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Employment Law

Candidate tanks during job interview? That’s a legitimate reason not to hire

08/26/2013
Interviews reveal applicants’ membership in protected classes like race, sex and obvious disability. As a result, courts sometimes look with suspicion on rejecting an applicant who was obviously qualified enough to earn an interview but who was rejected because of her interview performance.

Trying a creative approach to pay? Have your attorney run the numbers to ensure legality

08/26/2013
Before you approve a creative approach to paying hourly employees, be sure to get expert help. That’s essential if your em­­ployees may have to put in more than 40 hours of work per week, because you will have to calculate their regular rate of pay to calculate overtime compensation. And that’s something the DOL wants done right.

OK to broach retirement option before layoff

08/26/2013
Merely informing an older worker that he or she may be eligible for retirement benefits while discussing a layoff isn’t evidence of age discrimination.

Does a natural disaster make former employees eligible for unemployment benefits?

08/22/2013
Q. We had to close down our business because of the damage caused by a natural disaster. Are our employees entitled to unemployment benefits?

Following recent cases, review piece-rate pay & commissions

08/22/2013
In April 2013, a California Court of Appeal decided that automobile service technicians, who were paid on a “piece-rate” basis, must also be paid at least the minimum hourly wage for the time that they are required to wait between their piece-rate-paid repair jobs. On July 19, the California Supreme Court refused to review the appeal court ruling, making it binding law.

Man sues California prisons for sex bias, harassment

08/22/2013
The DOJ is suing the California Depart­­ment of Corrections and Reha­­bili­­ta­­tion (CDCR) on behalf of an employee who alleges he suffered sex discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit alleges that for more than a year, a female co-worker sexu­­ally harassed the man.

California’s Miller introduces job training legislation

08/22/2013
Rep. George Miller, the ranking Demo­­crat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, has introduced H.R. 2721, the Pathways Back to Work Act. The bill would help low-income, unemployed workers find jobs or train for new ones.

Track all ADA requests to establish timeline

08/22/2013
Track each request for ADA reasonable accommodations, along with your response. An employee’s right to sue over the denial begins as soon as it becomes obvious that her employer refused to accommodate her, and won’t be extended just because she keeps asking for an accommodation.

No workers’ comp for sloppy-drunk employee

08/22/2013
A worker who drank himself silly at work, fell and hit his head has lost his workers’ compensation claim.

Court cuts slack for bankrupt employee, declines to enforce traditional litigation rules

08/22/2013
Employees who lose their jobs may not understand that if filing for bankruptcy, they must list any potential litigation claim as an asset. Federal courts have dismissed even obviously valid employment discrimination lawsuits when employees failed to disclose such claims in their bankruptcy paperwork. That may no longer continue, if this recent case is any indi­­cation.