Blog
DOWN TO THE WIRE
California Legislature Still Tinkering With Paid Sick Leave Law Prior to July 1, 2015 Effective Date California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (the Act) will require almost all California employers regardless of size to provide paid sick leave to its workers starting July 1, 2015. See, “Mandatory Paid Sick Leave For California Employees” […]
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Comply with California’s Paid Sick Leave Law July 1, 2015 Or Face the Fate of Heavy Penalties Beginning July 1, 2015, all California employers must begin to offer paid sick leave (PSL) benefits under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act, AB 1522 (the Act). See July 1, 2015 Deadline Is Approaching. Do You Know Where […]
JULY 1, 2015 DEADLINE IS APPROACHING
Do You Know Where Your Company’s California-Required Paid Sick Leave Policy Is? We have been blogging for some months about California’s new mandatory paid sick leave requirements. Choosing from one or more of several options, all employers in this state must adopt a policy by July 1, 2015. See, Mandatory Paid Sick Leave For California […]
ACCOMMODATING RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
EMPLOYERS MUST TAKE THE HINT AND TAKE INITIATIVE U.S. Supreme Court Decision Warns that Companies Ignore at Their Peril Possible Need to Permit Religious Exceptions to Workplace Policies The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 1, 2015 decision in Equal Opportunity Employment Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. requires employers to take special initiative to accommodate […]
NEW HEAT ILLNESS PREVENTION MEASURES NOW IN PLACE
New heat illness prevention regulations have been adopted by the California Office of Administrative Law. They are in effect as of May 1, 2015. Our earlier blog, Heat Illness Prevention Amendments Are Likely to Take Effect May 1, 2015 provides details of what the new regulations require. The new regulation applies to all outdoor places […]
CITY OF LOS ANGELES MINIMUM WAGE INCREASING FROM 2016 TO 2020
On May 19, 2015, the Los Angeles City Council approved Motion 4E, providing annual minimum wage increases for employees in the City of Los Angeles up to $15.00 in 2020. The measure applies to all employers, but implementation is delayed for employers having no more than 25 employees. Non-profits with more than 25 employees may […]
WHEN DOES THE WORKDAY END?
U.S. Supreme Court Finds An Employer Need Not Pay Wages for Mandatory End-of-the Day Security Checks Under federal law, employees may or may not earn wages for preliminary actions at the beginning or “postliminary” activities at the close of a work day. The issue is determined on close attention to the context on a case-by-case […]
EMPLOYERS DUTIES TO REASONABLY ACCOMODATE WORKER DISABILITIES
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits companies employing five or more persons from: 1) discriminating against an employee due to his or her physical disability; 2) failing to make reasonable accommodation for a worker’s known physical disability; 3) failing to engage in a prompt and good faith interactive process with a disabled employee […]
BOWLES LAW WEBSITE
New and Improved We are proud to present a fully overhauled office website. In addition to updated attorney profiles, our firm’s experience and values, and available services, we offer a several pages on the history and evolution of employment law as well as a News section containing a fully compiled and indexed library of over […]
CALIFORNIA LAW PROTECTS UNDOCUMENTED EMPLOYEES FROM WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION
As we have described in California’s Expanded Immigration-Related Protections and California Extends Protections for Whistleblowing Employees, several California laws protect employees, regardless of undocumented status, from actual or threatened retaliation for demanding workplace rights. These state protections of immigrant workers, some of the strongest nationwide, would seem at odds with the federal law (Title 8, […]