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California

Employment Lawyer Network:
California

Joseph L. Beachboard (Editor)

California Employment Law

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

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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.

San Francisco grocer held too much green

01/22/2013
The San Francisco grocery store chain Casa Guadalupe and its owner have agreed to pay more than $120,000 to settle a wage-and-hour lawsuit filed by the DOL. The owner admitted to investigators that he willfully failed to issue time-and-a-half overtime pay to employees who worked more than 40 hours in a week.

New California restrictions on employer access to social media info

01/22/2013
Amendments to Labor Code Chapter 2.5 implementing AB 1844 took effect Jan. 1. The amendments bar employers from asking employees or job applicants for any social media account information.

New California rules for commission compensation contracts

01/22/2013
A new law for 2013 requires Califor­nia employers that pay regular commissions to provide employees with a written contract detailing the formula for calculating commissions, as well as the method of payment.

New pregnancy protections ring in the New Year in California

01/22/2013

California employees now enjoy ex­panded pregnancy rights after new Fair Employment and Housing Commission regulations took effect Dec. 30, 2012. The regulations bar employers from discriminating against employees for virtually any pregnancy-related condition.

Employee acts as own lawyer? Consider cutting your losses

01/22/2013
Judges tend to bend over backward to help so-called pro se litigants—individuals who decide to represent themselves in court. Sometimes, an employer’s best bet is to settle for a small amount—or urge the former employee to find an attorney.

Temp’s contract expired? He can still sue you

01/22/2013
Temporary workers can still sue even if they no longer work for you because their contracts expired and weren’t renewed.

New California rules protect employees’ right to wear religious garb

01/22/2013
The start of the New Year saw the enactment of several new California employment laws, including one that requires accommodation of employees’ religious dress and grooming needs.

Ensure automatic firing policy is understood

01/22/2013
Treating a disabled employee even a little differently than others can spell big trouble. That even applies to seemingly minor differences such as telling one employee in advance about an automatic termination po­­licy, but not informing a disabled employee about the rule.

Document why you require bilingual skills

01/22/2013
Many organizations serve customers who speak a language other than English, and require em­ployees to have specific bilingual skills. If that describes your organization, make sure you can defend the language requirement if you’re sued.

Punch in, punch out: State appeals court allows time clock rounding

01/03/2013
If you use a time clock, you probably also use a rounding method so employees who clock in a little early or clock out slightly late are only paid for their scheduled time. The presumption is that over time, employees will clock in both early and late. Fortunately, a recent California appeals court decision sanctions this common-sense practice.