The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation for an individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job unless it would cause an undue hardship on the employer. Common reasonable accommodations include changing job duties for the position, allowing a leave of absence for
I just updated my Facebook settings to prohibit the software company from conducting facial recognition scans on my photos today due to a notification from Facebook that its software would be analyzing my likeness to automatically recognize me in photos posted on Facebook. This was a coincidence because today I spoke at the American Bar
As I wrote about recently, on March 23, 2018, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 signed by President Trump changed federal law on the issue of tip pools and allows employers to share tips with back of the house employees. In connection with the new law, the Department of Labor issued a memorandum this week
Clients come to my firm often frustrated by California employment laws and their complexity, the raising costs of doing business in California (such as the higher minimum wage), and the legal system in general. I have to agree that California poses one of the most difficult business environments businesses have to operate within, but I
In a huge development in the last couple of weeks, a change in federal law now permits California employers to include back of the house employees in tip pools. This week’s post is an update and a general discussion about issues facing restaurants, hotels, and other industries where tipping and gratuities are left for
I recently read an article from the Harvard Business Review published in 1981, Managing Human Resources, by William Skinner. The article raised great points about the lack of respect human resource departments receive in companies at the time. The article is as timely as when it was published nearly 40 years ago. Skinner’s article
When he opened his first restaurant at 27 years old (Union Square Cafe) and it took another 10 years after that for Danny Meyer to open his second restaurant, Gramercy Tavern. But then four years later there were two, and the rate he started opening restaurants quickly grew, becoming one of the world’s most successful
If an employee is injured and is unable to work overtime (i.e., over 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week), can an employer terminate the employee? Potentially. Employers may terminate employees who are unable to work overtime if this is an essential duty of the position. This Friday’s Five reviews when
California employers need to review their hiring processes, interview questions, and on boarding practices to comply with California’s new laws regarding what types of questions can be asked and background checks. This video contains few portions of a presentation I conducted for a group of California employers covering new hiring laws facing California employers in
I just posted a new video on my YouTube channel about the issues facing employers with the state and local minimum wage increases in 2018 (embedded below). At the end of the first quarter in 2018, it is a good time to review compliance with the state and local minimum wage laws, and to start