For the first time, a California appellate court has held that employers do not need to force their employees to take meal breaks. While several federal cases have found that employers do not need to force employees to take meal breaks, the only California appellate court decision on the matter found that employers needed to [...]
Archive for July, 2008
Employers Do NOT Need to Force Employees to Take Breaks
Posted in Policies & Best Practices, Wage & Hour, tagged Brinker, lunch break, meal break, required break, rest break, time off, wage and hour on July 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Federal Minimum Wage Increase
Posted in Uncategorized on July 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Effective July 24, 2008, the federal minimum wage for covered non-exempt employees will rise from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), provides for phased-in increases ultimately reaching $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. A separate provision of the bill brings [...]
Arbitrator Not Allowed To Determine Validity of Arbitration Agreement
Posted in Arbitration, Hiring, Policies & Best Practices, tagged Agreements, Arbitration, Discrimination, Employment Law, Employment Lawyer, harassment, Retaliaion, San Jose, Silicon Valley on July 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Another California Appellate Court recently held that the court, not the arbitrator, can determine whether an arbitration clause in an employment agreement is valid. Because California courts have frequently refused to enforce arbitration agreements in the employment context, many employers have started inserting provisions that require the arbitrator, not the court, to determine the validity [...]
Happy 4th of July – Declaration of Independence
Posted in Uncategorized on July 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776) The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station [...]
Can Employers Recover “Training Costs” From Employees?
Posted in Policies & Best Practices, Uncategorized, Wage & Hour on July 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In a recent decision by the First Appellate District in California, a court of appeals concluded that the City of Oakland could require an employee to repay training costs the employer incurred in training the employee. When Ken Hassey was hired by the Oakland Police Department, he signed a “conditional offer” that required Hassey to [...]
