Best Practices For California Employers

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on October 2, 2017 in Epic System Corp. v. Lewis.  And while the case may not make headline news, it has very important ramifications for employers across the country.  At issue is whether employers can legally compel employees to enter into arbitration agreements which contain class action

Another Friday – another Friday’s Five.  November 2017, a great time to have a refresher course on five obligations employers have under California law to prevent and correct any potential harassment and discrimination in the workplace:

1. Duty to prevent harassment

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requires employers to take “all reasonable steps

This Friday’s Five is a bit of a break from the legal updates and a focus on running a business.  Through my profession of defending employers, I get to see a lot of different businesses and a lot of different types of business owners, CEOs, COOs, and Human Resource directors.   There are common characteristics of

It has been a few years that the California Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking ruling in Brinker Restaurant Group v. Superior Court.  With the end of the year approaching and employers preparing for the new year and the new legal obligations that come with it, now is a good time for employers to audit meal

California employers cannot forget about detailed employment provisions such as reporting time pay.  Given the natural disasters facing California recently, I was interviewed on public radio about employer’s obligations during times of emergencies and natural disasters.  So I thought this Friday’s Five would be a good reminder about when employers need to pay reporting time

AB 168 was approved by Governor Brown on October 12, 2017 which prohibits employers from seeking or taking into consideration an applicant’s prior compensation and benefits when determining whether to hire the applicant, and in setting the applicant’s compensation and benefits.  The new law creates Labor Code section 432.3.  This Friday’s Five covers five issues

In addition to the “sanctuary state” legislation signed into law by Governor Brown yesterday, the Governor also signed AB 450 into law.  The law is effective January 1, 2018, and requires, among other items, employers to verify that immigration officials have a judicial warrant or subpoena prior to entering the workplace and for employers

Happy Friday.  Through my defense of wage claims this year, I found that employers need to establish and periodically review issues pertaining to employees’ timekeeping.  This Friday’s Five is a list of the top five timekeeping issues that employers should routinely audit:

1. Establish and communicate a time keeping policy

Employers should establish and regularly

This Friday’s Five sets out five resources that are free for California employers that are published by the state of California.  Employers need to understand that while these publications are made available by the state of California, the agencies publishing the resources are only expressing their opinion about the current status of the law, but

California’s state legislature is nearing the end of its term, and employers are beginning to glimpse some of the laws that could apply in 2018.  There are multiple proposed bills that prohibits employers’ ability to rely upon or seek information about applicant’s previous wages to set the employee’s pay.  This Friday’s Five reviews the current