six months of graduation provided they actively sought employment. Prospective students were impressed, and many relied on those claims when deciding what college to attend. What those students didn’t know was that DeVry was counting graduates who already had jobs when they enrolled — students who were upgrading their skills rather than training for a new career. According to the FTC, DeVry misleadingly counted a substantial number of such graduates when it claimed its 90-percent job placement success rate. DeVry Counted Graduates With Existing Jobs Among Those It Helped Place Some students who enter college already have jobs. Some take time off…Read More
Having a retirement plan can help you address the expenses that will come along in life after you no longer go to work to generate income. Because these funds will play a crucial role in your ability to provide for yourself after retirement, you undoubtedly hope that your employer or other entity handling your plan manages the account with your best interests in mind. Unfortunately, some individuals may think that they can defraud you by misusing your account. Luckily, ways exist that could help you protect yourself from fraudulent activity. If, in the end, you do believe that someone has carried out such actions against you, you also have legal options for addressing the matter. Do Your Research One of the easiest ways in which individuals get taken advantage of revolves around a lack of knowledge. If you hope to make an investment in order to build your retirement savings, having information on the company or…Read More
