Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Each year, California employers are faced with the task of keeping up with a whole new round of labor laws and regulations, most of them courtesy of the state legislature. This year is no exception, with many changes occurring midyear. Staying up to date and ensuring compliance with these ever-changing state, local, and federal laws […]
Focus on your culture, and the profits will follow, says Zappos’ CEO and author of Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, Tony Hsieh. And the culture at Zappos is all about customer service. The company, known primarily for its Internet shoe business, does very little advertising, Hsieh says; instead, it counts […]
Yesterday, we looked at the case of a California employee, Lorena Alamo, who successfully established that her termination was due to improper “mixed motives” (the employer had both unlawful and legitimate reasons for the firing).
Proving retaliation on the part of an employer is not always cut and dry. In fact, some retaliation cases have made it all the way to the Supreme Court owing to the ambiguity of what is required to prove such a case.
People are now spending more time on social media sites than on e-mail, says attorney Jody Katz Pritikin, and a lot of that time is being spent at work. In today’s CED, Pritikin explains how to manage the new social media time-suck.
One of our employees isn’t working out. His sales have been consistently low, he has trouble meeting deadlines, and he doesn’t interact well with clients. We’ve decided to let him go. What should we cover when we meet with him? Thank you. — Maryanne P., Santa Monica Mishandling a termination meeting could lead to […]
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 […]
Darlene Edgington worked for plumbing contractor C. Herb Berger Inc. in Santa Monica. According to Edgington, the company president Ricky Berger referred to her as “buffalo buns” and told her to perform sexual acts on another employee. And the vice president allegedly drew and circulated a nude sketch of Edgington. Plus, Edgington accused management of, […]
An undocumented employee who was injured on the job has had her request for rehabilitation benefits thrown out by the California Court of Appeal. Margalese Ortega-Ruiz injured her back while working at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in Santa Monica. After she filed a workers’ comp claim and requested vocational rehabilitation benefits, the restaurant discovered she wasn’t […]