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Employment Law

NLRB sets new limits on your off-duty employee access rules

09/26/2012
Does your organization set restrictions on when and where off-duty employees can access your workplace? If so, you should review a new NLRB ruling that narrows the circumstances under which you can keep off-duty workers off your premises.

The price for tolerating name-calling: $70,000

09/25/2012
If you need any incentive to crack down on name-calling in the workplace, consider this new ruling: A jury slapped a $70,000 judgment on an employer for allowing a supervisor to repeatedly call his female subordinate a “bitch.”

Desperate housewife loses one claim, wins one

09/21/2012
Nicollette Sheridan, an original cast member of TV’s “Desperate Housewives” series, has won a partial victory in her lawsuit over Touchstone Television Productions’ decision to kill off her character.

How should we pay for jury duty?

09/21/2012
Q. One of our employees received a jury duty summons. What are our obligations toward the employee in terms of pay and leave?

NLRB targets at-will disclaimers, off-duty employee access

09/21/2012
Recent months have seen the NLRB take efforts to regulate employer activity in new and often unprecedented ways. Two recent attacks include challenges to “at-will” statements and disclaimers in employee handbooks and restrictions on an employer’s right to limit access to its property by off-duty employees.

Fry’s pays $2.3 million to settle harassment complaint

09/21/2012
Fry’s Electronics, which operates 17 stores in California, will pay $2.3 million to settle sexual harassment and retaliation complaints arising from incidents at a store in Washington. On a per-claimant basis, the case resulted in one of the largest settlements the EEOC has ever negotiated.

Cooked books pad Thai restaurants’ earnings

09/21/2012
A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation has uncovered willful FLSA violations by two Chan Dara Thai restaurants in Los Angeles.

Compliance initiative for L.A., San Francisco restaurants

09/21/2012
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an enforcement and education initiative focused on the restaurant industries in Los Angeles and San Francisco designed to ensure FLSA compliance.

DOL: Did Happy Hands dip into paychecks?

09/21/2012
The DOL has filed a lawsuit against Happy Hands Car Wash in Santa Ana, seeking back wages and liquidated damages. A Wage and Hour Division investigation found the car wash was manipulating its payroll records in order to underpay employees.

Strict noncompete agreement? Don’t expect it to stick

09/21/2012
Here’s a warning if you use so-called noncompete agreements in your employment contracts: California courts generally don’t like them and are often quite hesitant to enforce them.