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Compensation & Benefits

Breaks required—But forcing employees to take them isn’t

08/15/2008
In what may end up being a landmark decision, a California Court of Appeal has held that Golden State employers aren’t required to ensure employees actually take meal and rest breaks. Employers are in the clear as long as they permit breaks and do not prevent or discourage employees from taking them …

Good news for ‘Charter counties’: State overtime and meal break laws don’t apply

08/15/2008
A California Court of Appeal has held that California Labor Code sections dealing with overtime compensation, meal breaks and rest breaks don’t apply to California’s “charter counties.”

Nursing home workers’contract signals start of statewide union push

08/15/2008
An overwhelming majority of nursing home workers at 10 Sava Senior Care facilities in Northern California ratified a new contract in July. It will cover more than 1,000 workers who are members of the Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) …

Prudential Overall Supply agrees to settle living-Wage violations

08/15/2008
San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre announced in July that Prudential Overall Supply has agreed to settle violations of the city’s living-wage ordinance. The uniform supplier will pay $65,000. Aguirre filed a lawsuit against the company, arguing that it paid its workers below the rates set forth in the San Diego Living Wage Ordinance, which became law in 2005 …

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? …

Why are gas prices so high? BP suit may provide partial answer

08/13/2008
A woman who once earned millions each year as an oil trader for BP America has filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against the company. Alison Myers alleges BP gave a prime piece of business to a less experienced male trader and ultimately fired her when she complained …

Be sure ‘Shared’ employees don’t put you over FMLA limit

08/13/2008
Many small employers aren’t covered by the FMLA because they don’t have 50 or more employees. But if you’re considering adding temp help from an outside agency to handle a workload spike, get out your calculator first. If you’re not careful, you could wind up triggering FMLA liability for everyone who works for you …

Ensure handbook doesn’t make FMLA promises you can’t keep

08/13/2008
An Indiana employer must now respond to charges it misled employees when it promised FMLA benefits in its handbook, even though the company is too small to be covered by the FMLA. The case, recently decided by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, shows the problems that arise when employers promise more than they are willing to deliver in their employee handbooks …

Keep exact timecards, or court will use worker’s estimate

08/13/2008
Here’s an incentive to make sure you account for every hour your nonexempt employees work: If an employee claims you didn’t pay her what you were supposed to, and you don’t have accurate time records, the court will calculate what you owe based on the number of hours the employee tells the court she worked …