• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

Prepare to explain each step in hiring process

09/02/2014

These days, employers get many more applications for open positions than they can possibly interview. But each of those applicants is a potential litigant. If you use a complicated hiring process with two or more steps, be sure you can explain how each step relied on objective, unbiased assessments of applicant qualifications.

Calculating OT: What counts as a ‘workweek’?

09/01/2014
Employment lawsuits often hinge on a definition: What is an “employee”? What is “work”? And, in this case, what is a “workweek”?

DOL sues to reinstate L.A. union whistle-blower

08/29/2014
A DOL lawsuit claims that Los Angeles-based Cement Masons South­­ern Cali­­for­­nia Administrative Cor­­p. illegally fired an em­­ployee for cooperating with a federal investigation. The corporation managed assets for five Cement Masons employee benefits trusts in southern California.

Former Pink Poodle pole dancers seek back pay

08/29/2014
Eleven former exotic dancers at San Jose’s Pink Poodle strip club are suing, claiming they were misclassified as independent contractors and thus failed to receive minimum wages and overtime pay. Additionally, they claim the misclassification deprived them of health insurance.

Employee must request more leave as ADA accommodation

08/29/2014
Employees facing the end of FMLA or other medical leave are sometimes entitled to additional time off as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But they have to ask.

Harassment from subordinate can mean liability

08/29/2014
It’s not just harassment from co-workers and supervisors that can become the basis for a hostile environment claim. When a subordinate harasses his boss and the em­­ployer doesn’t intervene, the supervisor has a claim. That’s why it’s important to address all har­­assment, whatever its source.

California Supreme Court makes independent contractor status tougher for motor carriers

08/29/2014
If your company is classified as a motor carrier, don’t expect the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) to protect you from misclassification claims. That’s the lesson learned by one motor carrier after a recent Cali­­for­­nia Supreme Court decision.

In California, raise arbitration issue before administrative hearing on unpaid wages

08/29/2014
If you use an arbitration clause in your application or require employees to arbitrate claims, try to get the case moved to arbitration as soon as possible after the employee files a wage claim with the Cali­­for­­nia Department of Indus­­trial Rela­­tions.

Not hiring bikini models? Think twice before excluding men from job assignments

08/29/2014
There are some jobs where the employee’s sex is a “bona fide occupational qualification”—but not many. For the vast majority of positions, employers can’t exclude people of one sex and only hire members of the opposite sex. After a recent appellate decision, it seems unlikely that one-sex hiring will survive legal scrutiny.

Never stereotype jobs based on gender roles

08/29/2014
Remind supervisors and managers that they shouldn’t assign jobs or duties based on a worker’s gender. Nor should anyone in management make comments that could be interpreted as sexist or as assumptions that certain roles are best assigned to either men or women.