Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By Cathleen S. Yonahara Under California law, employers may not retaliate against employees for reporting illegal activity to law enforcement. However, an employer did just that when it fired a worker for filing a police report after the worker’s wedding ring was stolen while on the job—and that action proved to be an expensive error […]
By Michael Futterman and Jaime Touchstone A truck driver sued his employers alleging wage and hour violations. The trial court refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action but failed to provide a reason for its decision. The California Court of Appeal sent the case back to the trial court because it could not […]
By Michelle Lee Flores and Cozen O’Connor It was quite a surprise for the Knicks basketball team that it was subject to California’s workers’ compensation laws, given that the team is from New York. A court of appeals affirmed a California’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) award imposing liability for a cumulative trauma injury that […]
California’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard is the only one of its kind in the United States—and a recent ruling by the California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board has made it so those working indoors are protected from heat hazards as well. The ruling comes after a worker suffered heat illness while inside a […]
By Joel Van Parys While a California court’s decision addresses personnel information for police officers in particular, all employers should be taking steps to safeguard and protect confidential employee information. The case is a reminder that releasing private personnel information about employees is a big decision that may involve risk for the employer—even if the […]
By Beth A. Kahn and Ashley A. Escudero The California Court of Appeal recently ruled on whether a university’s tenure review process can be construed as “protected activity” and therefore subject to a special legal procedure. Their decision came in the wake of an assistant professor’s claim of national origin discrimination when he was denied […]
By Holly Jones, JD Always the trailblazer when it comes to employment law, California’s data breach notification law was the first of its kind. As data security issues continue to dominate the business world, the state’s laws are adapting as well. In the coming year, the law will include definitions of terms and specific formatting […]
By Michael Futterman and Jaime Touchstone An employee filed a wage claim against her former employer for unpaid commissions and was awarded nearly $30,000 by the labor commissioner. The employer appealed the decision to the superior court … but then withdrew the appeal. The employee then sought reimbursement of the amounts she had expended in […]
By Marianne C. Koepf Over the past several years, many California employers have implemented dispute resolution programs and imposed arbitration agreements as a condition of employment—after all, it’s less expensive than litigation! But as the California Court of Appeal recently explained, while arbitration agreements are generally valid, an employer must understand its limits.
You may remember that back in the spring, a California Court of Appeal decision found that employees may not waive their second meal period during shifts longer than 12 hours, drastically affecting meal period policies throughout the Golden State’s healthcare industry. However, a new bill is bringing the waivers back.