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Employment Law

$4.2 million settlement in parking lot wage case

07/20/2010
Chicago-based Standard Parking Corp. recently settled a wage-and-hour lawsuit brought by current and former California parking attendants, valets and cashiers. The company will pay more than $4 million to some 7,100 employees.

Farm workers would get OT sooner if bill passes

07/20/2010
A bill that would give California farm workers overtime pay for working fewer hours per week was recently approved in the state Senate. The bill, S.B. 1211, would allow farm workers to receive overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a week, down from the current 60-hour threshold.

Employees can’t just latch onto any bias claim

07/20/2010

Employees who don’t belong to the same protected class as one that is the subject of alleged harassment can’t successfully sue over that harassment except in limited circumstances. Certainly try to stop all harassment based on protected class membership, but don’t worry too much that any employee can sue.

Boss threatens retaliation? You can still save the day

07/20/2010
Employers aren’t allowed to retaliate against employees for participating in another employee’s discrimination case. But sometimes supervisors get frustrated and may threaten some form of retaliation. If that happens and you find out about it, act fast. Make sure the threat is never carried out.

California Supreme Court limits liability for independent contractor’s injuries

07/20/2010
The California Supreme Court has issued a decision in a closely watched construction liability case that involved an independent contractor’s injury. It concluded that true independent contractors working in construction are responsible for making sure the workplace is safe and can’t claim that the hiring contractor or owner was liable for any resulting injuries.

Case settled with EEOC? Don’t cave when employee tries to revive parts of the deal

07/20/2010
When the EEOC decides that a discrimination claim is valid and orders a remedy, that should signal that the case is about to be put to bed. If you pay up what the agency says you owe, the employee can’t turn around and sue for additional money unless he also rejects the rest of the settlement.

Check backgrounds to cut harassment liability

07/20/2010
Employers that do background checks that come back negative should be able to rely on their good-faith efforts to prevent harm to employees and others. After all, employers should only be liable for harm they reasonably could expect would happen.

Quash workplace rumors once and for all

07/20/2010

Sometimes, a workplace rumor takes on a life of its own. And despite denials, it continues to resurface. If that happens in your organization and the rumor affects an employee’s ability to work, she might be able to sue—even if the original rumor started years before. That’s one reason to crack down on rumor mongers.

Privacy concern: Are ‘group’ time sheets legal?

07/19/2010
Q. Currently, we require each individual employee to fill out his or her own time sheet. But we’re considering a new format that lists all employees on one time sheet. Is this legal? Or should each employee’s time sheet be kept confidential?

The HR I.Q. Test: July ’10

07/16/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …