Search results for: Expense reimbursement

California employers need to routinely need to review their policies and practices to make sure they are complying with intricacies that may arise in their work place.  In law school, attorneys-to-be are taught to “issue spot,” and the unfortunate litigation landscape that faces California employers, business owners and their supervisors must also “issue spot” and make sure the unique aspects of California employment law are being complied with to avoid liability.  This Friday’s Five covers five issues employers should issue spot on a routine basis to help ensure compliance and reduce liability:

1. Reporting time pay

Reporting time pay is triggered when an employee is required to report for work, but is not put to work or is furnished less than half their usual or scheduled day’s work.  If this occurs, the employee needs to be paid for half the usual or scheduled day’s work, but in no event for less than two (2) hours nor more than four (4) hours, at the employee’s regular rate of pay, which cannot not be less than the minimum wage.

It is important for employers to train managers and supervisors about this requirement, so that they understand the need to pay reporting time pay, or report the instance to HR to ensure the employee receives reporting time pay if they are sent home before one-half of their shift is worked.

2. Split shift pay

A split shift is a work schedule that is interrupted by a non-paid, non-working period established by the employer that is other than a meal or rest break.  So if the employee is required to work a shift, but then asked to report to a second shift over later in the same day, the employer may be obligated to pay a split shift premium.  Again, this issue is one that front-line managers and supervisors need to be trained on to ensure that split shifts are being reported to HR or other appropriate management in the company to ensure any split shift pay obligations are being paid.

3. Expense reimbursement issues

Under Labor Code section 2802, employers need to reimburse employees for any business expenses they incur in the course of completing their work for the employer.  This basic concept sounds easy in principle, but given the technology used in today’s workplaces, there can be many areas that expose employers to liability.  For example, if employees are required to work at home, have access to the internet, print reports, or send and receive faxes, the costs for completing this work should be reimbursed by the employer.  Other areas that are often litigated are cell phone reimbursement, mileage reimbursement, and reimbursement for the costs of uniforms and safety equipment.

4. Off-the-clock claims

Employers can be held liable for unpaid wages if they knew or should have known that employees were working and not being paid for the work.  Employers should establish and regularly communicate a time keeping policy to employees and supervisors.  The policy should set forth that employees always have an open door to complain to their supervisors and other managers or human resources about missed meal and rest breaks, unpaid wages, or unpaid wages.  If employees routinely acknowledge that they understand the time keeping policy and are agreeing to record their time through the employer’s system, this can go a long way in defending any off-the-clock claims.

5. On-Call time

Even though employees are traveling to a work site or even sleeping, if the employee is under the control of the employer, the employer may have to pay them for being on-call.  For example, the California Supreme Court held that security guards who were required to reside in a trailer provided by the employer at construction worksites would still need to be paid for the time they slept while on-call.  In that case, during weekdays the guards were on patrol for eight hours, on call for eight hours, and off duty for eight hours.  On weekends, the guards were on patrol for 16 hours and on call for eight hours.  The Court held that the employer was not permitted to exclude the time guards spent sleeping from the compensable hours worked in 24-hour shifts.  See Mendiola v. CPS Security Solutions, Inc.

Likewise, in Morillion v. Royal Packing Co., the California Supreme Court held that, “we conclude the time agricultural employees are required to spend traveling on their employer’s buses is compensable under Wage Order No. 14-80 because they are ‘subject to the control of an employer’ and do not also have to be ‘suffered or permitted to work’ during this travel period.”  Generally, travel time is considered compensable work hours where the employer requires its employees to meet at a designated place and use the employer’s designated transportation to and from the work site.

This week’s Friday’s Five covers five huge misconceptions about California employment law that can land employers into huge legal trouble:

1. Meal and rest breaks seem so trivial.

The topic may seem trivial for companies that have not faced this litigation before, or for out of state employers who wrongly believe California cannot be much different than federal requirements.  However, with the penalty owed to employees of one hour of pay for each missed meal or rest break (i.e., up to two hours of penalty pay per day) these violations add up to significant amounts of liability very quickly.  A verdict against Wal-Mart for $172 million is a good example of the liability that even small employers face in this regard.

2. My payroll company understands the laws about wages and itemized pay statements.

Payroll companies are not law firms and they will not notify you if you are not paying your employees properly, calculating overtime correctly, tracking and reporting paid sick leave appropriately, or even ensure that the paystubs they generate for your employees comply with the law.  It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure the employment laws are being complied with, and it is wise to have an experienced employment lawyer review these practices and audit the practices of the payroll company.

3. The employee’s title determines if they are owed overtime.

An employee’s title is not determinative of whether they qualify as an exempt employee and do not need to receive overtime pay.  See my previous article on the various exemptions that employees may qualify for, and the requirements necessary for employees to meet those exemptions.

