Effective January 1, 2018 California employers can no longer ask an applicant for employment to disclose information about criminal convictions. The new law (added as Section 12952 to the Government Code) applies to employers with 5 or more employees. Once an offer of employment has been made, employers can conduct criminal history background checks, but
Happy New Year. I started the Friday’s Five articles in the summer of 2014, and the interest in the articles has been more than I expected. I appreciate everyone who has read them and provided comments and feedback. If you have any topics you would like me to address, please let me know. With that
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
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
With the end of summer quickly approaching, this Friday’s Five (and next week’s post as well) covers broad topics employers should review periodically. Today’s post covers five questions a company operating in California should be asking on a routine basis:
1. Has the company reviewed and updated the employee handbook and related policies?
As discussed
In this Friday’s Five I discuss:
The City of Los Angeles recently assessed Carl’s Jr. Restaurants $1.45 million in fines for violation of the City’s minimum wage law ordinance. The City sought these penalties against Carl’s Jr. for allegedly failing to pay 37 employees the applicable Los Angeles minimum wage rate of $10.50 per hour from July 1, 2016 to
In speaking to a few groups of California employers this week, a common question kept coming up about what are the essential 
employment policies California employers must have? While there are more than five, this week’s Friday’s Five starts with what I consider to be critical policies that every California must have in place.
1.
This Friday’s Five comes on Cinco de Mayo – how appropriate. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Working Family Flexibility Act, now it is being considered
by the Senate. President Trump has indicated that he would sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. Five issues California employers need to understand
Many cities and counties across California are set to increase their minimum wages in July 2017, and employers need to start preparing now. For example, Los Angeles City and County are increasing the minimum wage for employers with 26 or more employees to $12 per hour on July 1, 2017 (currently at $10.50 per