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California

What makes someone ineligible for unemployment?

11/19/2010
Q. We want to fire a bad worker, and we don’t want to take an unemployment comp hit. Under California law, when can a terminated worker be denied unemployment benefits?

Can our harassment policy penalize false claims?

11/19/2010
Q. Can we implement a provision on our sexual harassment policy that imposes discipline on employees who bring false harassment claims?

Car washes accused of dirty dealings on worker pay, breaks

11/19/2010
The state Office of the Attorney General has filed a lawsuit charging eight Southern California car washes with stiffing workers out of wages, failing to pay the minimum wage, reneging on overtime pay and denying legally mandated breaks.

Cal/OSHA fires back at federal OSHA critique

11/19/2010
The federal OSHA says California’s occupational safety and health program is deficient. The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) disagrees—although officials admit there’s always room for improvement.

LAPD learns OT is expensive, retaliation costs way more

11/19/2010
A federal jury has awarded approximately $4 million to a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who claimed the LAPD fired him in retaliation for testifying in a wage-and-hour case.

Contract talks stuck? Put health care on the table

11/19/2010
News to note if you work in a unionized workplace: Health benefits are still a legitimate bargaining chip. Members of the University Professional & Technical Employees Union recently agreed to shoulder more of the health insurance burden in exchange for better performance-based pay.

California Supreme Court upholds state furloughs

11/19/2010
For a while, there was some doubt that outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could legally force unionized state employees to accept furloughs ordered to ease California’s budget crisis. Now the California Supreme Court has ruled that the furloughs were legal.

‘Disabled’ person recover? Demand proof he can’t work

11/19/2010
Some health conditions become less disabling because of better medicines or other factors. That means that an employee collecting disability payments under a company disability plan may in fact recover enough to warrant cutting off benefits.

With eye toward defending disability lawsuit, track medical condition before termination

11/19/2010

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded that a former employee can’t use his physical condition at the time of trial to prove he is disabled. Instead, he must show that, at the time he was employed, he had a condition that substantially limited a major life function. The ruling is good news for employers.

Terminating returning soldier? You need to show cause and prove you gave warning

11/19/2010

Many employers still don’t realize it: If one of your employees is called to active military service that lasts 180 days or more, you can’t summarily terminate that employee once he is back at work. Even if he left as an at-will employee, for one year he can only be discharged for cause.