Archive for the ‘Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation’ Category
KILLING THE MESSENGER
Retaliation Is Still Illegal – When Attorney Acts for Employer Federal and California law guarantee minimum wage and overtime pay, and prohibit retaliation against an employee who complains about a perceived violation of those laws. In California law, unlawful retaliation includes reporting or threatening to report any worker to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to […]
PREVENTING WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION
ACCOMMODATING DISABILITIES, MADE SIMPLE – New Guidelines Package Available for California Employers The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requires employers with five or more on payroll to engage in an “interactive process,” i.e., a timely, good faith communication to explore if and how to reasonably accommodate a physically or mentally disabled worker in order to […]
WHAT IS YOUR LACTATION LOCATION?
San Francisco Workplace Ordinance – Directs Time and Space for Nursing Mothers San Francisco is the first California city to enact an ordinance requiring private employers to provide lactation breaks and rooms to employees who are nursing mothers. Effective January 1, 2018, all non-governmental employers under San Francisco’s “Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance” must provide […]
ASKING FOR JOB APPLICANT AGE IS A NO-NO
California’s Updated Guidelines for Hiring Interviews and Applications California employers must comply with increasingly complex anti-discrimination laws. See, New Transgender Rights in the Workplace (July, 2017), High Times in California (April, 2017), and Banning the Box in Los Angeles (March, 2017). To further aid management in determining a person’s job qualifications without violating the applicant’s […]
EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN
San Francisco Bars Employers Asking Applicants for Pay History Taking a cue from the California Equal Pay Act (2016), San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has passed a city-wide “Parity in Pay Ordinance” promoting gender wage equality by restrictions on what an employer can ask a job applicant on his/her pay history. Effective July 1, 2018, […]
NEW TRANSGENDER RIGHTS IN THE WORKPLACE
Expanded California Regulations Effective July 1, 2017 California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently heeded Dylan’s lyric “the times they are a-changin’” and released Regulations Regarding Transgender Identity and Expression. Effective July 1, 2017, the new regulations expand existing protections under FEHA (Fair Employment and Housing Act) for “gender identity” and “gender expression” […]
THE STATE OF WORKPLACE HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION CLAIMS
California’s 2016 Report: Sex-Based Claims Continue to Top the List The California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) has published its 2016 annual report on unlawful workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation charges. Employees filed 17,041 complaints with DFEH last year, down a few hundred from the 2015 total. Many contained multiple accusations. Sex-based, retaliation, and disability […]
ASSISTING WORKER-VICTIMS OF STALKING, SEXUAL ABUSE AND OTHER TRAUMATIC INCIDENTS
HELPING THE HAUNTED – California Employers Must Accommodate Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault or Stalking California Labor Code section 230 prohibits all employers from terminating, discriminating or retaliating against employee victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking for taking time off for related court appearances. Private employers with 25 or more on payroll must […]
MIND THE STINK
The Consequences of Failing to Reasonably Accommodate Worker Disability What happens when an employer ignores requests from a disabled employee for reasonable accommodation? In one recent case, a $3 million jury verdict was the result. Caltrans analyst, John Barrie, sued his employer for failure to accommodate his severe allergies to chemicals, such as cleaning agents and […]
EXPANDING POLICY AND NOTICE REQUIREMENTS TO PROTECT EMPLOYEES
PREVENTING WORKPLACE HARASSMENT – California’s Guidelines and Mandatory Measures California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the state agency responsible for enforcing the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), has released a new employer guide and an updated sexual harassment brochure to further assist California employers in developing effective anti-harassment programs. According to DFEH Director […]