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California

Take-it-or-leave-it arbitration clause is fine if the underlying agreement is fair

12/16/2011

The Court of Appeal of California has handed a significant victory to employers that use arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. As long as the underlying terms of the agreement are fair and the arbitration process impartial, the court will send a case to arbitration even if the employee had no choice but to sign the agreement.

Budget cuts forcing layoffs or reorganization? Take care to spell out justification

12/16/2011
If you must eliminate jobs, make sure you create a clear paper trail explaining why and how you made the decision to terminate a particular individual. That’s especially important if the employee had discrimination charges pending—or a history of filing them.

SoCal hotel steps up after firing autistic employee

12/16/2011
The EEOC and the Comfort Suites Hotel in Mission Valley have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of an autistic desk clerk who sought state assistance to perform his job but was fired instead. It’s a case that shows how the threat of litigation can sometimes result in greater good.

Warn bosses: No ‘association discrimination’

12/16/2011

The next time you conduct discrimination training, remind supervisors and managers that discriminating against an employee because of a spouse’s protected characteristic is just as illegal as direct discrimination. That’s what one federal agency has learned the hard way.

Documentation is key to winning bias lawsuits–along with clear policies, thorough investigations

12/01/2011

When terminating several em­­ployees at the same time, make sure you have carefully documented the reasons. That’s especially important if the employees share common protected characteristics such as age. You want to be prepared for a lawsuit if they decide the real reason they lost their jobs was their protected characteristic.

Discipline OK for stonewalling investigation

12/01/2011

Sexual harassment allegations often come down to he said/she said arguments. Without hearing from both sides, there’s no way to figure out what happened. If one of the people involved in the allegations won’t talk, you can discipline him for refusing to co­­operate.

After hours: How to regulate employees’ off-duty behavior

11/29/2011
Employers can regulate what employees do away from work—but only within narrow limits. There are often good reasons to. Some off-duty acts reflect poorly on employers, raise insurance costs and create conflicts of interest. Here’s how to make the call.

What are the rules on setting a late policy?

11/18/2011
Q. We would like to institute a rule subjecting em­­ployees to discipline for clocking in late. Are we permitted to do this even though we round our employees’ time to the nearest quarter-hour?

Can we require credit reports for applicants?

11/18/2011
Q. Is it legal to institute a policy requiring all new hires to submit to a consumer credit report?

Are any noncompetes enforceable in California?

11/18/2011
Q. I’m aware that California law generally does not allow employers to use noncompete agreements. Are there any noncompete agreements that California courts will enforce?