4. Employees can be provided “comp time” instead of paid overtime.

While it is true employers may provide employee’s comp time in lieu of overtime, there are many technical restrictions that must be met in order for comp time plans to be legal under California law.  Labor Code section 204.3 only authorizes employers to provide nonexempt employees with compensated time off instead of paying for overtime if the following requirements are met:

  • Payment for comp time must be at the overtime rate of pay (i.e., not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment, or double time if applicable)
  • Must be in writing before work begins
  • Employees cannot accrue more than 240 hours of compensation time off
  • Employee has to make a written request for comp time in lieu of overtime
  • Employee must be scheduled to work at least 40 hours a week
  • Employee must be paid at rate of pay in effect at time of payment
  • Payment at termination must be at high of current or three-year average rate of pay
  • Employee must be permitted to use comp time within reasonable period
  • Employer must keep records of comp time accrued and used

5. My company does not need employment counsel to review our policies on a regular basis, we have it under control.

If you have been a reader of this blog for any time period, you understand that every employer in California needs to understand their legal duties when it comes to employing workers.  And with competent employment law counsel [:)] it is not hard to comply with the law, but it is difficult to keep current with the law and ensure all legal obligations are being met.  California employment law is regularly changing.  In addition, employers need to make sure they are complying with intricacies that may arise in their work place, such as:

 

Also, in case you missed it, my Podcast is live:

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Have a great weekend.

Employee terminations and resignations must be planned for in advance to avoid common pitfalls for California employers.  I’ve recently written about go-to hiring practices for employers, so I thought it would be appropriate to follow that post up with this list of go-to termination practices.  This Friday’s Five focuses on critical management and legal considerations for employers during the separation process:

1. Documentation of the reason for termination

What is the reason for termination? Is there a company policy that was violated? [Note: Is the company policy in writing?  Has it been distributed to the employee?  Is there a signed acknowledgement of the policy in the employee’s file?]  Who was involved in termination decision? Review documentation for termination if “for cause” and ensure this documentation is maintained in personnel file.

2. Final pay and accounting

Employers need to prepare the employee’s final paycheck and ensure that any unused accrued vacation time is also included.

Final wages must be paid within certain time limits, including the following:

  1. An employee who is discharged must be paid all of his or her wages, including accrued vacation, immediately at the time of termination.
  2. An employee who gives at least 72 hours prior notice of quitting, and quits on the day given in the notice, must be paid all earned wages, including accrued vacation, at the time of quitting.
  3. An employee who quits without giving 72 hours prior notice must be paid all wages, including accrued vacation, within 72 hours of quitting.
  4. An employee who quits without giving 72-hours’ notice can request their final wage payment be mailed to them. The date of mailing is considered the date of payment for purposes of the requirement to provide payment within 72 hours of the notice of quitting.
  5. Final wage payments for employees who are terminated (or laid off) must be made at the place of termination. For employees who quit without giving 72 hours’ notice and do not request their final wages be mailed to them, is at the office of the employer within the county in which the work was performed.

Employers should also review if commissions, bonuses, or expense reimbursement owed to employee?  Obtain all expense reimbursement forms form employee.

Employers with multiple locations need to ensure that the final wages are made available.  The place of the final wage payment for employees who are terminated (or laid off) is the place of termination. The place of final wage payment for employees who quit without giving 72 hours prior notice and who do not request that their final wages be mailed to them at a designated address, is at the office of the employer within the county in which the work was performed. Labor Code Section 208.

 3. Company property and passwords

Obtain all company property from employee and reset passwords.  Also, has employee returned all company provided uniforms?  Have all company keys been returned?  The company should also develop a list of all passwords employee had access to and ensure the passwords are reset.

4. Final notices

Employers need to ensure that all required notices are provided to the employee.  For example, common notices include:

  • Notice to Employee as to Change in Relationship (download here)
  • For your Benefit (Form 2320) (download here)
  • COBRA and Cal-COBRA Notices from insurance provider
  • Notify insurance provider
  • Health Insurance Premium (HIPP) Notice (download here)

5. Retention of employee files

Employers need to take measures to secure and save employee’s file, wage, and time records.  For more information, see my prior post, Five best document storage and retention practices for California employers.

Often the threat of the plaintiff’s potential ability to recover attorney’s fees is greater than the actual damages that they can prove.  This can be frustrating for employers defending wage and hour claims, in both the individual and class action context.  Indeed, an employer must understand the potential damages and exposure of fees they may have to pay if a case proceeds to trial or arbitration, as well as the potential to recover fees against the plaintiff.  This Friday’s Five addresses common attorney’s fees issues facing employers in wage and hour litigation.

