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California

Is it OK to have a blanket policy of rejecting applicants with criminal histories?

09/19/2014
Q. I believe I should be able to refuse employment to any prospective employee with a record of criminal conviction. Can I institute a blanket policy that bars employment to applicants with criminal records? Also, what can I ask applicants about their criminal records?

California Legislature passes mandatory paid sick leave bill

09/19/2014
On Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014, in the early morning hours and amid controversy among labor supporters, the California Legislature passed a bill that provides workers with three paid sick days per year. Gov. Jerry Brown enthusiastically endorsed the bill’s passage and signed it into law on Sept. 10.

Construction firm gets nailed for double damages

09/19/2014
West Covina, Calif.-based G.M. Sager Con­­struction will pay $146,092 in overtime pay to 26 workers it failed to pay properly.

DOL drains Lucky River

09/19/2014
The owners of San Francisco’s Lucky River Restaurant have agreed to fork over $285,732 to eight employees after DOL investigators found they hadn’t re­­ceived minimum wages or overtime pay.

Prevailing wage law may not apply to off-site work

09/19/2014
A new decision may make it easier for employers to avoid some prevailing wage payments.

Court to decide: Is PTO a property right?

09/19/2014
Public employers have greater con­sti­­tutional obligations to their employees than private employers do. Public employers have to give employees some sort of due process before termination because a job is a protected property interest. Now a court is considering whether changing the terms of a PTO bank is also protected.

Employee acting as her own lawyer? That may not be the easy win you hope for

09/19/2014
Lately, courts have landed hard on attorneys who take so-called frivolous cases, hoping to wrestle a quick settlement from ­employers eager to make the case go away. That should theoretically reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits. It probably won’t.

Seek attorney’s help to craft arbitration agreements that will keep you out of court

09/19/2014
A California appeals court has ruled that it’s up to the arbitrator handling a dispute to determine if the arbitration agreement allows class-action arbitration.

Don’t limit your legal options! Beware vague arbitration agreements

09/19/2014
The Court of Appeal of California has held that an employer cannot compel arbitration of a wage claim when the language in the parties’ arbitration agreement excluded wage-and-hour claims.

When undocumented immigrants sue over pay

09/19/2014

Simply put, immigration status isn’t relevant to whether an employer violated the FLSA by paying less than minimum wage or failed to pay proper overtime. However, if the worker is cooperating with the DOL in an FLSA case, the employer may demand to know whether the worker may receive something of value for his testimony.