There is no silver bullet for California employers to avoid workplace disputes and litigation. However, by focusing on a few key best practices, employers can reduce the likelihood of litigation, and if sued, the practices will make defending litigation much easier and can result in a better outcome. Here are my top five employer practices
Employee Handbooks
Employers’ training obligations under California law
California employers have many different obligations to train employees on certain issues. The primary training obligation that applies to nearly every employer (with 5 or more employees) is to provide sexual harassment prevention training. However, as set forth below, different industries have different standards, and employers need to review the requirements that pertain to their…
End of employment issues for California employers
The process of separating an employee from a company must be clearly set out and planned in advance. I recommend developing a separation checklist so that all of the company’s policies are followed, as well as any applicable laws that pertain to the employer and their industry. This article is the fourth article in my…
Does calling your employer constitute “reporting for work”? Ward v. Tilly’s holds it does
On February 4, 2019, a California Court of Appeal ruled that employees calling their employer to determine if they must come into work is considered reporting to work, and reporting time pay is owed to the employee if they are not required to work that day. The case is Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc. from the…
Mileage reimbursement considerations under California law
Expense reimbursement may seem like a small issue in comparison with the other areas of liability facing California employers, but the exposure for not appropriately reimbursing employees can be substantial. In Gattuso v. Harte-Hanks Shoppers, Inc., the California Supreme Court clarified the parameters of mileage reimbursement under California law, as well as the three…
Wage and hour audit considerations for California employers in 2019
With the start of 2019, I’m writing a series of posts covering employment law areas that employers should audit on a routine basis. The first two articles covered hiring practices and records retention practices. This post covers five wage and hour considerations that every California employer should review on a routine basis:
1. Payroll…
Hiring Practices Audit for 2019
With the start of 2019, it is a great time to audit employment policies and practices. The next series of posts will be a review of a few practices California employers should review on a periodic basis. The posts will cover the following topics: the hiring process, employment records (what should be kept and for…
California Employment Law Report: Holiday Edition
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope everyone is spending some quality time with family members. In part to give me a bit of a break from creating entirely new content, this holiday edition of Friday’s Five is five recent videos from my YouTube channel:
1. Holiday leave policies:
2. Understanding the mediation process:…
Five recent posts California employers should not miss
Last Sunday was the deadline for Governor Brown to sign any new bills into law, and I was fielding a lot of questions about the bills that were signed by the Governor (as well as the bills that were vetoed) this week. So, I thought it would be appropriate for this Friday’s Five to be…
New employment bills signed by Governor Brown
Yesterday, September 30, 2018 was the last day for Governor Brown to sign or veto legislation passed by the California legislature this year. Here is a list of the employment bills that were signed and will impact California employers in 2019 (the bills will become effective January 1, 2019, unless the bill specifies otherwise):
AB …