City Tightens Its Rules on Improper Use of Criminal Records to Deny Employment Effective January 22, 2017, the City of Los Angeles’ (City) Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance (FCIHO) prohibits employers with 10 or more employees located or doing business in the City from inquiring into a job applicant’s criminal history by any means, […]
New Regulations Coming to Prevent Heat Illness in the California Workplace California’s Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (OSHSB) created heat illness prevention regulations for outdoor workers in 2015. See New Heat Illness Prevention Measures Now in Place. Those regulations require specific protective measures for outdoor work, including provision of free, fresh, and “suitably cool” […]
Employers Must Notify All California Workers if Income Tax Credit Congress created the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 1975 to incentivize low-income workers to seek employment rather than welfare. In 2015, California authorized the “Cal EITC” for the same purposes. The federal and California EITC programs each reduce the amount of tax that […]
Employer Must Pay for Work-Required Uniforms Employee uniforms often contribute to creating a vital image for a business. Most people recognize an employee working in a particular chain super store by their red shirt and khaki pants, or a manager at a well-known food market by a button-up Hawaiian shirt. A uniform can become a […]
California Piece Pay Employers’ Final Step Is Payment and Documentation Submitted to the State Several California industries – trucking and agriculture in particular – have utilized “piece-rate” pay for many years, commonly to the benefit of management and employees alike. Drivers have earned by the miles traveled or loads delivered, field workers have made their […]
All Steps Must Be Taken by December 15, 2016 In the few weeks remaining before the mid-December 2016 deadline, thousands of California businesses must complete all required steps to accomplish “safe harbor” protection from potentially significant piece rate back pay liabilities. Specified in Labor Code 226.2(b), These actions include: (1) accurate calculation of the safe […]
California Expands the Exception to Listing “Hours Worked” on Pay Stubs California Labor Code Section 226 requires employers to provide workers with strictly defined statements (i.e. pay stubs) either semimonthly or with each paycheck. See, California’s Itemized Pay Stub Requirements, Ignoring the Needed Details Poses Trap for Unwary Employers (March, 2016). While section 226 generally […]
When California Employers May Subtract from Earned Compensation Employers sometimes wish to make deductions from an employee’s wages for a variety of reasons. Doing so without knowing what the law permits can be a mistake, as California has stringent laws on what deductions are allowed. As a general principle, employers may make deductions from wages […]
BUSINESSES MUST COMPLY STARTING JANUARY 1, 2017 The City of Santa Monica (City) has enacted a city-wide paid sick leave and minimum wage ordinance (Ordinance No. 2515). See, our blog “City of Santa Monica Increasing Minimum Wage Annually from 2016 to 2020” (May, 2016) Effective January 1, 2017, Ordinance No. 2515 requires all employers, no […]
A Guideline for Proper Time Rounding Policies under California and Federal Law Employees often clock in and out a few minutes early or late at beginning and end of day or for meal breaks. Is an employer required to calculate all those extra or short minutes in determining an employee’s wages? Fortunately, the answer is […]