The beginning of 2016 is the perfect time for employers to review their policies and practices to ensure compliance with new laws. We have summarized the top five things California employers should know for 2016. 1. Minimum Wage: As of January 1, 2016, minimum wage increased to $10 per hour. All employees must be earning at least $10 per hour to comply with the new minimum wage requirements. 2. Handbook Review: The start of the new year is the perfect time to…

Last year employers struck a victory in the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation. The court ruled in Iskanian that class action waivers in employment agreements are enforceable. In the aftermath, many employers implemented arbitration agreements with class action waivers and were hopeful that the Iskanian ruling would curb abusive class action claims. Unfortunately, the California courts struck a blow to employers in the case of Sakkab v. Luxottica Retail. In that case, the court ruled that, while…

The law prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee who reports a crime to law enforcement. In a recent California case, a dental hygienist believed her wedding ring was stolen while at work. She reported the theft to the police, and a month later, she was fired. It was her typical daily practice to remove her ring while performing dental duties at work. One afternoon she placed her wedding ring, along with her other belongings, on the break room table. After…

Background checks and credit checks can be useful tools for employers to insure they are hiring and retaining quality employees. Different statutes govern employers depending on whether it seeks an investigative consumer report (i.e. containing consumer character, general reputation, personal characteristics, mode of living) or a consumer credit report (i.e. containing consumer creditworthiness, credit sharing, credit capacity). Employers should be aware that a recent court decision imposed more obligations regarding disclosure to consumers when requesting such reports. In that case, the…

Companies constantly want to categorize workers as independent contractors rather than employees. However, recent rulings concerning Uber and other decisions have made clear that this is a dangerous game. The problem is that the law focuses on subjective tests that leave employers without definitive answers. This was again the case in the recent case of Garcia v. Seacon Logix, Inc. Garcia involved four truck drivers suing their employer for reimbursement of paycheck deductions claiming they were incorrectly classified as independent contractors.…

President Obama has proposed signing an executive order that would convert 5 million workers – 420,000 in California alone – from exempt employees to hourly employees entitled to overtime, meal breaks, and rest breaks. The executive order would raise the salary threshold under which employers designate workers as “exempt” from overtime and breaks from $23,660/year to approximately $50,440/year. The salary threshold for exempt status current stands at only $23,660/year. The President—and many labor groups—claim that the current salary threshold for exempt…

California’s passage of the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 implemented new law that required employers to provide employees working over 30 days to start accruing paid sick leave starting July 1st, 2015. Simple as it seems, this new law left employers and employees with several questions. The California Legislature responded last week when it issued “clean up” legislation to clarify some of the confusion. Here is what you need to know: To qualify for sick pay, the employee must work…