By Laurie Nooren, SHRM-CP, PHR, PHRca The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently awarded $90,000 (in addition to a severance package) to three Latino workers, who filed a discrimination case against Forever 21 Retail, Inc. for...
By Beth Harrington, President, Benefit Resources, Inc. If you sponsor a retirement plan, then you have a lot of responsibilities. Beyond making contributions every pay period, the fourth quarter of each plan year brings additional requirements. Benefit Resources,...
By: Robin E. Largent, Partner Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger, LLP Fall is upon us and with that comes a deluge of new employment laws. (Think "sex" and you'll cover many of them!) Robin Largent, partner at CDF, shares below the highlights of some of the key...
Early in my career I worked in a service business where payroll costs could make or break the company. Sales were up? Raise payroll a bit. Sales down? Cut payroll immediately. It was a weekly up and down and hard on everyone. And Overtime – You’ve got to be kidding...
The CA Fair Employment & Housing Council (FEHC) recently issued further clarification for employers on how national origin will be defined. The new FEHC Regulations elaborate on the protections of applicants and employees who may be undocumented or be members of...
Last week, the California Court of Appeal allowed that an employer may round time entries to the nearest quarter hour for timekeeping and payroll calculations. In the case AHMC Healthcare, Inc. v. Superior Court the employer has a policy that rounds employees’ time...
By Tom Bone, Risk Insurance Advisor with ISU Insurance Services All too frequently, we learn how Mother Nature and man-made events affect businesses, employees, and families. Weather, earthquakes, fires, and other events damage property and cause injuries,...
By Kim Silvers, SPHR, PHRca, SHRM-SCP The California Supreme Court recently ruled in the Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court that the Company’s independent contractor drivers were employees under a new definition. Dynamex is a nationwide package and...
Are you considering hiring an intern this summer? Good news! The US Department of Labor (DOL) has issued new factors to determine if an intern may be unpaid and not considered an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This is after several federal courts...
By: Robin E. Largent Partner, Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger, LLP Curious what the California Legislature is cooking up for employers in the Golden State this year? I can tell you it isn’t pretty. Here’s a list of notable bills (almost all of which are...
By: Michael Snead Each year, a State of California agency called the Employment Training Panel or “ETP,” awards up to $100 million dollars to California-based companies to reimburse costs of job skills training. In July, this amount will grow to $110 million. ETP...
By: Helen Horyza About a month ago, Tom returned to work at a mid-sized engineering firm after a five-year period of retirement. He was bored and missed the challenges of work. He came back on a Tuesday and a management meeting was underway. He expected things to run...
By Telly Tasakos There is no shortage of HR technology available in the market to streamline HR functions. HR Professionals might use as many as 10 different software programs in their day to day work. From recruitment software, job boards, benefits software,...
By Stacey Sommerhauser, SPHR-CA, SHRM-SCP The state of California continues to pass legislation that protects individuals’ pay and more so, how an employer determines employees’ pay. Employers must be uber cautious in making job offers and subsequent salary changes...
By Susan Breslauer, SPHR-CA, SHRM-SCP Vacation and paid time off (PTO) are optional benefits, not required by law in California. However, if vacation/PTO is provided to employees, it is considered a deferred wage. (PTO is usually a combination of vacation and sick...
By Susan Breslauer, SPHR-CA, SHRM-SCP Employers breathed a sigh of relief at the recent court ruling that the Department of Justice overstepped its bounds last year in raising the minimum salary for certain exempt employees to $913/week ($47,476 per year). This is...
Kim Silvers, SPHR- CA, SHRM-SCP As the triple digit temperatures fade in Sacramento, the state legislature wraps up its bills for the Governor’s signature or veto. We watch the employment related bills closely throughout the year and call our state Senator and...
By John Wood The latest edition of The Betterly Report noted that, when it comes to Employment Practices litigation risk, “The larger employer is much more likely to transfer risk than are smaller employers. Ironically, it is the smaller employer that probably needs...
By Kim Silvers, SPHR-CA, SHRM-SCP California employers who have employees working beyond a regular five-day schedule will be happy to see the California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Mendoza v. Nordstrom. Although Nordstrom may have felt like it...
By Susan Breslauer, SPHR-CA, SHRM SCP New California regulations entitled “Consideration of Criminal History in Employment Decisions Regulations”, will limit an employer’s right to use criminal background information in hiring and other employment...