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LOVE CONTRACTS IN THE WORKPLACE
Love Contracts in the Workplace How Employers Can Regulate Office Romance In just about every supermarket tabloid on the shelves, there’s at least one splashy article about actors or actresses falling in love on a movie set. In a 2009 survey by CareerBuilder.com on relationships at work, 37% of U.S. employees surveyed stated they had […]
HOW TO AVOID COSTLY PENALTIES FOR MISSED MEAL BREAKS
How to Avoid Costly Penalties for Missed Meal Breaks As discussed in Bowles Law Report Volume 8, Issue 3, California courts have differed on what it means to “provide” hourly, exempt-from-overtime workers their meal and rest breaks. Until the California Supreme Court clarifies labor laws on breaks, we advise employers to err on the side […]
ON-DUTY MEAL BREAKS
Can’t catch a break?? On-Duty Meal Breaks In California, generally an employer may not have an hourly wage employee work more than five hours per day without providing that employee with at least a thirty minute meal break. However, if that worker will complete the day’s work in six hours, the worker and employer may […]
CALCULATING OVERTIME WITH EMPLOYEE BONUSES IN CALIFORNIA
Click here for our most recent article about calculating overtime (updated Apr 27, 2018). CALCULATING OVERTIME WITH EMPLOYEE BONUSES IN CALIFORNIA Calculating overtime for weeks when a worker earns a “nondiscretionary” production bonus can be is a trap for unwary employers. Under California and federal law, employers must calculate overtime pay based on an employee’s […]
AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN, 2006-2007
African Human Rights Leadership Campaign Origins, 2006-2007 If ten years back, a soothsayer had projected I would shortly be neck-deep in a growing peace and conflict transformation leadership training initiative in Africa, I would have terminated that person’s employment for excessive hallucinations. Yet, in 2010, we are in our fifth year of innovation on just […]
NEW CALIFORNIA CIVIL AIR PATROL LEAVE FOR EMERGENCY MISSIONS
NEW California Civil Air Patrol Leave FOR EMERGENCY MISSIONS Effective January 1, 2010, the Civil Air Patrol Employment Protection Act (new Labor Code Sections 1500 through 1507) requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide ten days or more of unpaid leave per year for volunteer members of the California Civil Air Patrol Wing […]
AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN
AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN AN INTRODUCTION Stemming from my lifelong interest in international law and development, the African Human Rights Leadership Campaign is a pro bono project of Youth for Human Rights International to train young leaders in African countries for human rights advocacy and the eradication of human rights abuses in their lifetimes. […]
CAL/OSHA INJURY AND ILLNESS SUMMARY
Cal/OSHA Injury and Illness Summary Must Be Posted February 1, 2010 Employers must provide a safe work environment for their employees. The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970 requires some employers to prepare and maintain logs of work-related injuries and illnesses. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is tasked with overseeing […]
NEW 2010 IRS MILEAGE RATE
New 2010 IRS Mileage Rate On December 3, 2009, the IRS announced its 2010 standard deduction mileage rates (online at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=216048,00.html). As of January 1, 2010, the IRS is decreasing the IRS standard employee mileage deduction for business use of a motor vehicle to 50 cents per mile. (In 2009 the IRS mileage standard deduction […]
FLEXIBILITY ADDED TO CALIFORNIA ALTERNATIVE WORKWEEK SCHEDULE
Flexibility Added to California Alternative Workweek Schedule California law authorizes an alternative work week schedule (AWS) of workdays exceeding eight hours without overtime pay if certain criteria are met. Classically, an alternative work schedule will be four 10-hour days, with three days off. Health care offices are common candidates for an AWS. Such flexible alternative […]