Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Summer is here, and temperatures are rising across California. Are your employees who work outside safe? Just weeks ago, a teenager in Modesto died from heat stress on the job, working in fields. This kind of tragedy doesn’t have to happen, and with proper precautions you can ensure that your workers are safe when they […]
Starting July 1, it will be illegal in California to drive while using a cell phone, unless the phone is equipped with a hands-free device. Also as of July 1, teens under age 18 can’t drive while using a cell phone—even using a hands-free device. Teens also can’t drive while using any other mobile service […]
In a divided 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional state laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.1 The case arose out of San Francisco’s move, back in 2004, to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The decision was immediately challenged, and the California Supreme Court ruled then that the marriages were […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down an important new ruling that could open the floodgates for claims by employees charging that their employers mishandled retirement accounts. The new case involved James LaRue, who filed a lawsuit under ERISA—the federal law that governs employee benefits—claiming that his employer’s failure to follow his investment directions under […]
A California appeals court has rejected a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former State Farm insurance agent, ruling that the insurer could terminate the agent at will under the terms of an agency/employment agreement—even though the agreement didn’t use the term “at will.”
Employers must give employees written notice of their possible right to take an Earned Income Tax Credit on their federal tax returns, as required by a new California law, A.B. 650, that took effect on January 1. The new provision applies to all employers and employees covered by California’s unemployment insurance law. Pick up the […]
In an important development, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled 3-2 that an employer didn’t violate federal labor relations law by maintaining a policy that barred employees from using the employer’s email system for union activities and other non-job-related solicitations. Join us this fall in San Francisco for the California Employment Law Update […]
Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court’s decision to certify a sex discrimination class action lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart on behalf of up to 2 million current and former female employees. Last month, the Ninth Circuit has now reaffirmed its ruling, thus putting the suit one step closer to […]
The wildfires that have flared up in Southern California are a grim reminder that disaster can strike at any time and result in unexpected workplace closures. A special provision in the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders permits you to send nonexempt employees home—without having to pay a reporting-time premium—in any of these situations: Operations can’t […]
In a new case that highlights the growing tension between Silicon Valley’s hip, young atmosphere and older, experienced workers, an ex-Google director whom younger employees called “old fuddy duddy” and “sluggish” has been given the green light by a California appeals court to sue for age discrimination.