Blog
CALIFORNIA MINIMUM WAGE RATES UPDATE
From January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, California state minimum wage is $15.50 per hour for all employers, regardless of size.
HANDBOOK HELPER EPISODE 28
PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS POLICY
Employee evaluations can be an excellent tool for enhancing management-workforce communications if properly conducted by well-written handbook policy.
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OLDER WORKERS HAVE RIGHTS – AND EXPERIENCE
In honor of Older Americans Month in May, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte Burrows recognized the large numbers of older workers remaining in the workforce and their strong value to employers, including:
HANDBOOK HELPER EPISODE 27
PAID VACATION
BENEFITS POLICY
California employers are not legally required to provide their employees with paid or unpaid vacation time. However, if the employer does provide such benefits, it must comply with certain restrictions under California law.
WORKPLACE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
EEOC Goes Old School
I ponder the term “AI,” aka “artificial intelligence.” From pocket calculators to big-data Google search engines, what is artificial about software that reliably provides shortcuts to ponderous Old School long division or weeks-long research among the library stacks? To call it “automated” is more like it, same acronym in any event.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 67
LANGUAGE LIMITATION LIMITS
Business Necessity Required for English-Only Rules
Washington and Oregon employer R&SL, operating as “TEAM,” has agreed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to pay $276,000 to certain employees in settlement of a national origin discrimination and retaliation charge.
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HEALTH CARE BENEFITS POLICY
California employers who offer medical, dental, and/or vision insurance should include a handbook policy listing such company-provided benefits.
I’ll Take You There
Today, Thursday 3/29, we kick off our two-day Literacy and Leadership workshop with twenty Liberian community advocates, including leaders of the Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY).
Kofi will be taking part, coming back for day two tomorrow to watch some of the Tim-and-Jay show and to offer his twenty-cents to these 20-somethings.
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PROFICIENCY AND CAREER TRAINING POLICY
With limited exceptions, such as for continuing education required to maintain a government or industry-mandated professional license, employee time for company-required training programs – seminars, courses, conventions, and other educational opportunities – is compensable, particularly those aimed at improving existing job performance.
PREFERENCE DOESN’T MATTER
Incorrect Classification Leads to Massive Liability
A prudent company must consider state and federal law before deciding to classify a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee. Unfortunately, many businesses make such decisions for illegitimate reasons including avoidance of payroll record-keeping and employer-side taxes or the hiree does not want taxes withheld. These arbitrary preferences can lead to hiring an employee as an independent contractor, often without even entering into a written agreement as required under most pertinent laws.