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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
A CLOSER LOOK AT UBER, LYFT DRIVERS California’s New Criminal Background Checks For Transportation Network Companies Effective January 1, 2017, AB 1289 (the Act) requires all transportation network companies (TNC) such as Uber and Lyft – businesses using an online-enabled platform to connect paying passengers with drivers using their personal vehicles – to conduct a […]
Ban The Box In The City Of Los Angeles The City of Los Angeles (City) is now the second city in California after San Francisco to restrict employers from asking job applicants about criminal conviction until a conditional offer of employment has been made. See, San Francisco Employers Must Give Former Convicts a Fighting Chance […]