The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has just concluded a major study on sexual harassment. It offers some interesting new insights relevant to California employers and employees. According to the study, the strongest predictor of whether sexual harassment will occur (or not) in the workplace is the “organizational climate” of the organization. In… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Class Action Waivers
It was only a few weeks ago. California employees and their lawyers were jubilant after the CA Supreme Court delivered its game-changing Dynamex decision that made it even harder for California employers to properly classify workers as independent contractors. As a result, employment protections were extended to millions of California workers who were also given the right… Read More
What Makes a Company “Culture”?
In the current job market, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, good employees are more valuable now than perhaps ever. Almost every one of my clients is looking to hire, and almost every one looking is complaining that that they “can’t find anyone good.” It’s a seller’s market, and recruits are asking potential new employers hard… Read More
CA Supreme Court Delivers Bombshell Ruling — Even Harder Now for Employers to Classify Workers as Independent Contractors
Determining whether a worker should be classified as an employee or independent contractor has always been a challenging task that frustrates our clients. There are a variety of legal “tests” that are used in different contexts in order to make that determination. A worker can be considered an independent contractor by one state agency but… Read More
CA Supreme Court — Bonuses Impact “Rate of Pay” and Thus Overtime Calculations
California already has one of the most generous and employee-friendly overtime laws in the country. Employees in California earn overtime anytime they work over 8 hours in a day OR 40 hours in a week. Overtime is paid at 1.5 times the employee’s regular “rate of pay.” Calculating an Employee’s Regular Rate of Pay But,… Read More
Are New Laws Banning Employers From Asking About Salary History Backfiring?
As I blogged about here and here, California and San Francisco recently enacted new laws prohibiting employers from asking applicants about their prior “salary history.” California currently joins Delaware and New York City as the only other jurisdictions that currently prohibit all employers from asking about salary history during the employment process. (Note: Several other… Read More
Arbitration Agreements — A Seawall to Surging PAGA Lawsuits?
Since its passage in 2004, California’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) has been a weapon used by employees and their lawyers across California. PAGA allows one “aggrieved employee” to sue his/her employer in a representative capacity and to recover penalties and attorneys’ fees for technical violations of the California Labor Code suffered by that one employee… Read More
New U.S. Tax Law Impacts Sexual Harassment Settlements
When U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law last month, everyone was focused on the corporate tax cuts and — especially here in California — the reduction of the deductions for mortgage interest, state income taxes, and local property taxes. But lurking in the new tax law was a… Read More
The Workplace Impact of Legal Marijuana in California
Many Californians celebrated the arrival of 2018 standing for hours in long lines at their local pot dispensary. That’s because the 2016 law legalizing recreational marijuana in California — known as Proposition 64 or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) — officially became effective on January 1, 2018. On that date, residents of municipalities… Read More
California Court Makes it Easier for Overweight Employees to Sue Their Employers
California law has not (yet) recognized weight as a protected category along with race, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, medical condition, and many others. However, more than 25 years ago, the California Supreme Court held that an overweight employee could qualify as a “disabled” under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) — and,… Read More
