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Employment Law Tip: Protecting Workers from the Sun

We reported on the new Cal-OSHA initiative to educate employers and employees on how to prevent heat-related illness. Employers and employees should also take the time to understand how to prevent another sun hazard that’s a problem year-round: too much exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays.

Work Criticisms Don’t Equal Adverse Action

When Specialty Restaurants Corp. (SRC) hired Alberto Pinero as general manager of Luminarias in Monterey Park, Pinero had an age bias lawsuit pending against his former employer that he didn’t tell SRC about. When SRC’s chief executive learned about the suit, he tried to persuade Pinero to drop it on the grounds that it was […]

Exempt Employees: Labor Commissioner Changes Guidance on Vacation and Paid Time Off

The California labor commissioner has withdrawn an existing opinion letter regarding employer-mandated use of vacation and other paid time off (PTO) for exempt employees, as well as the use of vacation or PTO for partial-day absences. We’ll explain what the commissioner’s action means and how it will affect your workplace. 

Family and Medical Leave: Ruling Makes It Tougher for Employees to Prove a Serious Health Condition Entitles Them to Leave; Medical Certification Requirements

Antonina Lonicki worked as a technician in the sterile processing department of Sutter Health Central in the Sacramento area. Lonicki performed the same work duties at a second job on weekends for Kaiser Permanente. Over time, Lonicki alleged, her Sutter workload increased and became hectic and stressful. One day, when Sutter unexpectedly changed Lonicki’s shift, […]

Employing Minors: DOL Releases Final Rules on Restrictions for Teen Workers

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published final regulations that implement changes to some teen worker employment rules. Effective Feb. 15, the rules expand protections for minors working in certain industries and performing certain tasks. Note that California’s child labor rules generally incorporate the federal regulations.

Workplace Bias: Court Strips Employee of $1 Million Award; No Evidence Reorganization Was Biased Against Older Workers and Women

In the most familiar type of workplace bias lawsuit, the employee charges that the employer had a discriminatory motive. Butin disparate impact cases, the employee claims that an apparently neutral policy or practice of the employer disproportionately hurt employees in a protected class, even though there was no intent to discriminate. A new California appeal […]