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Employment Law

Exempt employees and the reasonable relationship test

01/11/2019
The reasonable relationship requirement exists so an employer may compute an exempt employee’s earnings on an hourly, daily or shift basis without the employee losing exempt status or the employer violating the salary basis requirement.

California employers face new #MeToo environment

01/11/2019
New laws are changing the way California employers must resolve sexual harassment claims. In addition to requiring more training on sexual harassment, two new statutes took effect on Jan. 1.

Fair treatment is your best defense against bias claims

01/11/2019
Your best defense to any employment lawsuit is to be able to show that you always treat everyone fairly. You will be able to sleep well at night knowing it will be hard to prove you were liable for discrimination or retaliation.

One incident won’t create a hostile environment

01/11/2019
Employees claiming a hostile work environment must show that a reasonable employee would have found the environment intolerable. One incident isn’t enough.

Court: Class-action waiver of future claims OK despite current litigation

01/11/2019
A California state appeals court has upheld the right of an employer to require an employee to sign off on an arbitration agreement even though there may be a pending class-action lawsuit in which she is a party member—as long as the class-action subject matter can still be heard in arbitration.

Joint employer along with other entities? You could be on the hook for discrimination

01/11/2019
Sometimes, an employee has several employers at the same time. Each of those entities may be held liable if the employee suffers unlawful discrimination.

Nuances of the ADA: 9th Circuit rules on definition of ‘regarded as disabled’

01/11/2019
The federal appeals court with jurisdiction over California employers has ruled that a worker doesn’t have to prove his employer believed he was substantially impaired in order to sue under the ADA if the employer discriminated against him by regarding him as disabled.

Tell bosses: No badmouthing ex-employees

01/11/2019
Remind supervisors and managers after they have terminated someone: Be careful about how you handle inquiries from prospective employers of your former employee.

New law requires more sexual harassment training

01/11/2019
California was one of the first states to mandate sexual harassment training in the workplace. But the law only mandated regular training for supervisors at large companies. All that changed on Jan. 1, when Senate Bill 1343 went into effect.

Take care when disciplining whistleblowers

01/10/2019
An employer must show it would have taken the same action against an employee even if he had not blown the whistle.