Best Practices For California Employers

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1. Current and former employees have the right to inspect or copy personnel files.
Under Labor Code section 1198.5 employees have the right to inspect or receive copies of personnel files and records relating to the employee’s performance or grievance concerning the employee. Employers are legally required to maintain personnel files for at least three…

Five items parties need to understand about mediation.

1. Mediation is non-binding.
Mediation is a voluntary process in which litigants (or even parties prior to litigation) agree to use a private third-party to help settle the case. People sometimes confuse mediation with arbitration. Arbitration is when parties agree to use a private third-party to hear…

1. Meal and rest breaks.
If you did not know of this exposure already existed in California, can I recommend some reading here, here and here?

2. Exempt vs. non-exempt classification of employees.
The default under California law is that every employee is entitled to overtime pay at a rate of time and…

Here is a list of some of the required notices employers must provide to new employees in California. Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with five rules or items for the Friday’s Five list, but not this time – I blew through five items (it is California after all): 

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The San Diego City Council approved an ordinance that increases the minimum wage required to be paid to workers within the city to $11.50 per hour by 2017. In addition the ordinance calls for the minimum wage to automatically increase every year after 2018 by indexing the minimum wage to inflation. Currently California’s minimum wage is…

Here is a list of five rights provided to employees under the California Labor Code that the employee may not waive by agreement with an employer.

1. Minimum wage
Labor Code Section 1194 provides a private right of action to enforce violations of minimum wage and overtime laws. That statute clearly voids any agreement between…

1. Classifying all employees as independent contractors
To qualify as an independent contractor, the employer has the burden of proof to establish that the worker is actually an independent contractor and not an employee. I’ve discussed the parameter of this “economic realities” test here.  In addition to owing unpaid minimum wages and potential unpaid…

This Friday’s Five is coming out a little late in the day, but as they say, better late….  I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about final wage payment requirements.  So here are five rules every employer should know about providing final wages to employees:

  1. An employee who is discharged must be paid all of

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Here is a short video regarding some items California employers should consider about the minimum wage increase taking effect July 1, 2014.

//www.youtube.com/embed/fvwcOiltDHw

 For more information about the minimum wage increase:

Five issues California employers should review before the minimum wage increases July 1, 2014