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California

Prepare for possibility of a lawsuit by documenting every HR decision you make

07/02/2019
You can never know which unhappy employee is going to sue you, or for what reason. That’s why it’s so important to document every HR decision and action. The more details you can include in your records, the better off you will be if an employee decides to sue.

Have attorney draft arbitration agreement

07/02/2019
If you’re interested in using arbitration as an alternative to costly and drawn-out litigation, you may be tempted to use a general, restrictive arbitration agreement for all states in which you have operations. That can be a big mistake if you also have employees in California.

Neither ADA nor FMLA require indefinite leave

07/02/2019
Disabled workers with serious health conditions have other time-off options once FMLA leave expires. But there is no requirement for employers to provide continuous, indefinite leave based on the mere hope that the worker will soon be able to return to work.

Farm labor contractor pays for seasonal worker violations

07/02/2019
J. Carmen Mora, a Northern California farm labor contractor, has paid $166,126 after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found multiple violations of wage-and-hour rules.

Warn young bosses against comments that trigger suits

06/27/2019
Sometimes, new supervisors don’t realize the long-term harm a few unwelcome comments can create. Take, for example, calling an older worker “pa” or “young feller.” That could be the germ of an age discrimination lawsuit.

What should we do? Two no-show/no-call situations were treated differently

06/11/2019
Q. We have a strict rule against not calling in before a missed shift to report an absence. We require workers to make that call at least one hour before the shift is to start, unless they cannot do so due to an emergency. Otherwise we mark the absence as unexcused. Recently, an employee went to the emergency room and couldn’t make the call because she could not get cell service where she was and was undergoing triage treatment. We didn’t hold her to the rule. Now another employee, who heard from the first employee that she was excused, is complaining she’s being treated unfairly, but her situation was not the same. What do we do?

Pay for time spent in disciplinary meeting?

06/06/2019
Q. Last week, we asked a worker to come in early to discuss a complaint about her work that had come to our attention. We issued her a written warning. We did not pay her for the approximately 30 minutes we spent with her before she was scheduled to come in to work. Now, she’s threatening a wage-and-hour complaint. Did we make a mistake?

New California law mandates women on boards of directors

06/06/2019
Last September, California enacted Senate Bill 826, a pioneering law that requires every publicly held company headquartered in California to have at least one woman on its board of directors. Currently, a quarter of the state’s public companies have no female directors.

In L.A., a cautionary tale of self-insured health coverage

06/06/2019
Most employers worry about how to contain their health care costs. But some seemingly innovative solutions, such as multi-employer self-insurance plans, may not be as good as they appear to be—if they are irresponsibly administered.

Make returning worker sign arbitration agreement again

06/06/2019
If you use an arbitration agreement, and a worker quits only to be rehired later, make sure she signs and dates a fresh copy of the agreement. Otherwise, the earlier resignation will have ended the agreement.