Whether you employ five or five hundred people, employers need to periodically ensure that their policies and procedures comply with the law. Many employers use generic personnel policies that were written for larger workplaces, other industries, or even different states. However, California’s… Read More
California’s minimum wage is currently $10.00, which has been in effect since January 2016. The minimum wage is set to increase now that Governor Brown signed Senate Bill (“SB”) 3. SB 3 increases California’s minimum wage each year so that it will reach $15 per hour in 2022… Read More
Employers know that they are regulated by state and federal laws. However, few employers know the extent to which they are regulated and are caught off guard when regulators show up during peak business hours to conduct an inspection of their facility and records. This is a quick overview of an… Read More
On April 5, 2016, San Francisco became the first city in the United States to mandate that employers provide fully paid parental leave. San Francisco will be enacting this gradually and by 2018, businesses with 20 or more employees will be required to comply.Effective January 1, 2017, San… Read More
Employers have long been advised to maintain a written harassment prevention policy and to enforce it. Such policies typically define and prohibit unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, explain the steps to prevent against this unlawful conduct, and include an internal complaint… Read More
Introduction “There’s no place like home.” That time-honored adage summarizes the motivations of people who want their children cared for at home as well as people who want to face advancing age, illness or infirmity in familiar surroundings. In either circumstance, in-home help… Read More
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new rule that would broaden federal overtime pay regulations including raising the minimum salary threshold required to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) "white collar" exemption to $50,440 per year starting in 2016. The last update… Read More
In an order issued on June 3, 2015, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) awarded just over $4,000 in expense reimbursements to Barbara Berwick, who had worked as a driver for Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”). Berwick claimed that she should have been… Read More
"When an employee leaves his or her employer to work for a competitor, or when a business venture dissolves or splinters under unhappy circumstances and one of the principals in the venture starts a competing venture, a lawsuit for misappropriation of trade secrets under the Uniform Trade… Read More
On March 17, 2015 the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted and extended a set of emergency water conservation regulations. The regulations include a penalty to restaurants serving water to patrons unless it has been specifically requested. The… Read More
On November 10, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued a press release announcing that it was settling a lawsuit it had filed on behalf of a class of individuals it claimed were subjected to illegal inquiries about medical and genetic information in applying… Read More
On November 4, 2014, voters overwhelmingly approved ballot initiatives aimed at raising the minimum wage in various San Francisco Bay Area cities.More than 80% of voters supported Proposition J, which raises the minimum wage for work performed in San Francisco to $12.25 per hour by May 1, 2015, $13… Read More
Effective July 15, 2015, all California employers regardless of size will be required to provide up to 3 days of paid sick leave for eligible part-time and full-time employees. On September 10, 2014, Governor Brown signed the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (Assembly Bill No.… Read More
A Letter to the Editor by John Domingue, Partner, Berliner Cohen, has been published in the September 2014 issue of California Lawyer. His letter is in response to the article, “Anger: A Frontal Approach,” which appeared in the magazine’s June 2014 issue. The… Read More
“When an employee requests a leave of absence because of a disability, employers have two separate duties: 1) interact with the employee; and 2) provide a defined period of leave so that the employee can obtain treatment and recover, as a reasonable accommodation. But if that employee… Read More