Tag: Wage Order

10 Things HR Needs to Know about California Wage and Hour Laws

by Jim Brown and Marc Koonin Companies with employees working in California must always remain mindful of the state’s protectionist wage and hour laws. You must always comply with federal standards and all California laws that provide greater protections for employees than the federal requirements. Failure to do so might be an unwelcome invitation to […]

Rest Breaks: How Do We Handle Complaints About Smokers’ Breaks?

We’re a small company and we’ve been fairly lenient with rest breaks. We assumed that employees would take a 10-minute rest break in the morning and again in the afternoon, but we haven’t policed exactly how long people take their breaks. We’ve also just let smokers step outside for cigarette breaks without tracking how often […]

Alternative Workweeks, Part 3: How to Dismantle an Alternative Workweek Arrangement

California employers can allow employees to work longer days and shorter workweeks without incurring overtime pay by implementing an alternative workweek arrangement. In Parts 1 and 2 of our series on alternative workweeks, we guided you through the steps to set up one of these flexible schedules and explained the different rules that apply for […]

Meal Periods: Court Sheds Light on Issue of Providing Meal Breaks; Decision May Help Limit Employer Liability

In California, meal periods of no less than 30 minutes must be provided for an employee who works at least five hours, and two 30-minute meal periods are required for work shifts of more than 10 hours. Are employers responsible for making sure employees take their meal breaks? Or can employers just offer the meal […]

Employment Law Tip: Are Telecommuters Taking Breaks?

It’s no secret that wage and hour lawsuits are multiplying, and they often challenge an employer’s practices with respect to required meal and rest breaks. But even if you’ve taken steps to comply with Labor Code and Wage Order break rules, you might have forgotten to check up on breaks for one segment of your […]