The importance of an employee handbook cannot be overstated. In the past, employers would hire their staff and give verbal instructions about the expectations of their job, if they provided any at all. Today, however, with employment laws changing frequently (often each July and January) and with more and more lawsuits arising out of policy…
If you are considering requiring your employees or prospective employees to submit to workplace drug and alcohol testing, you would be well advised to know how far your rights as an employer extend under both federal and California law. Drug testing in California At the state level, the California Constitution guarantees a right to privacy…
In a landmark decision affecting workers’ wages, the California Supreme Court recently held that employees who are merely “on call” at the employers’ behest are, in fact, “working” and must be paid their full wages. This is the first case to determine that simply being on call, i.e. being ready to work, is actually working…
In the recent case of McGill vs. Citibank, when a dispute arose between a consumer and her credit card company regarding the application of certain credits on her charge account, the Plaintiff, Sharon McGill, sued Citibank under the theory of unfair competition and false advertising. She also sought an injunction to compel Citibank to cease from engaging in the conduct of which she complained.Citibank wanted to arbitrate the claim, which of course is a form of alternative dispute resolution that takes place outside of the courtroom setting. Arbitration can be binding (meaning the decision is
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Your new employee starts work on September 1, 2015 (yes, a few months down the road, but let’s just imagine…). On December 1, 2015, they request several days paid sick leave. Your first reaction may be to say “not yet” but under a new law known as the Healthy Families Act of 2014 (which goes into effect July 15, 2015), you will be required to provide paid sick leave to certain California employees who have worked 30 days. In other words, once your employee works 30 days, as an employer, you are required to provide sick time of up to 3 days. Of course, an employer can
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Businesses seeking insurance coverage most often have the short end of the stick when it comes to bargaining power in the negotiation of an insurance policy. Indeed, there is often no room for negotiation. Businesses need various types of insurance coverage to exist and operate and the insurance companies, with billions of dollars in their corporate pockets, largely dictate the terms of the policies and contracts that govern the necessary insurance coverage. Over the years, this disparate bargaining power led to insurance companies engaging in dilatory tactics, or “bad faith” cond
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A recent labor decision has further defined the differences between an employee and an independent contractor and their classification for employment purposes. For several reasons, the least of which includes potential employment-related litigation, the proper qualification of a worker as an independent contractor or an employer is crucial. At issue in this case, involving FedEx…