1. When are attorney’s fees recoverable in wage and hour cases?  And can a defendant recover fees if they prevail? 

 Attorney’s fees in wage-and-hour cases are covered by two sections of the Labor Code:  sections 218.5 and 1194.  Aleman v. AirTouch Cell., 209 Cal. App. 4th 556, 579 (2012).  “Sections 218.5 and 1194 cover similar, though functionally exclusive subjects.”  Id.  Section 218.5 covers, among other things, claims “for the nonpayment of wages,” except those claims subject to Section 1194.  Section 1194, in turn, covers claims for failure to pay minimum wage or overtime.  Fees are assessed on a claim-by-claim basis.  Id. at 584.

Section 218.5 allows for “two-way” fee shifting – i.e., to the prevailing party, whether employee or employer – while Section 1194 only permits a prevailing employee to recover fees.  Kirby v. Immoos Fire Protection, Inc., 53 Cal.4th 1244, 1248 (2012).  For an employer to recover fees under Section 218.5, the claim must have been made in “bad faith.”  Cal. Lab. Code § 218.5(a).

 2. Attorney’s fees are not available to plaintiff for prevailing on missed meal or rest break claims.

 In Kirby, the California Supreme Court considered the issue of whether a can a party recover fees and costs under Labor Code, section 218.5 or 1194 when it prevails only on a claim for meal or rest break premium pay.  The court determined that neither of these sections allow for fees, and neither party can recover fees based on a claim only for premium pay.  Id. at 1251-59.

First, the court held that by its plain terms, section 1194 applies only to claims within the usual meaning of minimum wage and overtime – i.e., failure to pay the minimum wage or overtime compensation set by statute.  Id. at 1251-55.

Second, the court found section 218.5 inapplicable because it only applies to claims for “nonpayment of wages.”  Id. at 1255-57.  The court noted that the basis of a section 226.7 claim is the failure to provide meal or rest breaks, rather than the non-payment of wages.  Id. at 1256-57 (“Nonpayment of wages is not the gravamen of a 226.7 violation.  Instead . . . section 226.7 defines a legal violation solely by reference to an employer’s obligation to provide meal and rest breaks.”)  Accordingly, while premium pay owed for missed meal or rest breaks is measured in terms of an hour’s pay, and deemed a “wage” for other purposes (such as the statute of limitations) this is only the statutory remedy.  Id.  The injury is not a failure to provide premium pay, but the failure to provide breaks, and therefore a prevailing plaintiff is not entitled to attorney’s fees under these provisions.

3. An employee cannot recover attorney’s fees for successfully winning waiting time penalties under Labor Code section 203. 

 In Ling v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., 245 Cal. App. 4th 1242, 1260-61 (2016), the court considered the issue where a plaintiff arbitrated her claims before JAMS and the arbitrator rejected plaintiffs’ primary theory of misclassification.  Id. at 1248-49.  Instead, the arbitrator awarded plaintiff $1,038 in break premium for her nine-week training period, which “received little attention at the hearing,” was raised by plaintiff only in post-hearing briefing, and where it was largely undisputed that the plaintiff was entitled to breaks.  Id. at 1248.  The arbitrator awarded $7,688 in waiting time penalties under section 203.  Id.

Among many other issues on appeal, the plaintiff claimed that the arbitrator erred in failing to award her attorneys fees on her successful claim under Labor Code section 203.  The Court of Appeal disagreed.  It noted that employee could not “transmute” a claim for missed breaks into one for unpaid wages by bringing a derivative claim for waiting time penalties.  Id. at 1261.  Just as under Kirby, while waiting time penalties are measured in wages, those penalties are—as Section 203 states expressly—“penalties” and not wages.  Accordingly, the court found that waiting time penalties should not have been awarded.  Id.  More importantly, however, the court further concluded that no fees could be awarded, because the waiting time claim was “purely derivative” of a claim for meal break premium pay.  Because the underlying claim did not involve a failure to pay earned wages, the court held that the waiting time claim did not either, so could not support a claim for fees on either side.  (Id. [“Because a section 203 claim is purely derivative of ‘an action for the wages from which the penalties arise,’ it cannot be the basis of a fee award when the underlying claim is not an action for wages.”])

4. Which party is entitled to fees is the verdict a split decision and the plaintiff does not win all of their claims? 

Where neither party secures a “complete, unqualified victory” on all claims, “it is within the discretion of the trial court to determine which party prevailed . . . or whether, on balance, neither party prevailed sufficiently to justify an award of attorney fees.”  (See Scott Co. of California v. Blount, Inc. (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1103, 1109.)  In exercising this discretion, the court is to “compare the relief awarded . . . with the parties’ demands on those same claims and their litigation objectives as disclosed by the pleadings, trial briefs, opening statements, and similar sources.”  (Hsu v. Abbara (1995) 9 Cal. 4th 863, 876.)  This rule applies where both parties effectively win on some claims but not others, including the Labor Code context.  (On-Line Power, Inc. v. Mazur (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 1079, 1087 [noting that where plaintiff brought action for breach of contract and Labor Code violations, and settled for $25,000 pursuant to statutory offer, it was the type of case where the court had discretion to determine the prevailing party].)

