On Thursday, October 5, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 450 — and, in the process, put California employers squarely in the middle of the federal immigration debate. Known as the “Immigrant Worker Protection Act,” AB 450 was part of a package of bills signed by the…
According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, employer vacation policies are “broken” and “don’t work.” Analysis of Typical Employer Vacation Policies The typical employer policy allows an employee who has accrued paid time off to submit a request for vacation. That employee then has to…
On July 1, 2017 a new California law went into effect that adds yet another notice that California employers must give to new employees at the time of hire. Existing California Law For several years now, California Labor Code § 230 has prohibited California employers from discharging, or in any…
Recently, Harvard Business Review author Kai Chi Yam published an article entitled, “When Joking With Your Employees Leads to Bad Behavior.” The author’s goal was to understand the impact that a leader’s jokes can have on the behaviors and actions of his/her employees. After conducting lengthy research with workers…
According to an article by Daniel Goleman and Richard E. Boyatzis in today’s Harvard Business Review, an employee’s emotional intelligence — often referred to simply as “EQ” or “EI” — is a predictor of success in the workplace. EI contains four different major categories of intelligence: (1) self-awareness, (2)…
According to Fast Company, there are 10 things you should be doing to be a better employee in 2017: (1) Strengthen your “soft skills,” especially your emotional intelligence and active listening. (2) Show gratitude to colleagues. (3) Make more connections and collaborate more across your company. (4) Create…
Beginning January 1, 2017, the new standard IRS mileage rates are: (a) $0.535/mile for business miles driven; (b) $0.17/mile for medical or moving purposes; and (c) $0.14/mile for service to charitable organizations. Employers that use the standard IRS rates for employee reimbursement purposes should review and adjust their…
For businesses with more than 25 employees, the state’s minimum wage will increase from $10.00/hour to $10.50/hour starting on January 1, 2017. [Note: Employers in San Francisco and Oakland (and many other municipalities), however, this new state minimum wage is still lower than the local minimum wage required by…
Earlier today, Governor Brown signed AB 1732 which prohibits businesses from labeling a single-user restroom as either “male” or “female.” Instead, as a result of this new law which takes effect on March 1, 2017, if a business has a single-user restroom it must make that restroom available to…
According to a recent article in Forbes magazine, workplace bullying is “frighteningly common,” with 75% of all workers reporting that they have been the target of abusive behavior at work. Workplace bullying is defined by the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) as “repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the…