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Employment Law

H&R Block settles with California loan officers

04/19/2010
H&R Block will settle a lawsuit brought by former employees who alleged the tax prep company violated federal and California overtime and meal-period regulations.

Kitchen cabinet firm closes door on wage-and-hour suit

04/19/2010
A federal judge in Northern California has granted preliminary approval to a settlement reached between U.S. Remodelers Inc. and 270 current and former workers who sued the company for wage-and-hour violations.

DLSE issues opinion letter on partial-day absences

04/19/2010
The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has issued an opinion letter stating that, although employers may not deduct from exempt employees’ salaries for partial-day absences, they may make deductions from employee leave balances in accordance with the employer’s bona fide leave policies.

Stop the state-federal-state litigation merry-go-round

04/19/2010
Just when you think a lawsuit will be resolved, something happens that starts the whole process over again. That’s why it’s so important to prevent lawsuits in the first place.

You won! Just don’t count on losers paying your legal costs

04/19/2010

In addition to paying damages such as lost wages, employers that lose discrimination cases often have to pay the winning side’s litigation costs. But the same isn’t always true when an employer wins the lawsuit. Courts are reluctant to make employees pay when they lose, fearing that doing so may dissuade other employees from taking a chance at litigation.

When former employees poach more of your all-stars, fight back in court

04/19/2010
There’s hope for employers victimized by competitors who attempt to poach corporate all-stars. If some other organization tries to unethically steal your best employees, you may have a remedy—even if you haven’t made employees sign noncompete agreements (which aren’t usually enforceable in California anyway).

Tide turns against employees who sue over stock-based retirement funds that lose money

04/19/2010

Lately, employees have been winning when they sue over profit-sharing or retirement plans based on company stock that rapidly lost investment value. In the wake of the Enron bankruptcy scandal, juries sympathized with workers who paid the price for lousy (or illegal) management. Now, employers are gaining the upper hand again, as courts recognize that companies are often in a no-win situation when it comes to providing stock information.

Of driving time and computer connections: 9th Circuit revisits before- and after-work pay

04/19/2010
Last year we told you about a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on whether time employees spend commuting to a remote job site was compensable time. The court ruled that under both California law and the FLSA, driving a company car from an employee’s home to his first job location of the day was not work time but was instead unpaid commuting time. Well, now the same 9th Circuit panel has changed its ruling …

Let employees dress at home to cut FLSA risk

04/19/2010
Here’s a simple risk-reduction measure for employers that require employees to wear a uniform they need to put on before the start of a shift. You can reduce your chances of being on the losing end of a wage-and-hour lawsuit by giving employees the option to suit up at home.

Workers hired through temp service? Normal anti-discrimination rules still apply

04/19/2010
Warn supervisors and managers: They should treat temporary workers who come to you via an employment service or agency just like they do other employees. All the normal rules on workplace discrimination still apply. That means temps who experience harassment or discrimination may be able to sue both the temp agency and your company for that discrimination.