Author Archive
HOW TO CALL IT EVEN
For decades, California has recognized the validity of “rounding” employee hours to the nearest five minutes, one-tenth or quarter hour, plus or minus, as an “efficient” and “practical” way to calculate pay as long as the practice did not deprive workers of their compensation over time. However, electronic technology’s advances may reduce rounding to an historical relic.
CALIFORNIA MID-YEAR MINIMUM WAGE RATE INCREASES
California minimum wage is currently $14.00/hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees and $15.00 for employers with 26 or more. Governor Newson has projected an across-the-boards increase to $15.50/hour on January 1, 2023.
FACE THE MUSIC
By survey, as many as one in three women have experienced workplace sexual harassment over their careers, with less than 20% ever reporting the matter to management. A 2021 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report found California’s incidence to be significantly higher than the national average.
HANDBOOK HELPER EPISODE 2
AT THE STARTING LINE
Workplace policy manuals (handbooks) often include a progression of employee classifications, such as probationary/introductory, regular, full-time, part-time, temporary, leased, exempt from overtime, and non-exempt from overtime.
AVOID BLOWER BLOWBACK
While logic might suggest no need to reimburse an employee with unlimited minutes for business use of her or his phone, California follows different reasoning.
HANDBOOK HELPER EPISODE 1
TWO-WAY STREET
An employer should not underestimate the importance in confirming and preserving in writing “at-will” employment. Most states, including California, permit the employment relationship to end at the will of either the employer or the employee at any time unless the parties have agreed otherwise. Ambiguity can thus put management at a significant disadvantage.
AVOIDING ACCESS DISTRESS
Akin to a speeding ticket, a former (or current) worker’s demand to see his employment records will likely come in due time to any employer. If the request arrives on an attorney’s letterhead, it will probably seek to create pressure by citing deadlines imposed by one or another California laws. Knowing the score – including ability to see when that lawyer is overreaching – can reduce the stress of the process.
EMPLOYERS LOSE FOOD FIGHT
If an employee misses one or more off-duty meal breaks by the press of a day’s work, California Labor Code 226.7 requires the employer to pay an additional one-hour “break premium.” The same is true for any day that work demands cause an employee to miss one or more off-duty rest breaks.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 59
NO CONFINED SPACE CANARY
On investigating a worker’s death at Valero Refinery of Benicia, Cal/OSHA cited the refinery and three contractors $1,753,375 for willful and serious safety violations. Serious violations are hazards posing “a realistic possibility . . . of death or serious physical harm.” Willful violations are failures to “remediate a known hazard” or knowing violations of the law.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 58
DON’T MESS WITH THE HAIRLESS
Bald men – at least in the United Kingdom – can seek recourse against unwelcome workplace jokes or taunts about their follicly-challenged appearance.