On October 12, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 168. This new law, which becomes effective on January 1, 2018, will prohibit all employers in California from asking about, or relying on, an applicant’s prior salary history when deciding whether to offer a job and how much to pay. AB 168 will supplement California’s… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Hiring, Discipline & Termination
California Employer Notice Obligations — 2017 Update
Last month, I blogged about AB 2337 which requires all California employers to give yet another notice to all new employees — this time about the employee’s right to take leave related to domestic violence or stalking. You can find my blog post about AB 2337 here. This got me thinking about all the various… Read More
San Francisco Employers May No Longer Ask About or Consider Salary History
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today approved a new ordinance that prohibits employers from asking candidates about their salary history. The new ordinance, if signed by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee as expected, will go into effect on July 1, 2018. Referred to as the “Parity in Pay Ordinance,” the new San Francisco law… Read More
How to Hire the Right Person
Recently, Adam Bryant of the New York Times published an excellent article on hiring entitled, “The Hiring Manager’s Guide to Hiring the Right Person.” In speaking with over 500 corporate leaders for his “Corner Office” series, Mr. Bryant asked each of them, “How do you hire?” Those conversations are synthesized in this article, and the… Read More
California Issues New Regulations Limiting Employers’ Use of Criminal History in Hiring Decisions
Back in 2012, I blogged about the federal EEOC adopting strict guidelines that limited an employer’s ability to make hiring decisions based on an applicant’s criminal history. You can find my 2012 blog post here. In the aftermath of the EEOC issuing its new guidelines, many local jurisdictions began debating whether to adopt “ban the… Read More
San Jose Voters Approve Ballot Measure E
San Jose voters passed Ballot Measure E in the recent November 2016 elections. This new law, sometimes called the “Opportunity to Work Ordinance,” requires that covered San Jose employers offer existing part-time employees additional work hours before hiring any temporary, part-time, or new workers. The new law also imposes additional notice and record-keeping requirements on… Read More
Governor Brown Signs AB 2337 Adding Additional Notice Obligations on Employers
Earlier today, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2337, a bill that requires employers with 25 or more employees to provide notice to employees of their right to take protected time off, without threat of termination or retaliation, for domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. This notice must be provided to each employee “at the… Read More
How to Terminate a Struggling Employee
In today’s Harvard Business Review, I came across a good article that discusses practical tips for how to professionally and respectfully terminate a struggling employee. The employee is a good person, and was at one time a productive and positive team member, but things have changed and you now need to part ways. In this… Read More
Startups Prefer Employees Over Independent Contractors?
We’ve all heard the stories about how startups tend to prefer to classify their workers as “independent contractors” rather than “employees.” Uber is a current and classic example of this legally risky phenomenon. But, according to today’s Business Insider, startups are apparently now second-guessing this strategy. There’s a budding new trend among startups now to classify… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Rules FICA Tax Applies to Severance Pay
On March 25, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-0 in United States v. Quality Stores, Inc. that severance payments made to involuntarily terminated employees are taxable “wages” subject to FICA taxes. This decision resolved a split among lower federal courts which left some employers uncertain whether to withhold and pay FICA taxes on severance… Read More