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“PAID TIME OFF” (PTO) IN CALIFORNIA
Clear, Written Workplace Policies are Essential There is no California law requiring a business to pay its employees for time off work, whether for vacation, holidays, sick time, or any other reason. However, employers do commonly have policies and plans that provide such compensation. Once a company opts to provide any such benefits, California does […]
DEFINING EMPLOYEE COMMISSIONS
All California Agreements Must be in Writing by 2013 As we have reported, in a few short months (by January 1, 2013), California Labor Code section 2751 will require all businesses to ensure employee commission agreements are in writing. See, “Employee Sales Commissions: California Requires Written Agreements by End of 2012.” While it is a […]
CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE AND WRONGFUL TERMINATION
Employers Should Curb Workplace Verbal Battles An employer is not only liable for actually terminating a worker on the basis of race, gender, national origin and other protected classifications. A worker may also have a claim if the employer “unlawfully constructively discharged” that person (also known as “unlawful (or wrongful or illegal) constructive termination” or […]
NO ATTORNEY FEES AWARDS FOR MEAL BREAK AND REST PERIOD LAWSUITS
The California Supreme Court has promptly followed its game-changing Brinker decision with another important ruling, specifically limiting the rights of workers to collect attorney fees from their employers in lawsuits over allegedly missed meal breaks and rest periods. As we reported in “Brinker: California’s Meal Break Breakthrough, Employers are No Longer the Lunch Police,” California […]
BRINKER’S NEW RULES FOR MEAL AND REST BREAKS
The Necessity of Management Training While the California Supreme Court’s Brinker decision (April 12, 2012) supplied vital and sensible guidelines that do not require employers to act as a “police” authority confirming workers take their meal and rest breaks, the law will still impose penalties on a business if its supervisors and managers, for lack […]
BRINKER EMPLOYEES MAY SKIP BREAKS
Yet, Greater Flexibility Requires Greater Documentation The recent California Supreme Court Brinker decision (April 12, 2012) on the standards for providing meal and rest breaks now permits greater flexibility on scheduling, including employer ability to provide workers the option to skip breaks from time-to-time. However, an employer should take care to institute and maintain written […]
BRINKER CLOCKING IN ON EMPLOYEE TIMEKEEPING
Dos and Don’ts for California Employers The California Supreme Court’s recent Brinker decision (April 12, 2012) includes important clarifications on employee meal breaks as well as rest periods. To ensure compliance, employers must maintain accurate timekeeping systems for employee working hours. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar California law, employers are […]
BRINKER DECISION AND REST PERIODS
California Employers Get a Break The California Supreme Court has recently clarified this state’s workplace rest period laws. Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) (April 12, 2012). California law requires employers to provide their hourly employees with one paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked or “major fraction thereof.” The Court confirmed […]
BRINKER CALIFORNIA’S MEAL BREAK BREAKTHROUGH
Employers are No Longer the Lunch Police In 2000, California enacted Labor Code 226.7, requiring employers to pay an employee an extra hour of compensation for “each work day that the [required] meal or rest period is not provided.” Fueled by that financial incentive, nearly overnight, and for the past 11 years, the vast majority […]
UNPAID INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS
When Employers Need to Pay Wages Hiring students for temporary unpaid internships, while feasible, is laden with potential legal pitfalls for the unwary and uninformed. See, e.g., “The Unpaid Intern, Legal or Not,” The New York Times, April 2, 2010. Employers must pay at least minimum wage to any worker who provides any labor and […]