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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.

Can we offer pizza instead of pay when employees must work through lunch?

07/19/2011
Q. Occasionally, when we receive a big order, our nonexempt employees are required to work through their lunch break. Although we do not pay them overtime for this work, we buy pizzas and sodas for all the affected workers. Is this lawful?

State pay law now covers out-of-state employees working in California

07/19/2011

A unanimous California Supreme Court has ruled that California-based employers must pay out-of-state resident employees based on the provisions of the California Labor Code, even if those employees only visit the state on a limited, temporary basis. The decision is worrisome for multi­state employers because it may open the door for more employee lawsuits seeking the generous protections offered by California law.

Union, hospital settle case based on ‘dirty linen’ accusations

07/19/2011
Six years of litigation came to an end when the union UNITE HERE and Sutter Health settled charges of defamation, trade libel and intentional interference with prospective economic relations. Sutter Health had accused the union of sending postcards to potential patients calling into question the cleanliness of the hospital chain’s linens.

Locked-out Salinas hospital employees return to work

07/19/2011
More than 100 hospital workers have returned to work following a strike that prompted the Salinas Valley Me­morial Healthcare System (SVMHS) to lock them out for two days.

ERISA lawsuits not limited to plan administrators

07/19/2011
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has clarified who can sue for unpaid benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Ignoring EEOC information request won’t make it go away

07/19/2011
It can seem like a waste of time to re­­­spond to a request for information about alleged discrimination if you know your company did nothing wrong. But it’s never a good idea to ignore an EEOC information request.

Are those employees similarly situated? Not if they’re acting like free agents

07/19/2011
A federal court has rejected a bid by two former employees to represent other similarly situated employees, based on the employer’s claim of conflict of interest. The court agreed that these particular employees weren’t the best choice to represent other workers.

Employers can ask jury to decide when collective bargaining agreement was ratified

07/19/2011
A case that has made it up to the U.S. Supreme Court and back down to the trial court is now making its way up the legal ladder again. The 9th Circuit has ­issued a new decision, ruling that an em­­ployer that challenges a union’s claim that employees have ratified a collective bargaining agreement can make their case to a jury.

It’s time for a talk if you’ve heard a boss has been disparaging disabled employees

07/19/2011

Are you hearing that a supervisor is making less than flattering statements about a disabled employee or disabled individuals in general? Then it’s time to call in the supervisor and explain to her it has to stop. That’s especially true if the super­visor happens to have a disabled ­employee under her direction and recommends that the employee should be terminated.

Brown nixes ‘card check’ union elections for farm workers

07/19/2011
Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have given farm workers the option of using a “card check” election instead of secret ballots to choose union representation. In his veto message, Brown said he “appreciates the frustrations” of farm workers who try to unionize. However, he said the bill would have required restructuring “California’s carefully crafted agricultural labor law.”