5. Plaintiff’s attorney’s fees may be recovered for expense reimbursement claims under Labor Code section 2802.

Labor Code section 2802 provides that employers must pay for and reimburse employees for “all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence” of the employee’s job. Therefore, items like mileage reimbursement, even personal cell phone expenses, or other out-of-pocket expenditures employees make while performing their job must be reimbursed by the employer. Labor Code section 2802(c) provides that the employee is entitled to “attorney’s fees incurred by the employee enforcing the rights granted by this section.”

Happy Friday!  This Friday’s Five focuses on the termination process.  Employers should develop a termination checklist to ensure all documents and contingencies are consistently covered during the process.  Here are five pointers employers can use to start in developing their own checklist:

1.      Final wages must be timely paid.

The employee’s wages must be paid at the time of termination.  In addition, employers are required to pay the employee all accrued but unused vacation in this final paycheck.  In addition, other items employers should review to ensure they are timely paid:

  • Expense reimbursement for business expenses
  • Commissions
  • Non-discretionary bonuses or profit sharing agreements

2.      Provide all required forms to employee at separation.

To the surprise of many employers, there are many forms that employers are required to provide to employees at the time of termination.  Here is a non-exclusive list of some of the routine forms required:

Employers should take time to review their obligations and forms that are required for their particular industry or situation.

3.      Communications about the terminated employee with others in the company and outside of the company. 

In order to prove a libel or slander claim, the employee must prove: (1) false communication; (2) unprivileged statement of fact (not opinion); (3) it was made about the plaintiff; (4) published to a third party; and (5) caused damage to the plaintiff.  More information about liable for slander claims can be read here.

Employers should take appropriate measures not to discuss the circumstances surrounding why an employee left the company with people within the company that do not have a need to know.  In addition, employers need to be very careful in how they communicate with anyone outside of the company about the employee’s work at the company.  To avoid any potential claims, many employers restrict what information they will provide for reference checks (even for employees who were good and left on good terms) to the employee’s dates of employment, and if authorized by the employee, the employee’s last rate of pay.

4.      Consider if a severance agreement would be appropriate.

Offering an employee some severance pay may cost the company money in the short-term, but could save a lot of time and money in the long run. If the employer believes that there is a potential dispute with the employee, the employer may choose to pay some severance in exchange of a release of claims by the employee in order to avoid any potential litigation.  If done properly, an employee’s acceptance of a severance agreement would effectively waive any and all claims against the company.  If there is any potential for a dispute about any issues that arose during employment, entering into a severance agreement could be an effective way to avoid costly and time consuming litigation.  I’ve previously written about five common questions about severance agreements here.

5.      Have an attorney review the process.

If the termination has any type of complicated issue, of if the company is going to over a severance agreement, an employment lawyer familiar with the law should be consulted.  It is also helpful to discuss a termination with an employment lawyer to see if there are any other potential issues that the employer may not have considered, and develop a strategy to deal with the issues at the time of termination, and not during litigation.

This week, a federal court in northern California certified portions of a class action Picture - driverbrought by Uber drivers who worked in California since 2009 (click here for the decision [PDF]).  Over 160,000 drivers have worked for Uber in California during this time period, and while the case is making a lot of news, what are the key issues employers should understand about the ruling?  Here are five takeaways for employers from the decision:

1.     Employers must understand the class action procedure

Employers with more than 30 or so employees should understand what a class action is, and the procedural issues of a class action.  It is important to understand that while the court certified certain portions of the plaintiffs’ case (and refused to certify others), this does not mean that Uber has lost the case.  Class certification is not a ruling on the merits of the case, but only whether the case is one that there a sufficient similarities between all of the class members’ claims that enable to court to decide the matter on a class wide basis.  The court explained:

The merits of the case are not currently at issue. Rather, the Court needs to consider only two questions at this juncture; whether the case can properly proceed as a class action, and, if so, how. While answering both of those questions necessarily requires the Court to perform a rigorous analysis of a number of legal issues, the parties correctly recognize that one threshold issue is of paramount importance to the success or failure of Plaintiffs’ class certification motion: as to whether drivers are Uber’s employees or independent contractors under California’s common-law test of employment, will “questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members” of the proposed class?

….

