A California Superior Court jury has awarded a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) employee $1.27 million for racial harassment and retaliation …
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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
What’s one of the quickest ways to a California Labor Code whistle-blower lawsuit? Discourage an employee from reporting to the government or law enforcement what she sees as possible illegal activity. If disciplinary action against a formerly good employee closely follows your discouraging words—watch out! Litigation won’t be far behind …
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Staples Inc., the office supply retailer, announced that it will pay $38 million to settle overtime claims brought by California employees. The settlement ended a suit between 1,700 operations and sales managers in California who claimed they were misclassified as exempt executive employees under state law …
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In a tentative decision, a California state court ruled that a Los Angeles grocery ordinance is void. A complaint by the California Grocers Association challenged the Grocery Worker Retention Ordinance, which set limits on the termination of employees, including requiring grocers to retain employees for 90 days after a change in ownership.
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Some applicants clearly have chips on their shoulders. Some go as far as to proclaim they think they are being discriminated against before they even have a chance to turn down job offers. As the following case shows, applicants can’t create retaliation cases simply by letting you know they think you are about to discriminate against them …
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When it comes to filing a sexual harassment claim under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, employees have just one year from the date of the alleged sexual harassment to file a complaint. Missing that deadline bars the employee from suing. But sexual harassment rarely occurs in a vacuum, and there’s rarely just one incident …
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California has a tough statute that protects celebrities against the paparazzi. But California law doesn’t necessarily shield the privacy of public employees. Government agencies can order and conduct intrusive investigations if they suspect public employees are committing workers’ comp and benefits fraud …
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California workers who earn the minimum wage will see their pay increase to $8 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2008. California and Massachusetts have the nation’s highest state minimum wages …
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The U.S. Labor Department announced that a Southern California company paid $200,013 in back wages for unpaid overtime to 231 current and former employees. Memo Scaffolding, which specializes in setting up scaffolding for residential and commercial construction projects, also paid $60,000 incivil penalties …
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On Oct. 3, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri approved motions to allow the managers of Interstate Bakeries Corp. to go ahead with plans to close most of its Southern California operations …
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