Articles Posted in Employment Law

Early Saturday morning, the California Legislature voted to significantly expand working Californians’ access to paid time off for illness. Gov. Jerry Brown was sent AB 1522, which he applauded. AB 1522 enacts the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014. The Act requires most employers in the state to give workers at least three paid…

One common way for an employer to avoid having to pay overtime wages and employment taxes is to misclassify an employee as an independent contractor. An independent contractor does not have the same rights and protections that are afforded to an employee. Thus, it is very tempting for an employer to classify its employees as…

On June 12, 2014, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that an employee who was constructively discharged for complaining about sexual harassment can maintain a common law wrongful termination action, even if the employer has a workforce of fewer than five and is immune from most claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act…

A proposed regulation which would permit certain H-4 spouses of H-1B visa holders to apply for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) was published on May 12, 2014 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Unfortunately not all H-4 spouses will be eligible for an EAD. The proposed regulation limits EADs to H-4 spouses where the H-1B…

Employers should be reminded that starting on July 1, 2014, the California minimum wage will be $9.00. This affects not only all minimum wage earners, but also executive and administrative overtime exempt employees. One of the factors that determines whether an employee is exempt from the laws requiring overtime wages is whether they are paid…

On March 26, 2014, the First District Court of Appeal in Lewis v. City of Benicia, No. A134078, _ Cal. App. 4th _ (1st Dist. Mar. 26, 2014) held in its published decision that a jury had reasonable basis to conclude that a supervisor engaged in a pervasive pattern of same-sex harassing conduct. Such conduct…

Effective January 1, 2014, all California employers are required to provide unpaid time-off for employees who are victims of a serious or violent felony to attend judicial proceedings related to the crime. The term “crime victim” applies to an employee who is a victim, the immediate family member of a victim, the registered partner of…

On December 3, 2013, the Court of Appeal recently held in Horne v. International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 16 that a person who alleged he was racially discriminated against by a prospective employer could not establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination because of his prior drug conviction. The plaintiff…

The following is a summary of the new Labor Laws, most of which will take effect on January 1, 2014: The current $8-an-hour state minimum wage will increase to $9 on July 1, 2014, and to $10 per hour on Jan. 1, 2016. The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights will provide overtime wages for certain…

Starting on January 1, 2014, California employers will be required by law to provide their employees with a “recovery period,” which is defined to be a “cooldown period afforded an employee to prevent heat illness.” Under the new law, which amends Labor Code section 226.7, an employer who forces an employee to work during a…