That is, are the drivers’ working relationships with Uber sufficiently similar so that a jury can resolve the Plaintiffs’ legal claims all at once? This question is of cardinal importance because if the Plaintiffs’ worker classification cannot be adjudicated on a classwide basis, then it necessarily follows that Plaintiffs’ actual substantive claims for expense reimbursement and conversion of gratuities cannot be adjudicated on a classwide basis either.

The court ruled in plaintiffs favor in certifying the class action because Uber treated all of the drivers the same:

As other courts weighing certification of employment misclassification claims have recognized, however, there is inherent tension between this argument and Uber’s position on the merits: on one hand, Uber argues that it has properly classified every single driver as an independent contractor; on the other, Uber argues that individual issues with respect to each driver’s “unique” relationship with Uber so predominate that this Court (unlike, apparently, Uber itself) cannot make a classwide determination of its drivers’ proper job classification.

Uber also made the argument that the class should not be certified because many drivers did not support the lawsuit, as demonstrated in 400 declarations it offered from the drivers.  The court noted that class member’s opposition to the class action does not necessarily bar class certification.  The court explained that it “must be mindful” of the fact that “‘the protections conferred by [these laws] have a public purpose beyond the private interests of the workers themselves.’”  In addition, the court explained that if class members do not agree with the class action, they are free to opt-out of the class action.

2.     The Borello test determines if workers are properly classified as independent contractors

The “most significant consideration” is the putative employer’s “right to control work details.”  S.G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Dep’t of Indus. Relations (Borello), 48 Cal. 3d 341, 350 (1989).  Recently, the California Supreme Court noted that under the right-of-control test, it is “not how much control a hirer [actually] exercises, but how much control the hirer retains the right to exercise.” Ayala, 59 Cal. 4th at 533.

The second set of factors that the court will look at under the Borello test are as follows:

a) whether the one performing services is engaged in a distinct occupation or business;

(b) the kind of occupation, with reference to whether, in the locality, the work is usually done under the direction of the principal or by a specialist without supervision;

(c) the skill required in the particular occupation;

(d) whether the principal or the worker supplies the instrumentalities, tools, and the place of work for the person doing the work;

(e) the length of time for which the services are to be performed;

(f) the method of payment, whether by the time or by the job;

(g) whether or not the work is a part of the regular business of the principal; and

(h) whether or not the parties believe they are creating the relationship of employer-employee.

Finally, the Borello test has five additional factors borrowed from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in making a determination of a worker’s classification:

(i) the alleged employee’s opportunity for profit or loss depending on his managerial skill;

(j) the alleged employee’s investment in equipment or materials required for his task, or his employment of helpers;

(k) whether the service rendered requires a special skill;

(l) the degree of permanence of the working relationship; and

(m) whether the service rendered is an integral part of the alleged employer’s business.

The court analyzed these factors and held that a class action was appropriate in this case “because all (or nearly all) of the individual elements of the Borello test themselves raise common questions which will have common answers.”

3.     It is the employer’s burden to prove the workers are independent contractors, so proceed with caution

The court noted that because Uber drivers “’render service to Uber,’ they are presumptively employees as a matter of law.  Thus, the Plaintiffs have proved their prima facie case, although the ultimate question of their employment status will need to be decided by a jury.  Therefore, the burden will be on Uber at trial to ‘disprove an employment relationship.’”

4.     Understand obligations to reimburse employees for work related expenses

The plaintiffs were also seeking to certify a class of drivers who incurred business expenses and were seeking reimbursement for these expenses under Labor Code section 2802.  While plaintiffs were not entirely clear on what items they were seeking reimbursement for, the court concluded that it appeared the main reimbursement items were for vehicle operating expenses, such as gas, maintenance, and wear and tear.  Plaintiffs, therefore, waived reimbursement claims for other items such as water, gum, and mints for passengers, and clothing costs.  I’ve written previously about employer’s obligations to reimburse drivers for mileage here.

The court noted that these reimbursement claims “can sometimes be problematic to certify as class actions because ‘there may be substantial variance as to what kind of expenses were even incurred by [the workers] in the first place” and “it may be challenging to determine on a classwide basis whether a particular expense (or type of expense) was ‘necessary’ or incurred in ‘direct consequence’ of the employee’s duties.”  The court held that it would not certify the reimbursement class at this point in time because the plaintiffs did not demonstrate that by dropping the reimbursement claims in addition to the mileage reimbursement claim was in the best interest of the class.

