HR Specialist: California Employment Law

California employers face more laws – and more chances to get sued – than in other states. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This California-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: California Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

Three former Mervyn’s employees recently filed a lawsuit against the bankrupt department store company for violating the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act when it suddenly fired hundreds of workers last year.

Three Hayward-based workers claim Mervyn’s owes them 60 days of unpaid wages and pension benefits. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2008. On Oct. 30, Mervyn’s won approval to close its stores and hold liquidation sales. That’s when the workers lost their jobs.

The workers claim that since the alleged WARN violations occurred after the company filed for bankruptcy, they were entitled to claim some of Mervyn’s assets for wages and benefits.

Final note: There are very limited circumstances under which employers can shut down facilities without adequate notice. Consult legal counsel before making any layoff or plant-closing announcements.