Archive for the ‘Employee Policies, Handbook, Forms’ Category
EXPANDED PREGNANCY HEALTH BENEFITS LAW FOR MOST CALIFORNIA EMPLOYEES
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill 299 into law extending health insurance coverage benefits for employees out on pregnancy disability leave, effective January 1, 2012. As covered in “Pregnancy Disability Leave,” California employers with five or more persons on payroll (whether full- or part-time) must provide any female employee up to four months […]
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS AND EMPLOYEES
Avoiding Misclassification of Hired Workers in California For possible cost savings and ease in administration, businesses are sometimes tempted to classify people working regularly as “independent contractors” instead of “employee.” In California, as in other states, independent contractors are usually not entitled to most of the benefits that employer must provide employees, including minimum wage, […]
EMPLOYEE RIGHTS TO ORGANIZE A UNION
New NLRB Poster Will Now Be Required for Many Employers on January 31, 2012 The federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) guarantees the right of employees to organize unions to “bargain collectively” with their employees. With a few exceptions, employers will soon have to conspicuously display the agency’s “Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations […]
IMMIGRATION LAW REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYERS
Federal law requires every employer hiring any individual in the United States to verify the prospect’s identity and employment authorization through completion of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. An employer must complete an I-9 form for every person hired, even if there’s just one employee in the business. It is improper for a company to […]
BREAKING OUT OF OFFICE ROUTINES
Enhancing Employee Morale and Productivity with Workforce Competitions In the never-ending quest to promote worker morale on the job, employers are offering an expanding range of clearly creative outlets and opportunities to escape workplace stresses. A search around the web will reveal, for example: Inter-office Chess Competition: this U.K. insurance company holds seasonal team battles […]
TATTOOS AND BODY PIERCINGS IN THE WORKPLACE
Employers’ Right-to-Appearance Policies Whether an employee’s visible tattoo or body piercing stems from a claimed sense of aesthetics, rebellion or “it seemed like a good idea at the time,” business has discretion to regulate appearance and thus may usually decline to hire, fail to promote or terminate that person on that basis alone. As long […]
BLOOMBERG GENDER DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS DISMISSED
Court Rules Childbearing is a Life Choice Not Entitled to Special Treatment or Extra Benefit A New York federal judge has dismissed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) effort to bring a “motherhood”-based class action suit against financial and media services giant Bloomberg L.P.. The judge found the EEOC failed to demonstrate sufficient common factual […]
THE EQUAL PAY ACT
Equal Work = Equal Pay The 1963 federal Equal Pay Act (EPA) requires employers to pay men and women equally for performing the same, or essentially the same, work. While the law is worded neutrally (it is just as unlawful to underpay either gender), Congress enacted the EPA to remedy the long-standing pay discrimination against […]
PRE-EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECKS
Respecting Privacy While Obtaining Necessary Info Hiring outside vendors to conduct pre-employment background checks into any criminal record, bad credit history and/or other matters is a common tool for an employer’s informed hiring decisions. Federal and California laws cover the procedures for such checks, designed to balance a company’s right to research and obtain relevant […]
CALIFORNIA OVERTIME RULES APPLY TO NON-RESIDENT EMPLOYEES
The California Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s overtime requirements apply to work performed in California by non-residents. In Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., three non-resident Oracle employees worked in California as instructors and trained Oracle’s customers in the use of the company’s products. They sued the California-based company for underpayment of compensation under this […]