On October 7, 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 1396 which amends Labor Code Section 2751. Section 2751 currently requires an employer who has no permanent and fixed place of business in the state and who enters into a contract of employment involving commissions as a method of payment with an employee for services to be [...]
Archive for the ‘Policies & Best Practices’ Category
Commission Agreements Must Be In Writing
Posted in Hiring, Independent Contractors, Litigation, New Laws, Policies & Best Practices, Wage & Hour, tagged California, East Bay, employer employee relationship, Employment Law, exempt, independent contractor, labor code, overtime, San Jose, Silicon Valley, South Bay, wage and hour on October 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
IRS Announces Plan to Limit Exposure for Misclassification Claims
Posted in Hiring, Independent Contractors, Litigation, Policies & Best Practices, Wage & Hour, tagged California, East Bay, employer employee relationship, Employment Law, Employment Lawyer, Hiring, I-9, independent contractor, San Jose, Silicon Valley, South Bay on September 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Employers who incorrectly classify employees as independent contractors or non-employees are responsible for paying the taxes that were not previously withheld. The Internal Revenue Service may also seek penalties for the unpaid taxes. The IRS just announced a new program that allows qualifying employers the opportunity to get into compliance by making a minimal payment [...]
DFEH Announces Biggest Administrative Award Ever
Posted in Disability Discrimination and Failure to Accommodate, Discrimination, Harassment or Retaliation, Hiring, Litigation, Medical Leaves of Absence, Policies & Best Practices, Sick Leave, Verdicts, tagged California, cancer, dfeh, Discrimination, East Bay, employer employee relationship, Employment Law, Employment Lawyer, harassment, leave of absence, medical leave, sick leave, verdict on September 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
On September 12, 2011, the DFEH issued the following press release: State Department of Fair Employment and Housing Achieves Historic Victory Electrical Supply Company Ordered to Pay $846,300 for Firing Cancer Survivor ELK GROVE, CA – The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) today announced its largest-ever administrative award of $846,300 against electrical [...]
Follow Up on Current Version of AB 889 – Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
Posted in Announcements, Hiring, Independent Contractors, Litigation, New Laws, Policies & Best Practices, tagged ab 889, California, East Bay, employer employee relationship, Employment Law, Employment Lawyer, exemption, independent contractor, labor code, overtime, San Jose, Silicon Valley, wage and hour on August 12, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I hope you were able to listen to the discussion this morning on KQED regarding the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Unfortunately I was not able to address an area of the law that gives me the greatest concern: This bill would unduly broaden the definition of employer, unnecessarily increase who will be considered an [...]
Sabbatical or Vacation? You Tell Me.
Posted in Litigation, Policies & Best Practices, Sick Leave, Vacation, Wage & Hour, tagged accrued, California, East Bay, employer employee relationship, paid time off, pto, sabbatical, vacation on August 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Most employers have some sort of vacation policy. Under California law, if an employee has unused accrued vacation at the end of his/her employment, the employer must pay out the unused but accrued vacation. Several companies also offer a sabbatical program, which typically offers a longer period of paid time off after a particular length [...]
Do you know whether you have to pay your employees overtime wages?
Posted in Hiring, Independent Contractors, Policies & Best Practices, Verdicts, Wage & Hour, tagged California, comp time, East Bay, employer employee relationship, Employment Law, Employment Lawyer, exemption, independent contractor, minimum wage, overtime, pay, South Bay, wage and hour on July 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Powerhouse auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers recently found out the hard way when the 9th Circuit held that unlicensed junior accountants – the young accountants who perform the auditing work—may be classified as non-exempt employees. See Campbell v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, —F.3d—, 2011 WL 2342740 (9th Cir., June 15, 2011) [www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/06/15/09-16370.pdf]. What does it mean to be exempt? [...]
A Good Reminder Regarding Cloud Computing Security
Posted in Policies & Best Practices on June 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
MSNBC recently conducted an interview of top security consultants regarding risks involved with cloud computing. One of the interviewees, Securisea, provided some insightful information. The interview can be seen here. Companies and individuals need to be aware of ways to minimize risks to unwanted security breaches. Securisea is an independent information security company. Typical engagements [...]
Leave Entitlements
Posted in Disability Discrimination and Failure to Accommodate, Discrimination, Harassment or Retaliation, Hiring, Medical Leaves of Absence, Policies & Best Practices, tagged accrued, California, comp time, employer employee relationship, Employment Law, holiday pay, makeup time, San Jose, Silicon Valley, South Bay, vacation on June 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I was looking for some information regarding the various leave laws that employers must consider, and came across a guide from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. It is a fairly good summary of most of the various leave laws impacting companies doing business in California. I noticed it does not discuss leaves of [...]
Arbitration Clause in Independent Contractor Agreement Invalid
Posted in Arbitration, Hiring, Independent Contractors, Policies & Best Practices, tagged Arbitration, California, employer employee relationship, Employment Law, Employment Lawyer, independent contractor, labor code, San Jose, Silicon Valley on February 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Employers doing business in California know, or should know, that arbitration agreements are oftentimes thrown out as being “unconscionable.” See Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83, and its progeny. If the employment arbitration agreement is procedurally and substantively unconscionable the courts will not enforce the agreement. In the typical employer-employee [...]
Explicit Mutual Wage Agreement Can Set Hourly Rate
Posted in Litigation, New Laws, Policies & Best Practices, Wage & Hour, tagged 515, California, contracts, East Bay, employer employee relationship, employment contract, Employment Law, Employment Lawyer, exempt, exemption, independent contractor, labor code, minimum wage, mutual wage agreement, non-exempt, overtime, salary, Silicon Valley on February 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The general rule in California is that a non-exempt employee’s salary only compensates the employee for the regular hours worked. This means if you pay an employee a set salary each week the employee is still entitled to overtime if s/he works more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. [...]