5.     Businesses need to be careful about how they characterize tips or service charges to customers, and understand the difference

Plaintiffs also assert that because the drivers should have been classified as employees, Uber violated Labor Code section 351, which precludes employers from taking employee’s tips.  The court granted plaintiffs’ motion for class certification on this issue based on Plaintiffs’ evidence that Uber informed its customers in advertisements that a tip for the driver was included in the cost of the fares (“When the ride is over, Uber will automatically charge your credit card on file.  No cash is necessary.  Please thank your driver, but tip is already included”; “All Uber fares include the tip….”)  Employers must be mindful about how they characterize tips and service charges, and must understand the difference between the two under the law.

You may recall from your college business law class of the “American rule” regarding attorney’s fees: generally in the United States each side is responsible to their own attorney’s fees, and unlike other countries, the loser does not have to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees. Employers can basically ignore this general rule in employment litigation under California law. I debated about writing this article because once a lawsuit is filed, employers don’t have any control over what claims and damages the plaintiff will assert, so why would employers need to understand when they have exposure to a current or former employee’s attorney’s fees in litigation? However, employers need to understand the underlying liability of potential claims, the motivations behind those claims, and the major part of many employment law claims can be attorney’s fees. And as shown below, the California legislature has used the award of attorney’s fees to shift the risk in many actions against employers, and it is a concept that employers need to understand to address liability and litigation strategies. Here are five California employment related statutes that can expose employers to a plaintiff’s attorney’s fees:

1. Minimum wage/unpaid overtime claims. Labor Code section 1194, provides attorneys fees for plaintiffs who recover damages for minimum wage or overtime violations:

Notwithstanding any agreement to work for a lesser wage, any employee receiving less than the legal minimum wage or the legal overtime compensation applicable to the employee is entitled to recover in a civil action … reasonable attorney’s fees, and costs of suit.

2. Unsuccessful appeal of Labor Commissioner Claim. In order to discourage appeals from Labor Commissioner rulings, California Labor Code section 98.2(c) requires the court “shall” awards costs and reasonably attorney’s fees to the other party. This section permits the employee to obtain fees on an unsuccessful appeal by the employer, or to the employer who prevails on an unsuccessful appeal by employee. The catch for employers however, is that Labor Code section 98.2(c) provides that the employee is “successful” and therefore entitled to attorney’s fees “if the court awards an amount greater than zero.” Yes, even if the employee receives $1, they are successful in the appeal, and are entitled to their attorney’s fees. Therefore, employers have a huge disincentive in appealing Labor Commissioner rulings.

3. Expense reimbursement claims Labor Code section 2802 provides that employers must pay for and reimburse employees for “all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence” of the employee’s job. Therefore, items like mileage reimbursement, even personal cell phone expenses, or other out-of-pocket expenditures employees make while performing their job must be reimbursed by the employer. Labor Code section 2802(c) provides that the employee is entitled to “attorney’s fees incurred by the employee enforcing the rights granted by this section.”

4. Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) claims Plaintiff’s counsel bringing a PAGA claim can seeks attorney’s fees under this statute as well. See Labor Code section 2699(g). Plaintiffs’ attorneys also claims fees under California Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5, which permits them to recover fees if the case “resulted in the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest” if certain requirements are satisfied.

5. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits harassment and discrimination in employment based on protected categories and/or retaliation for protesting illegal discrimination related to one of these categories. “In civil actions brought under [FEHA], the court, in its discretion, may award to the prevailing party . . . reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, including expert witness fees.” (Gov. Code, § 12965, subd. (b).) Under FEHA, the fee shifting provision goes both ways, to the plaintiff but also potentially the employer. Courts have discretion to award the defendant employer attorney’s fees and costs as the prevailing party in cases where plaintiff’s claim is deemed unreasonable, frivolous, meritless or vexatious. As a California court recently explained:

Despite its discretionary language, however, the statute applies only if the plaintiff’s lawsuit is deemed unreasonable, frivolous, meritless, or vexatious. . . . ‘ “[M]eritless” is to be understood as meaning groundless or without foundation, rather than simply that the plaintiff has ultimately lost his case . . . .’

Robert v. Stanford University, 224 Cal.App4th 67 (2014).

In my last post, I wrote about what steps employers should talk to comply with the new employment laws for 2015. This post discusses more generally what employers should audit on a yearly basis. And with the year coming to a close, now is a great time to review these five items:

1. Expense reimbursement and mileage policies.
Employees must be reimbursed for all out of pocket expenses incurred while performing their jobs under Labor Code Section 2802. This includes reimbursing employees for their out of pocket expenses for driving their personal vehicles for business purposes. There are a number of different methods employers may utilize in calculating and paying expense reimbursement, as I have previously written here.

While not required, the employer can utilize the IRS mileage rates established each year to pay employees for their vehicle expenses. The IRS mileage rate for 2015 has been set at 57.5 cents per mile (up from 56 cents in 2014).

