Joseph L. Beachboard is a nationally recognized expert on employment law issues who speaks regularly at SHRM and other HR events. He also is a regular contributor to several national and California publications. He is a founding member and executive director of the Management Employment Law Roundtable, a national, invitation only, organization of management labor and employment lawyers.
Q. We are a large telemarketing company. We often receive customer complaints about employees who speak in thick accents. Can we refuse to hire individuals with accents...
What are California’s rules on pregnancy leave? ... How should we handle pay while someone is out on pregnancy disability leave? ... How to count pregnancy disability...
Q. A new employee refuses to comply with our dress code, which has slightly different requirements for men and women, because the individual is transgender. Though the...
Q. Is an employer required to pay an employee for time spent traveling from home to the airport (and vice versa, from airport to home on the return trip), and for travel...
Q. Our sales team travels around the country for client pitches and various project meetings. Some members of the sales team are nonexempt. While flying, some staff...
Q. An employee recently disclosed that he is illiterate and asked for our help in finding an adult literacy education program. What are our obligations toward this...
Q. A former employee engaged in misconduct, which resulted in his discharge. Now he is requesting unemployment compensation benefits under California law. Is an employee...
Q. Our wage payment deadline falls on the first Monday of September this year, which is Labor Day. By when must a company make payments to meet its deadline and avoid...
Q. This is our busiest time of the year, and we really can’t afford to give our employees Labor Day off. Is it illegal to have employees work on Labor Day?
Q. Our company often deducts the costs of meals and lodging from live-in employees’ minimum wages. How much can we credit meals and lodging against minimum wage in...
Q. We discovered that one of our employees has a history of unprovoked violent fits due to schizophrenia. We certainly sympathize with our employee’s struggle, but...
Q. One of our employees suffers from arthritis and has complained that the temperature of the office triggers joint pain. She has requested that we heat the entire...
