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California

Employment Lawyer Network:
California

Joseph L. Beachboard (Editor)

California Employment Law

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

Click for Full Bio

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.

California’s Employee Leave Laws

01/15/2007

In addition to complying with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, California employers must wade through a maze of the state’s leave laws, ranging from paid family leave for a serious health condition to time off for school visitations and emergency rescue duty …

California Fair Employment and Housing Act

01/15/2007

Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), it’s unlawful to subject people to differential treatment based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age or sexual orientation …

California Minimum Wage Law

01/15/2007

As of Jan. 1, 2007, California employers must pay a state minimum wage of $7.50 per hour, which increases to $8 per hour on Jan. 1, 2008. The minimum wage applies to all workers except …

California WARN Act

01/15/2007

During a downsizing, employers have a legal obligation to inform their workers and the government of such action under certain circumstances. California employers must follow two sets of rules: the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and the state’s own tougher standard …

California Minimum Labor Standards

01/15/2007

California’s code governing paydays and payroll deductions seems like it should be rather simple, but it’s perhaps the most complicated employment law in the state. Full of traps for the unwary, the law can spell big trouble for even innocent mistakes …

California Child Labor Law

01/15/2007

The child labor rules in California differ from those of other states, largely because of the motion picture industry. State laws governing child labor start at birth and regulate everything from the length of the workday to the amount of light a child can be exposed to …

Local Ordinances in California

01/15/2007

California local governments can, and sometimes do, legislate their own rules for employers within their jurisdictions. For example, San Francisco County requires employers to provide paid sick leave. After 90 days on the job, all employees in the city and the county begin accruing paid sick leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked …

Employers can be liable for harassing customers, too

12/01/2006

Employees have the legal right to work in a harassment-free environment, and employers must take corrective measures to end harassment when it comes to their attention. It doesn’t matter that the harassment comes from customers or others the employer has no control over …

Build a Sturdy ‘Escape Hatch’ Into Your Organization’s Discipline Policy

12/01/2006

Does your employee handbook outline a progressive discipline process and also include a contract disclaimer? If so, you may think the disclaimer prevents employees from claiming that the discipline policy was a "contract" that can’t be skipped over in favor of instant termination. But you’d be wrong …

Breast-feeding: The next employment right? Some in Congress want the feds to follow states

10/01/2006

If Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) has her way, employers would have to comply with yet another federal employment entitlement: the right to breast-feed or express milk for infant feeding. Her bill would make it illegal to discriminate against breast-feeding moms and would give tax incentives for companies to establish sanitary places for employees to breast-feed …