Employment-Related Cases on the Supreme Court’s Docket This Term
As the first Monday in October rolled around last week, the U.S. Supreme Court was back on the bench, with new chief justice John G. Roberts.
Archives
L.A. Restaurant to Pay Over $300,000 for Off-the-Clock Work
888 Seafood Restaurant, a Chinese eatery in the San Gabriel Valley, has agreed to pay $306,500 in overtime back wages following a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation that revealed pay improprieties. The funds will be shared by 57 employees who routinely put in additional work time after they clocked out, according to the DOL. […]
New Law Exempts Certain Motion Picture Employees from Meal Period Rules
Governor Schwarzenegger has signed A.B. 1734, a measure exempting certain motion picture and broadcasting workers who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement from meal period requirements under state law (in the Labor Code and Wage Orders). The exemption applies to employees in the motion picture industry or broadcasting industry, as those industries are defined […]
Employment Law Tip: 3 Ways to Avoid FMLA Retaliation Claims
The requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can be tedious to wade through sometimes, but familiarity with them can save you a lot of money and trouble later on. Here are three tips for staying clear of FMLA retaliation claims:
Governor Vetoes Minimum Wage and Other Bills
Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed A.B. 48, which would have boosted the minimum wage for California workers to $7.75 an hour by July 2007. In a veto message, the governor stated that he supports an increase in the minimum wage–which hasn’t been boosted since 2002–but that he isn’t in favor of legislation, like A.B. 48, that […]
Big Bias Class Action Against FedEx Moves Forward
Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco granted class-action status to a lawsuit charging that approximately 10,000 African-American and Latino employees in FedEx Corp.’s western region were discriminated against on the basis of pay, discipline, and promotions. The company’s western region covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, […]
Unions Create New Labor Federation to Rival AFL-CIO
In the September 2005 issue of the California Employer Advisor, we reported that several powerful unions had broken ties with the AFL-CIO, the nation’s main labor federation. Last week, the defecting unions formally founded a new AFL-CIO rival, called the Change to Win Federation. The new federation represents 5.4 million American workers and comprises the […]
Short Takes: Background Checks
A criminal background check on a new employee has revealed that the employee has a warrant for his arrest (drunk driving). The warrant does not appear to have been resolved. Can we discuss this matter with the employee? If so, and if the employee indicates that the matter has been resolved in the courts, can […]
Short Takes: Benefits
Once we hire an employee, we provide full medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage to the employee, spouse, and children. Are we able to request marriage certificates and birth certificates for eligible family members for the purpose of insurance benefits? We have found that employees will often list nonrelatives for insurance benefits (e.g., a boyfriend, […]
Roundtable: Employee Refusing to Acknowledge Performance Issues
We have an employee who’s just not up to par. We’ve tried to explain his shortcomings in disciplinary meetings and performance reviews, but he just refuses to acknowledge his performance problems. What do we do? — Anonymous