2. Deductions from wages.
Generally, employer cannot make deductions from employees’ pay for ordinary business expenses or losses. For example, employers are not allowed to deduct the following items employee’s wages:

  • Ordinary damage or wear and tear to equipment
  • The outstanding balance owned on a loan to an employee in one “balloon payment” for the remaining balance of a loan owed to the employer
  • Deductions from employee’s current pay for past payroll errors
  • For returned items from customers
  • Lost equipment
  • Shipping fees to return items to the employer

3. Reporting time pay
California law requires an employer to pay “reporting time pay” under the applicable Wage Order, which states:

Each workday an employee is required to report for work and does report, but is not put to work or is furnished less than half said employee’s usual or scheduled day’s work, the employee shall be paid for half the usual or scheduled day’s work, but in no event for less than two (2) hours nor more than four (4) hours, at the employee’s regular rate of pay, which shall not be less than the minimum wage.

This issue comes up often times when the employer requires employees to attend meetings during days the employees normally have off. It is important for employers to understand this requirement and schedule employees accordingly.

4. Handbook updates
With California’s new paid sick leave requirement, it may be a good time to review your company’s handbook policies to ensure they are compliant and add a policy for the new law. We are currently reviewing a number of our client’s handbooks. It is like going to the dentist, if you wait too long to update your handbook, it will end up costing you more than if the handbook is revised at least once a year.

5. Review employees who are paid on commissions.

A) Must have written agreements with commissioned employees.
As of January 1, 2013, when an employee is paid commissions, the employer must provide a written contract setting forth the method the commissions will be computed and paid. The written agreement must be signed by both the employer and employee. Commission wages are “compensation paid to any person for services rendered in the sale of such employer’s property or services and based proportionately upon the amount or value thereof.” Commissions do not include (1) short-term productivity bonuses, (2) temporary, variable incentive payment that increase, but do not decrease, payment under the written contract, and (3) bonus and profit-sharing plans, unless there has been an offer by the employer to pay a fixed percentage of sales or profits as compensation for work to be performed.

B) If the commissioned employee is non-exempt, ensure the proper overtime rate is being calculated.
If the employee is non-exempt and the employer is required to pay overtime for work longer than eight hours in one day or more than 40 hours in one week, ensure that the employee’s regular rate of pay is properly calculated for overtime purposes. The DLSE provides a good overview of how to calculate the appropriate regular rate of pay here.

Anthony is a litigation attorney who focuses on representing employers in California labor and employment law matters and has extensive experience in litigating class action and single plaintiff lawsuits. He is the founding partner of the Zaller Law Group, PC, located in El Segundo.  Zaller Law Group litigates cases throughout California.
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California employers face constant pressure to make personnel decisions quickly. Terminations, separations, performance issues, and new hires often cannot wait for a lawyer’s calendar. The most effective way to handle these routine but high-risk situations is to have a core set of documents drafted, reviewed, and approved by employment counsel in advance. When the situation arises, the employer reaches for a template counsel has already blessed rather than starting from scratch—and routine issues can be handled without burning time and legal fees on each one.

It goes without saying that an employee handbook should be on every California employer’s list and reviewed at least annually given the volume of new statutes, regulations, and case law each year. Beyond the handbook, here are five documents every California employer should have prepared, reviewed by counsel, and ready to deploy.

1. Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and Discipline Template

California is an at-will employment state, but at-will rarely wins a case standing alone. Wrongful termination, discrimination, and retaliation claims usually turn on whether the employer’s stated reason holds up under scrutiny, and that depends on contemporaneous, consistent documentation of performance concerns. A pre-approved PIP and discipline template forces managers into the right format before urgency or emotion takes over.

A counsel-blessed template should prompt the manager to record the specific performance deficiency, the standard expected, a measurable benchmark, the timeframe for improvement, the support being offered, the consequences of failing to improve, and contemporaneous signatures from the employee and supervisor. The recurring documentation failures that show up in litigation—vague performance concerns, missing dates, no measurable goals, retroactive write-ups created after a complaint, and inconsistent application across employees—are largely eliminated when a standardized template is in use.

Two additional considerations are worth building into the template. First, when a known or suspected disability is in play, a PIP cannot substitute for the interactive process under FEHA. The template should include a checkpoint reminding the manager to assess whether an accommodation discussion is required before the PIP is issued. Second, consistency matters as much as content. Disparate discipline across protected classes is one of the most common pretext theories plaintiffs raise, so a brief HR or counsel sign-off step for higher-risk situations is worth including.

Bottom line: A pre-approved PIP and discipline template turns documentation from a manager’s afterthought into a defensible, repeatable practice.

