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Articles by The 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... 
The HR Specialist: California Employment Law
Employers can read any e-mails sent using company-owned computers or other devices, as long as they inform employees they should have no expectation the communication is confidential. That’s true even of e-mails an employee sends to an attorney to discuss a potential lawsuit against the employer.
The California Paid Family Leave Law that went into effect in 2004 hasn’t increased employer costs or hurt productivity as critics once predicted, according to a new study.
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It’s not enough to have a sexual harassment policy. You had better be prepared to enforce it—no matter who is doing the harassing. In the following case, family ties cost a bundle for an employer that turned a blind eye to harassment.
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Sometimes, it’s possible for an employee to have two employers. That’s often the case when a temporary service provides workers for a client, and both the temp company and the client exercise significant control over how and when the work is performed. But now there’s a new wrinkle.
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The Court of Appeal of California has ruled that employees can’t pursue related claims in different forums at the same time.
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Orange County’s Laundry Room Clothing had a hard time making payroll during the depths of the Great Recession. Now the men’s fashion manufacturer must make amends big time to the employees it stiffed.
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When a union asks an employer for the names and contact information of employees who do not belong to the union, employers must first inform the employees of the request and give them an opportunity to object, according to a recent California Court of Appeal decision.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently postponed until next year a requirement that certain partially self-insured employers must report any one-time or lump-sum payments to persons entitled to Medicare benefits. The requirement was to have applied to payments made in connection with settlements, judgments or awards involving the release of potential liability for medical expenses.
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The rules for meal and rest breaks just got a little more flexible for some California employers, following enactment of a new state law that exempts some construction workers, commercial drivers, security guards and utility workers from the state’s usual break requirements.
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What happens if a union passes a dues increase in the middle of the year—perhaps in an election year? Can the union collect the increased amount and then adjust it at the beginning of the next year? According to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, that’s exactly the way to handle the increase.
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