Archive for the ‘Workplace Privacy, Health and Safety’ Category
CAN I BRING MY MONKEY TO WORK?
How to Handle Assistive Animals in the Workplace Upon arriving to work on Monday morning your customer service manager asks if she can bring her monkey to the office. Must management grant her request? It depends. If she needs the monkey to reasonably accommodate her disability, then the employer will most likely have to grant […]
DON’T FLUNK THE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION TEST
Compton School District Failed to Accommodate Disabled Teacher The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requires employers with five or more on payroll to engage in an “interactive process” with a worker requesting accommodation of a disability. The employer must have timely, good faith and ongoing discussions to explore if and how to reasonably […]
RELIGIOUS OBJECTION TO MANDATORY FINGERPRINTING
Employer Must Properly Address Faith-Based Protest Employers must correctly field and handle an employee’s religiously-based objection to a workplace requirement, even when the employer’s requirement is mandated by law. For example, in Kaite v. Altoona Student Transportation, Inc., plaintiff worked as a Pennsylvania school bus driver for employer Altoona Student Transportation (AST). AST began implementing […]
BOWLES LAW IN THE NEWS
Partner Cindy Bamforth Featured on KPCC’s “The Frame” Cindy was recently honored by host John Horn to speak on KPCC NPR’s “The Frame” on identifying and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. This invitation came on the heels of her participation in the Women in Film’s panel discussing sexual harassment in Hollywood. Produced by Southern […]
CUPID’S ARROWS ARE FLYING
How to Regulate Workplace Romances With sexual harassment allegations surfacing daily in the media, it’s not surprising that coworkers may be more hesitant to date each other. In the 2018 CareerBuilder’s Annual Valentine’s Day survey, only 36% percent of workers reported having dated a coworker, a 10-year low. Regardless, office romances remain a fact of […]
BANNING WEED IN THE WORKPLACE
California Employers May Maintain Drug-Free and Alcohol-Free Policies Effective January 1, 2018, California’s “Adult Use of Marijuana Act” (AUMA) (California Health and Safety Code [HSC] sections 11357-11362.9) permits adults 21 years of age or older to possess and use marijuana for recreational purposes. Fortunately, AUMA does not alter the rights of California employers to maintain […]
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2018 CALIFORNIA READY TO ENFORCE GREATLY EXPANDED WORKPLACE LAWS
Immediate Actions for Safeguarding Your Business The 2018 changes in California employment law are numerous. Compliance with these from January 1 on will of course reduce the prospect of related claims or lawsuits. Two new provisions particularly require immediate review of employment applications and hiring practices for “Day One” compliance. See: California Adopts Ban the […]
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 […]
NEW NOTICE POSTING REQUIREMENTS FOR BARBERS AND COSMETOLOGISTS
CUTTING TO THE CHASE – New Workplace Posting Requirements for California’s Salon Industries, Effective July 1, 2017 Starting July 1, 2017, California’s Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) requires its licensees – including hair salons, nail salons, estheticians, and barbers — to post a special Labor Commissioner notice on applicable employment laws. The notice includes information […]
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 […]