I spoke at the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo last week regarding marijuana in the workplace and employer’s right to test for and prohibit the use of marijuana. While employers generally still have the right to test employees for and prohibit marijuana in the workplace, employee’s still have privacy interests that employers need to
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 recommend books that I am either reading and have read related to managing employees or a business. I hope everyone is having a great summer.
1. Manager Onboarding: 5 Steps for Setting New Leaders Up for Success
By Sharlyn Lauby
I’m tired of HR getting push to the corner of the executive suite meetings. I get to see firsthand on a daily basis about how effective HR departments (or even CEOs, CFOs, or other company leaders) who recognize the importance of personally connecting with employees and helping employees develop, are more profitable organizations with reduced
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.
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
Happy Friday! This Friday’s Five covers five areas that employers can start with in conducting an employment practices 
audit. Coming up on the mid-point of the year, it is a good time to conduct an employment law practices audit to ensure that policies are compliant, managers are properly trained, and the company is maintaining the
This week, in Vaquero v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC, a California appellate court issued a decision explaining employer’s obigations to separately compensate employees paid on a commission basis for rest breaks.
Plaintiffs worked as sales associates for Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, a retail furniture company doing business in California as Ashley Furniture HomeStores. Stoneledge paid the
In Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., the California Supreme Court issued a ruling on employer’s obligations to permit employees to take “off-duty” rest periods. The Court’s ruling ends 2016 with a major ruling on issues surrounding rest periods under California law.
The plaintiffs worked as security guards for defendant ABM. The employer required
Mayor Garcetti signed into law the “Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring” ordinance on December 7, 2016. The law takes effect January 22, 2017. The Mayor’s holiday gift to employers leaves only a couple of weeks to them to change applications and hiring processes to comply with the new ordinance. This Friday’s Five lists