Blog
THE BASICS OF OVERTIME
Five Rules for California California law requires most non-exempt employees to receive overtime pay for time worked beyond forty hours in any one workweek or after eight hours in one workday. A workweek is any seven consecutive days, starting with the same calendar day each week beginning at any hour, so long as the cycle […]
EMPLOYEE TERMINATIONS
Firing Low-Performing Workers While Limiting Repercussions Mary manages a customer service department in a large company. Other employees and customers have complained about Brad, one of the employees Mary supervises. Most of Brad’s co-workers handle calls without requiring assistance. Yet, for a few months now, as many as 20% of Brad’s calls have had to […]
GENDER DESIGNATIONS IN THE WORKPLACE
“Non-binary” will Join “He” and “She” in California California law prohibits discrimination against employees for their membership in any protected class. This includes gender identity, defined as “each person’s internal understanding of their gender, or the perception of a person’s gender identity, which may include male, female, a combination of male and female, neither male […]
JOB INTERVIEW ERRORS TO AVOID
CareerBuilder Publishes Annual Survey and List of Most Bizarre Hiring Interviews According to a nationwide CareerBuilder Survey released February 22, 2018, “around half of employers (49 percent) know within the first five minutes of an interview if a candidate is a good or bad fit for a position, and only 8 percent make up their […]
REQUIRED MEAL PERIODS AND REST BREAKS REVISITED
Off-Duty Time During a California Work Day California employers must provide every not-exempt-from-overtime employee unpaid meal and paid rest breaks based on the number of hours that employee works in a given day. However, the rules vary for such workers as specified in the 17 Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Orders covering in different industries […]
SAFE HARBOR OR SHIPWRECK? PART 2
Department of Labor Has Launched Program For Voluntary Correction of Payroll Errors Last week’s blog, Safe Harbor or Shipwreck?, detailed the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) imminent PAID program (Payroll Audit Independent Determination). The program permits employers to audit their own records for wage compliance violations and to correct those violations in cooperation with the […]
WHY JOB DESCRIPTIONS MATTER
Employers can easily overlook the importance of job descriptions, starting as part of the hiring process. No law requires them and no explicit guidelines or instructions exist for writing them. However, properly written and updated job descriptions can be an important tool to help management and employees fully understand the nature of each company position […]
SAFE HARBOR OR SHIPWRECK?
New U.S. Department of Labor Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) Program to Voluntarily Address Payroll Errors The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced the imminent launch of the PAID program – Payroll Audit Independent Determination. The program’s intent is to permit employers to self-audit and correct as appropriate their minimum wage and overtime practices, […]
THE NEED FOR WRITTEN EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
Well-Drafted Contracts Eliminate Uncertainty and Ambiguity Most workers are employed “at-will,” meaning either the employer or employee may end the work relationship at any time for any lawful reason without cause or advance notice. California law generally presumes an employee is employed at-will unless the employee can prove otherwise, such as a manager’s contrary verbal […]
DO THE MATH
California Supreme Court Sets Out New Formula for Overtime When “Flat Sum” Bonuses Paid Often California employers reward employees with bonuses without realizing the proper way to calculate overtime when doing so. This can put an employer at substantial risk if miscalculated over significant time for a large number of workers. Depending on the number […]