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Employment Law

How should we structure an anti-nepotism policy?

10/15/2010
Q. To prevent productivity and morale problems, we would like to adopt a policy banning the hiring of our current employees’ spouses. Would this be lawful?

How should we go about implementing a system for recording employees’ phone conversations?

10/15/2010
Q. Many of our employees spend most of their time dealing with customers over the phone. For quality control purposes and to make sure workers aren’t making personal telephone calls, we would like to record the calls employees make on company telephones. Is that legal?

FMLA: Who is considered a ‘key employee’?

10/15/2010
Q. On the U.S. Department of Labor’s Form WH-381 “Employer’s Response to Employee,” there is a line that asks whether the worker is a “key employee” as described in the FMLA regulations. I always check the box indicating that the worker is a key employee. How should I mark these boxes? I consider most of our workers key employees, and I do not want to offend anyone by suggesting that they are not.

Now at full strength, will NLRB continue anti-business bias?

10/15/2010
Now that it’s finally back in business, the NLRB has issued several controversial and decidedly anti-business decisions. You may recall that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that NLRB decisions made while there were just two board members are invalid. Those old cases and all new ones are now being heard by a new set of board members, three of whom are former union lawyers.

Bay Area worker files sexual orientation harassment suit

10/15/2010
A former clerical worker is suing a San Francisco Bay Area-based trucking company, claiming he was harassed and subsequently fired for asking about medical benefits for his same-sex partner.

Court serves up good news for firm sued for waiters’ tip snafu

10/15/2010

A three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal for the 2nd Appellate District has upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit against an accounting firm working for a celebrity-owned restaurant. The court held that the firm, Gumbiner Savett, can’t be accused of negligence for allegedly overreporting the incomes of servers who were forced to pool tips while working for Ago Restaurant.

Schwarzenegger vetoes applicant credit report ban

10/15/2010
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed A.B. 482, a bill that would have prevented employers from using consumer credit reports when performing background checks on employees and applicants.

Sending Form 1099 to IRS doesn’t amount to retaliation

10/15/2010

Sometimes, settling a discrimination complaint may mean paying the employee several thousand dollars. That payment may or may not be taxable. Employers often send a 1099 miscellaneous income form to the IRS. Some employees think this is a deliberate effort to alert the IRS to their miscellaneous income and amounts to retaliation. Courts disagree.

‘Service charge’ or tip? Pay attention to local laws in addition to state and federal regs

10/15/2010

California employers may incorrectly assume that if they abide by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the California Labor Code, they have met their obligations to workers. That may not be true. Local municipalities can also regulate some aspects of wage-and-hour laws.

When class-action wage lawsuit looms, handle employee ‘opt-out’ phase with care

10/15/2010

Employees who think they have been misclassified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the California Labor Code may sue on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated current and former employees. Generally, if the case is approved as a class-action lawsuit, those current and former employees will get a chance to opt into the lawsuit for the FLSA claims and opt out of the state case. How employers react can affect how the court handles the opt-out process.