The difference between right and wrong. It is something that we’ve been taught since we were toddlers. As we have grown to adulthood, we’ve aspired to be our best and to live right. Part of that is making hard choices of staying silent or speaking up when we see wrongdoing. This is a common and terrifying prospect in the workplace. Sometimes we pick our battles. An example is when we see a coworker take a pen or printing personal documents with company paper. Is this worth reporting? Probably not. However, the dilemma becomes very real when you see your employer engaging in illegal conduct. Whistleblower Protections Under the Federal Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA), employers are prohibited from retaliating against “whistleblower” employees who report illegal activity to the proper authorities. This includes when the employer is believed to be breaking the law, or when the employer is ordering an employee to commit an unlawful…Read More
When you screw up at work, you expect to experience consequences. This is simply a matter of fairness, as employers should have the ability to hold employees accountable. However, there are rules that employers are required to follow when it comes to employee discipline, and I have seen many instances of employers acting unlawfully when doling out punishment. Progressive Discipline Policies Generally, employees in California work “at will”, meaning that the employee can quit and the employer can fire an employee without a reason. So if an employee can be fired at will, then why do many employers have discipline policies? This is because it is expensive to recruit, hire, and train employees. It would be incredibly disruptive to business to constantly fire and hire people for the smallest of infractions. In addition, the companies have an investment in their employees which makes it worthwhile to try to rehabilitate, rather than outright fire an employee.…Read More
If you work for a California employer, consider yourself fortunate. This state has some of the most employee-protective laws in the entire country. Unfortunately, a lot of employees are completely unaware of many of their legal rights, and employers take full advantage of this. For informational purposes, I would like to provide an overview of some of the latest employment laws that the California legislature has enacted. Criminal History Questions Prohibited Under Assembly Bill 1008, employer are no longer permitted to question a job applicant-either in writing or orally-regarding any criminal convictions prior to making a conditional job offer. Further, the employer cannot consider or disseminate information regarding: Convictions that have been sealed or expunged Involvement in pre-trial or post-trial diversion programs Arrests that did not result in convictions. There are, however, some specific types of positions where a person’s arrest or conviction regarding a sex offense or drug offense may be considered, based on…Read More
Technology makes it easier than ever for employers to make sure their operations are running at peak efficiency. Laptops and professional tablets make it easier for employees to telecommute and work from home, complex software allows the company to manage inventory and dispatch employees in real time, and work smart phones enable employees to be reached wherever they are. With this investment in technology and access to abundant information, also comes a new risk of privacy abuse that wasn’t on anyone’s minds even a decade ago. One of these potential abuses involves employee tracking. In other words, can an employer track your whereabouts? First, it is important to understand that employee tracking isn’t implicitly evil. There are actually legitimate reasons for an employer to want this information: A company has a legitimate business interest in paying accurate wages. For jobs where an employee is on the road and it simply isn’t feasible to punch the…Read More
Wage theft occurs when an employer fails to follow federal, state, or local laws regarding employees’ wage and overtime rights. These basic rights generally include receiving the minimum wage, overtime compensation, an accurate accounting of their work hours, and breaks. In essence, when an employer does not receive full compensation (including overtime) for all of their work, or fails to receive legally mandated breaks, an employer is stealing from the employee. A June 2018 national study of wage theft claims across the country by Good Jobs First has confirmed what my law firm has seen for years: that wage theft is “rampant” amongst big corporations. In fact, over the last two decades, big companies have had to pay out nine billion dollars in compensation and penalties. The most common types of wage theft include: Overtime violations—where an employer fails to pay employees overtime or double time. Misclassification—where employers misclassify employees as exempt and fail to abide by…Read More
You know the difference between right and wrong. It is something inside of you and something you try to instill in your friend, family, and children. Sometimes it’s easy to do the right thing, like pointing that a cashier gave you too much change. But you also know that doing the right thing can be really hard—with very real consequences. An example of this is when you see your employer break the law, or when your employer asks you to break the law. This is a huge ethical dilemma as it challenges your sense of right and wrong, while also putting your job, livelihood, and reputation on the line. California Labor Code Section 1102.5 addresses California employers when it comes to protecting whistleblowers. A “whistleblower” is a person who has a reasonable belief that their employer is violating state or federal laws, or is asking them to violate the law, and reports it to the authorities.…Read More
Employees in California are protected by wage and overtime laws, which require employers to: (1) provide the highest available minimum wage; (2) properly count and credit employee’s work hours; (3) pay overtime wages at 1.5 times when an employee works more than 8 hours and double wages when an employee works more than 12 hours in a workday; (4) pay employees timely; (5) provide meal and rest breaks; and (6) provide employers notice of their rights. These laws are well settled and employers have no excuse for noncompliance. Numerous restaurants in California have recently made the news for the wrong reason: wage theft. These restaurants have been caught: La Taqueria, a famous and well established Mexican restaurant in San Francisco was fined by the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement and the California Labor Commissioner for wage and overtime violations, including failing to pay overtime and for failing to pay sick pay. Essentially, the restaurant was taking advantage…Read More
What Is The FMLA? The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or the FMLA, is a set of federal laws that essentially protects employees from adverse employment action for qualified family or medical reasons. Designed “to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families”, the FMLA allows an employee to take up to 12 weeks of protected unpaid leave during a twelve month period of time in order to attend to one of the following events: to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition for the birth of a child, and to bond with the newborn child; for the placement of an adoptive or foster child, and to bond with that child; to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or for qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son,…Read More
California Labor Code Section 2922 states that “An employment, having no specified term, may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other. Employment for a specified term means an employment for a period greater than one month.” Most employees in California are considered “at will” employees, meaning that employment can be terminated, or the employee can quit, at any time without cause. Despite that this concept sounds simple, there are times when an at will termination is improper and state and federal laws that protect employees from improper termination. Discrimination The California Labor Code is filled with specific protections against discrimination for employees based on their protected class. These code provisions make it unlawful to engage in discriminatory employment action, including termination, based on sex, gender, race, age, disability, country of origin, victim status, pregnancy, or breastfeeding, among many other categories. Retaliation The Labor Code also provides for protections against…Read More
Living with a disability comes with challenges; however, it does not take away a person’s desire or need to work for a living. In fact, both national and state laws provide persons with qualifying physical or mental disabilities with legal safeguards against discrimination. In addition, disabled persons are also entitled to access and accommodations. Workplace Accommodations Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers with at least five employees are legally obligated to provide “reasonable accommodation” to employees with a physical or mental disability. These accommodations should be designed to allow the disabled person to perform their essential job functions. However, a limitation to this accommodation is if it creates an “undue hardship” for the employer. Some of the numerous accommodations that have been deemed reasonable include: Changing a disabled employee’s work schedule Changing the employee’s job responsibilities Relocating the employee in accordance with their disability Providing medical leave Providing specialized equipment to allow…Read More
