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California

Sexual favoritism must be pervasive

12/21/2015
While under some circumstances, so-called sexual favoritism may be grounds for a winning sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit, it takes more than a single office romance or a marriage between a supervisor and subordinate to support such a claim.

Beware ambiguous questions on job application

12/21/2015
Your job application might be a minefield of litigation risks! Example: If you reserve the right to fire workers who lie on the application, you better be sure that every question on it is absolutely clear.

Suit challenges call-in policy at retailer Urban Outfitters

12/21/2015
Urban Outfitters and its subsidiaries Anthropologie and Free People face a lawsuit alleging the company’s call-in policy violates California labor law.

Minimum wage increase for workers in Sacramento

12/21/2015
Large employers operating in Sacramento can expect to pay their workers at least $10.50 per hour in 2017 after the city council voted to raise the city’s minimum wage from the current $9 per hour.

California work injuries, illness fall to 13-year low

12/21/2015
California workplaces in 2014 were the safest they have been since 2001, according to fresh data from the Cali­fornia Department of Industrial Relations. Its annual survey of injuries and illness showed 460,000 reportable cases in 2014, down from 468,400 in 2013.

What’s harassment? Courts will look at view of a ‘reasonable person’–not the employee

11/30/2015
Sensitive workers may perceive everyday interactions as harassment. But courts don’t measure whether workplace hostility exists based on that employee’s subjective assessment of the situation. Instead, a court will focus on how a hypothetical “reasonable” employee would view it.

New protections for some California transgender employees

11/28/2015
On Oct. 7, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 703 (SB 703), protecting transgender employees whose employers engage in business with state agencies.

Employee sends spouse to voice harassment complaint: Is that ‘protected’ activity?

11/24/2015

Employees who complain to HR or management about alleged discrimination or harassment are engaging in protected activity and can’t be punished for complaining. But what if the employee can’t summon the courage to complain and, instead, sends someone else? Is sending a spokesperson to complain also protected activity? A federal court says “yes,” at least when it’s the employee’s spouse who takes action.

We think an employee is stealing money; can we deduct it from her wages?

11/24/2015
Q. I have noticed that a lot of inventory is leaving the store, but the money for some items is not in the cash register. I believe one of my employees is stealing money from the cash register. Can I deduct the cash shortfall from his wages?

Employer can choose the location for arbitration

11/24/2015
Are you an out-of-state employer with headquarters elsewhere? You can still require arbitration to happen at corporate offices. It’s not automatically unfair, a California appeals court has concluded.