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California

Employment Lawyer Network:
California

Joseph L. Beachboard (Editor)

California Employment Law

Joe.Beachboard@OgletreeDeakins.com
(213) 239-9800

Click for Full Bio

Joseph L. Beachboard is a nationally recognized expert on employment law issues who speaks regularly at SHRM and other HR events. He also is a regular contributor to several national and California publications. In 2000, Mr. Beachboard sold The Labor Letters, Inc., a publisher of monthly employment law journals that he founded to advise human resource professionals. He is a founding member and executive director of the Management Employment Law Roundtable, a national, invitation only, organization of management labor and employment lawyers.

Adult care facilities cited for wage theft violations

06/27/2013
Three Bay Area adult care facilities face nearly $600,000 in fines for not paying overtime or the minimum wage and failing to provide meal breaks.

Court: Unions entitled to info about nonunion employees

06/27/2013
In a significant win for organized labor, the Supreme Court of California has ruled that a union is entitled to the home addresses and telephone numbers of employees who aren’t union members.

When terminating or laying off employees, be sure to pay out accrued leave

06/27/2013
California wage-and-hour law requires employers that provide vacation benefits to pay out unused vacation immediately upon termination. However, there’s an exception for union workplaces if the employer and union clearly and unmistakably agree to waive that payment.

If it’s carefully crafted, you can make an arbitration agreement stick

06/27/2013
Good news for employers that want to settle employment-related disputes through arbitration instead of risking a jury trial. The Court of Appeal of California has upheld an arbitration agreement that was presented to all employees when they were hired.

Keep all lawsuit settlements confidential!

06/27/2013
Here’s an important warning for employers that end discrimination or harassment lawsuits with settlement agreements that include a confidentiality clause: Keep those terms confidential and accessible only to those who absolutely need to know. Otherwise, you could wind up facing a retaliation lawsuit if word of the settlement leaks out …

Temp nursing firm settles wage claims for $1.77 million

06/27/2013
U.S. Nursing Corp., a temp agency that provides replacement nurses to hospitals when staff go on strike, has agreed to pay $1.77 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by California employees.

Court to decide: Are meal-break waivers legal?

06/27/2013
Here’s an important case to watch if some of your em­­ployees can’t take regular meal breaks. The Court of Appeal of California will soon determine if an agreement requiring employees to eat while working (and being paid) violates California labor codes for one class of employees.

Pay regular salary to preserve exempt status

06/27/2013
Adhere to standard payroll practices if you want to avoid paying unnecessary overtime for otherwise exempt employees. One of those standards is to pay a set salary regardless of the quantity or quality of work performed in a particular week.

Feel free to regulate worker conduct in company van

06/06/2013
Good news for employers worried about their public image: If you provide carpool transportation for your employees and want to control their behavior while using that transportation, you can.

Can we change full-timer to part-time after maternity leave?

05/20/2013
Q. We are a small company and have seven employees. One of our employees recently went out on a leave of absence for pregnancy. During that time, we hired a replacement worker to do the same job. The replacement only worked part time, but was still able to complete work that our employee did full time. When our employee returns to work, we would like to change her job status from full time to part time. Is this legal?