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Joseph Beachboard

What’s the new law on paying temps?

09/19/2008

Q. Our company hires temporary workers to assist with various short-term projects. I recently read that a new law changes how these workers are paid. How does the new legislation affect employers? …

Isn’t there a California state program that covers paid family leave?

09/19/2008

Q. I understand that the state of California has a program that offers benefits to employees who require a leave of absence to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent or domestic partner. How does this program work? …

Must we pay employee who takes family and medical leave to care for relative?

09/19/2008

Q. One of our employees will be taking a protected leave of absence to care for her ill mother. Are we required to pay her for the time off? …

Must we pay doctors to fill out FMLA forms?

09/18/2008

Q. Recently, a doctor sent our HR department a bill for completing one of our employees’ FMLA certification forms. Do we have to pay it?

Can we give higher pay to employee with degree?

09/18/2008

Q. Is it illegal to pay someone without a degree less than someone with the degree? In our case, two employees have the same title but do slightly different tasks. One has a bachelor’s in HR and the other does not. However, the one without a degree is doing all the HR duties and gets paid less than the one with a degree. The degreed employee doesn’t use her HR skills in her job at all.

Circulating résumés around the office

09/18/2008

Q. One of our managers who hires for his division has started passing around the résumés of possible candidates to other managers. He wants to get their opinions on the candidates. Does passing along résumés to these people violate any privacy laws?

Unmarried co-workers, childbirth and FMLA leave

09/18/2008

Q. Two of our employees (they aren’t married) are having a child together. I know that spouses who work for the same company have to share the 12 weeks of FMLA leave following the birth of a child. Is that also true for unmarried parents in the same workplace?

What are the rules on employee access to personnel records?

08/15/2008

Q. Are we required to allow employees to inspect their personnel files? Must these files be retained at each office (rather than at a centralized location)? …

Can we do anything about employees discussing pay with one another?

08/15/2008

Q. Can we prohibit workers from discussing their pay with each other? This practice appears to be creating workplace conflict and damaging morale in the office …

What are our responsibilities concerning breastfeeding in the workplace?

08/15/2008

Q. A number of our employees are pregnant. What are our obligations to accommodate their need to breastfeed when they return to work? …