Blog
CAUTIONARY TALES EPISODE 7
Paying Live-In Caregivers “Daily Flat Rate” Can Be a Very Expensive Mistake Continuing her public campaign for employers to adhere to California wage and hour laws, Labor Commissioner Julie Su has announced a judgment in favor of two live-in workers for wages, overtime, and meal breaks against Alexen Corporation, which runs facilities in San Lorenzo and […]
THE BOUNDARIES OF HOLIDAY OFFICE GATHERINGS
Team Acknowledgment, Yes; Bad Taste, Alienation and Harassment, No With sexual harassment scandals currently crowding the daily news cycle, the potential for a holiday office party to become a morale-crushing, litigation nightmare is greater today than ever. There is nothing wrong with annually celebrating company accomplishments and work well done. Yet, management must ensure such parties […]
CAUTIONARY TALES EPISODE 6
Labor Commissioner’s Office Awards $3.5 Million Against Oakland Contractor The California Labor Commissioner cited Oakland construction contractor, Attic Pros, and its owner for misclassifying 119 workers as independent contractors. The Commissioner ordered the company to pay more than $3.5 million, including unpaid minimum wages and overtime, liquidated damages, waiting time penalties, and civil penalties for […]
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2018 OVERTIME EXEMPTION RATE PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
OVERTIME-EXEMPT PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS 2018 RATE INCREASES California Labor Code section 515.6 exempts certain licensed physicians and surgeons from overtime compensation as long as they receive set minimum hourly rates of pay. The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) is increasing this minimum, effective January 1, 2018. To avoid California’s requirements to pay overtime premium rates […]
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2018 COMPUTER SOFTWARE PROFESSIONAL RATES
COMPUTER SOFTWARE PROFESSIONAL OVERTIME EXEMPTION 2018 RATES California Labor Code section 515.5 exempts certain computer software professionals from overtime compensation who receive specified minimum compensation. California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has announced its rate increase for this minimum, effective January 1, 2018. To comply with the section 515.5 exemptions, California employers must pay otherwise […]
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2018 CALIFORNIA ADOPTS BAN THE BOX LAW
Ban The Box California 2018 Means Employers Cannot Seek Criminal Record Until After Offer to Hire Applicant Following San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities and states across the country, California has added a provision to the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) banning employers from asking applicants for criminal convictions before a conditional offer of […]
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2018 SALARY HISTORY
SALARY HISTORY IS NO LONGER A FACTOR FOR HIRING IN CALIFORNIA New Law Also Requires Special Caution When Applicant Volunteers Such Info Effective January 1, 2018, new Labor Code section 432.3 will prohibit all California employers from relying on salary history information as a factor in offering an applicant employment or in what salary to offer. Section […]
CAUTIONARY TALES EPISODE 5
Jack in the Box Operator Must Pay $900,000-Plus for Misclassifying Managers Exempt from Overtime Nor-Cal Venture Group, Inc., the owner of 26 Jack in the Box franchises in California, is one of the recent targets of the Labor Commissioner’s public campaign for employers to heed this state’s wage and hour laws. The commissioner’s Division of Labor […]
CAUTIONARY TALES EPISODE 4
Restaurant Hit with $274,000 In Assessments and Penalties For Underpaid and Unreported Workers The California Labor Commissioner continues to promote her department’s aggressive pursuit of employers who do not comply with wage and hour laws. In August, she targeted a Chula Vista restaurant, Dorantes, Inc., doing business as La Querencia, for back pay to six workers totaling […]
A LESSON IN CALIFORNIA’S WORKPLACE MARITAL DISCRIMINATION LAW
Employee “Marital Status” is Protected; An Employee’s Rocky Marriage is Not California is one of some 21 states prohibiting workplace discrimination against “marital status,” defined in government regulations as an individual’s “state of marriage, non-marriage, divorce or dissolution, separation, widowhood, annulment, or other marital state.” In California, a “spouse” is a partner in marriage, regardless […]