by Julie Ann Giammona In Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California, the California Supreme Court determined that an employer should use the number of regular, straight-time hours the employee worked during the pay period (excluding all overtime hours) when calculating an employee’s overtime pay rate where a flat sum bonus has been earned. Moreover, the Supreme Court concluded that
Court of Appeal Clarifies Definition of Alter Ego and Joint Employer
by Julie Ann Giammona In Turman v. Superior Court, the California Court of Appeal sent a warning to sole proprietor employers who have incorporated in the hopes of gaining the personal liability protections of a corporation: Beware of the joint employer and alter ego theories that can, and often do, remove the desired corporate shield. In Turman, Arthur Parent was
California Supreme Court Takes Stand on Seating Requirements in Employment
by Michelle Ferber Please see the following link to read Michelle Ferber’s article on this topic in the August 2017 issue of Caltrux magazine. California Supreme Court Takes a Stand on Seating Requirements DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal
New for 2017: Revised Form I-9
by Michelle Ferber and Traci Holian All employers are required to provide both their employees and the Department of Homeland Security with the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (generally called the Form I-9). The Form I-9 is used to establish that the employee is eligible to work in the United States. A revised Form I-9 has been approved and will
EEOC’s New Retaliation Guidance Provides Roadmap for Preventing Retaliation
by Shannon Walpole On August 25, 2016, the EEOC issued new Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues (“Guidance”) to replace Section 8 of the EEOC’s Compliance Manual issued in 1998. The Guidance is helpful for employers in many ways. First, the Guidance reminds employers about why they should care about retaliation – noting that retaliation claims have doubled since 1998
More Bad News for Employers and Arbitration Provisions
by Michelle Ferber and Traci Holian On Monday, August 22, 2016, in a 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit, in Morris v. Ernst & Young, LLP, invalidated an arbitration agreement provision which barred employees from filing class actions relating to wages, hours, and employment terms and conditions. The Ninth Circuit based its ruling on the grounds that the arbitration provision violated
Smartphones – Dumb Problems for Employers. DOL Signaling Possible Rules Regarding Mobile Device Usage.
by Shannon Walpole For some time employers have been navigating the myriad of legal issues pertaining to use of smartphones and other mobile devices by employees. The ever growing use of mobile devices by employees for work purposes has led to a number of compliance concerns for employers from privacy and data security, to expense reimbursement – all of which
Three Things California Employers Should Know About the New DOL Overtime Rules
by Shannon Walpole California has been a hotbed for overtime exemption misclassification litigation for years. Not much will change for California employers with the passage of the new overtime rules by the Department of Labor. That said there are three critical things about the new federal rules that all California employers should know: 1. The new rules are effective December
A Move Towards Mandating Gender Neutral Restroom Facilities
by Michelle Ferber and Brooke Barnum This past Monday, May 9, 2016, the California State Assembly passed a Bill in a 55-19 vote that would require single-user restrooms to be designated as “gender neutral.” The Bill, AB 1732, is drafted to apply to all business establishments, public and government buildings. A single use restroom is defined by the Bill as
California Takes Aim at Sex-Based Wage Disparities
by Michelle Ferber and Ben McDonald Arguably the most protective and demanding equal pay law in the country, the California Fair Pay Act of 2015 (“the New Act”) took effect on January 1, 2016 and offers California employees unprecedented protections against sex-based wage differentials. While California has had equal pay laws on the books for more than sixty years, women