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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 […]
TOP NEW CALIFORNIA EMPLOYMENT LAWS FOR 2012
Over the past several months, we have been alerting our readers to important California labor laws new in 2012. Here’s a summary: California’s Wage Theft Prevention Act; Employers Must Supply an Additional Detailed Written Notice to Most New Hires: In addition to existing written notification requirements (including rights to equal employment opportunity, minimum wage and […]
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES IN THE WORKPLACE
How Far Can Employers Go to Curb Use by Employees? An employer’s ability to legitimately discipline or terminate workers who use Facebook, Twitter and other social media to tee-off on allegedly improper work conditions or practices is likely to remain a hotly contested issue for years to come. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is […]
RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS AND EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
U.S. Supreme Court Rules Ministers May Not Sue The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its first decision on the “ministerial exception” to workplace discrimination laws, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (January 11, 2012). In a unanimous ruling, the Court found that while certain laws authorize workers to sue their […]
CALIFORNIA’S EXEMPTIONS FOR OVERTIME PAY
California’s workplace overtime rules do not apply to those workers who qualify for exemption under one or more categories, including: ● Executive Exemption: Executive employees are exempt from overtime if paid on a salary (current minimum is $640 per week; $2,773.33 monthly) and if primarily (over 50%) engaged office or non-manual management of at least […]
WORKING OVERTIME IN CALIFORNIA
Basic Rules and Rates for Weekly or Daily Hours California requires employees who are not “exempt” receive overtime pay for time worked beyond forty hours in any one workweek or after eight hours in a workday. A “workweek” is any seven consecutive days, starting with the same calendar day each week beginning at any hour […]
COMMISSIONS FOR TERMINATED EMPLOYEES
Clearly Written Agreements are the “Ounce” of Prevention Commissions payable to former employees present a special set of issues for California business. The importance of actions to prevent disputes increases over 2012 as the state will require all employee commission agreements to be in writing by December 31. See, “Employee Commissions” California requires that all […]