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Employment Law

Temp agencies don’t have to cut check immediately after each assignment

10/20/2008

Some temp employees have tried to argue that they should be paid immediately for their work as soon as they finish a particular assignment—and not have to wait until the next regular payday. They’ve claimed that when each assignment ends, they are in effect being “discharged.” Now a federal trial court has clarified that the end of an assignment isn’t a “discharge.”

Use arbitration agreement to limit time to sue

10/20/2008

If you use a mandatory arbitration agreement, you may be able to set a relatively short deadline for employees to bring discrimination claims …

Cash-balance pension plans don’t violate ERISA rules

10/20/2008

A cash-balance pension plan is one in which the employer contributes a set amount each month on behalf of an employee. The employee eventually collects pension benefits based on the cash balance in his or her account. Some employees have claimed that such plans favor younger employees and therefore are illegal …

Wage-and-hour woes continue to plague Silicon Valley

10/20/2008

Cadence Design Systems of San Jose recently agreed to settle two lawsuits brought by information technology workers who claimed they were misclassified and denied overtime and meal and rest breaks in violation of federal and California laws …

San Francisco mandates commuter benefits for employees

10/20/2008

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently signed an ordinance that will require employers to offer workers at least one of three commuter-benefit options: a pretax election to offset commuting costs, an employer-paid benefit or employer-provided transit.

Schwarzenegger vetoes card-check union voting for farm workers

10/20/2008

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have allowed California farm workers to seek union representation using a card-check system that was opposed by the farming industry. Although the California Assembly and Senate passed the legislation after a summer of wrangling over details, Schwarzenegger spiked the bill …

Confidentiality provision may violate federal labor law

10/20/2008

A temporary employment agency violated federal labor law by including a confidentiality provision in an employment contract, according to a recent NLRB ruling (Northeastern Land Services, Ltd. dba The NLS Group and Jamison John Dupuy, 352 NLRB No. 89, 2008). In the case, the agency fired a worker for violating the confidentiality provision …

What do we do now that our employees have voted for an alternative workweek?

10/20/2008

Q. Our employees recently voted to establish a 4-10 workweek—four workdays a week, 10 hours per day. Are we required to submit the election results to the state? …

What are the rules for handling ‘seventh day’ overtime pay?

10/20/2008

Q. One of my employees worked four 10-hour days this week. His last day of work fell on Sunday, the seventh day of our workweek. We do not currently have an alternative work schedule arrangement. Do we have any overtime obligations to this employee? …

Justify why similar work warrants different pay

10/20/2008

If some of your employees perform similar jobs under different pay structures, make sure you can justify the differences with good, solid reasons that will stand up to a side-by-side comparison. Otherwise, one of your lower-paid workers may sue you for discrimination.