2. Arbitration Agreement

A current, enforceable arbitration agreement remains one of the most effective risk-management tools available to California employers, but only if it has been updated to reflect the rapid evolution of case law in this area. The Supreme Court’s decision in Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, the California Supreme Court’s response in Adolph v. Uber Technologies, and the Ninth Circuit’s resolution of AB 51 in Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta have each reshaped what an enforceable agreement looks like.

Adolph in particular changed how PAGA representative actions interact with individual arbitration, and Iskanian-era language that was state-of-the-art a few years ago can now create more problems than it solves—especially where severability clauses fail to carry their weight. Federal Arbitration Act preemption issues, jury waiver language, attorney’s fees provisions, class action waivers, and the scope of claims covered all warrant regular review.

Employers should also remember that an arbitration agreement is only as good as the implementation around it. Tracking who signed, when, and which version was in force is a recurring weak point that surfaces when motions to compel arbitration are filed years after the agreement was executed.

Bottom line: An arbitration agreement is a living document. It should be revisited at least annually and rewritten whenever a major decision shifts the legal landscape.

3. Offer Letter and New Hire Packet

The offer letter is just the cover sheet. California stacks a series of mandatory disclosures and notices on top of every new hire, and the new hire packet is where those obligations are met. A complete, counsel-reviewed packet typically includes the Labor Code section 2810.5 wage notice, paid sick leave information, the sexual harassment prevention pamphlet, the workers’ compensation rights notice, EDD pamphlets, the CRD’s discrimination and harassment notice, and the SB 294 emergency contact opportunity that took effect in 2026.

The offer letter itself also needs current eyes. SB 642 redefined “pay scale” to mean the wage range the employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position upon hire, which may narrow the ranges employers post and quote. AB 692 broadly bans most “stay-or-pay” provisions in employment contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026, which directly affects relocation reimbursement language, sign-on bonus clawbacks, and tuition assistance arrangements—areas that previously could be handled with boilerplate.

A pre-approved offer letter and new hire packet ensures hiring decisions can move at the speed the business needs without creating compliance gaps that surface years later in a class or PAGA claim.

Bottom line: A new hire packet is not a stack of paper. It is the employer’s first compliance checkpoint, and California adds new layers to it nearly every year.

4. Short-Form Release and/or Severance Agreement

A pre-approved short-form release agreement allows employers to handle routine separations on a same-day basis instead of waiting for counsel to draft custom language for each situation. The savings compound quickly: a counsel-blessed template can convert what would otherwise be a two-week lawyer engagement into a same-day decision for routine matters where modest separation pay is offered in exchange for a release of claims.

The legal scaffolding has shifted significantly. The Silenced No More Act (Code of Civil Procedure section 12964.5) restricts confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions covering claims of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. AB 749 limits no-rehire clauses. The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act still requires the 21-day consideration and 7-day revocation periods for releases involving employees age 40 and over, and group reductions in force trigger additional disclosure obligations. Civil Code section 1542 waivers must be expressly invoked, and several categories of claims—workers’ compensation, unemployment, certain whistleblower retaliation, and indemnification rights, among others—cannot be waived even with the cleanest release language.

Templates also benefit from clear instructions on when they can be used as-is and when counsel involvement is required. Routine voluntary separations with low-risk profiles often fit the template; situations involving recent complaints, leaves of absence, suspected protected activity, or larger payouts should always come back to counsel.

Bottom line: A counsel-approved short-form release pays for itself the first time it lets the employer close a routine separation in hours instead of weeks.

5. Employee Separation Packet

Final pay timing under Labor Code sections 201 through 203 is one of the most common—and most preventable—sources of waiting-time penalty exposure. A pre-built separation packet, organized to be ready on the day of termination or the next business day in the case of a resignation without notice, eliminates most day-of mistakes.

A complete packet typically includes the final paycheck reflecting all wages earned, accrued vacation, and any required premium pay; the EDD’s “For Your Benefit” pamphlet; the change-in-relationship notice; COBRA and Cal-COBRA continuation notices; the HIPP notice; benefits termination information; final expense reimbursement; return-of-property documentation; and, where applicable, the short-form release described above. The separation packet is also where post-employment obligations such as confidentiality, trade secrets, and any enforceable restrictive covenants are confirmed in writing.

Bottom line: A separation packet is the difference between a clean exit and a section 203 waiting-time penalty claim or other litigation exposure.

Closing Thoughts

These five documents—the PIP and discipline template, arbitration agreement, offer letter and new hire packet, short-form release, and separation packet—cover moments when employers most often need to act quickly and where the cost of getting it wrong is highest. Having them prepared, reviewed by counsel, and ready to deploy is not a substitute for legal advice on novel or high-stakes matters; it is what frees counsel to focus on those matters when they arise. For employers managing day-to-day personnel decisions across a California workforce, this small library of pre-approved documents is one of the highest-leverage investments available.