Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A bill just signed by Gov. Davis significantly raises the stakes in harassment cases by making all employees who harass co-workers potential targets of a lawsuit. We’ll focus on how the law has changed and the impact it may have on you and your workers.
Gov. Davis has signed into law a sweeping measure, A.B. 2222, that strengthens the disability discrimination protections for California employees. Because the new law—which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2001—could bring a flood of new disability-bias lawsuits, it’s more important than ever to use caution when handling accommodation issues.
Some employees have tried to get around their at-will status by claiming long service and repeated promotions created an implied agreement that they would only be terminated for good cause. Now the California Supreme Court has made clear that this argument won’t fly. However, the court left the door open for a person’s at-will employment […]
There is a lot of important new legislation affecting the workplace that Gov. Davis has signed into law. As the final hour for approving legislation approached, the governor vetoed bills to increase workers’ comp benefits, boost unemployment payments, expand leave for family and medical care, ban secret monitoring of employee e-mail and computer records, and […]
The state Industrial Welfare Commission has approved a 50-cent increase in the minimum wage to $6.25 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2001. Another 50-cent increase will take effect Jan. 1, 2002, boosting the hourly minimum to $6.75. The change will also raise the minimum monthly salary that must be earned to qualify as exempt employees. […]
The state Insurance Commissioner has approved a 10.1% premium rate hike for workers’ compensation insurance in response to increases in medical costs that have battered workers’ comp insurers. Although the approved boost is only advisory, increases adopted by the commissioner are frequently used by the industry as a guidepost to set policy prices.
The Santa Cruz City Council has voted unanimously to adopt a minimum wage of $11 per hour with benefits or $12 without benefits. The living wage ordinance—the highest in the nation—would initially cover only full-time employees of the city and for-profit employers with city contracts. City officials hope to eventually extend the minimum wage to […]
A group of 28 screenwriters have filed a class action lawsuit against the major television networks, studios and talent agencies, claiming that a pattern of age discrimination exists in the television industry that has squeezed out writers who are over 40. The writers charge that the networks, studios and agents are so eager to capture […]
A recent case illustrates that sexual harassment claims can encompass actions other than traditional sexually oriented conduct. A 15-year-old student who was hired to answer the telephone at a nonprofit agency in the San Francisco area will receive $750,000 in a confidential settlement of his claim that a supervisor harassed him through aggressive “roughhousing” and […]
The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is proposing to end a requirement for visits to the worksites of federal contractors to make limited “compliance checks.” This type of review issued to see if the contractor has maintained proper records and has developed an affirmative action plan. To allow greater flexibility, contractors could […]