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California is very picky about ensuring non-exempt (hourly) employees get their legally mandated rest and meal breaks. The question hasn’t been IF you should be enforcing the rest and meal break rules; the question has been what happens if you don’t. UPS has helped provide the answer.
In case you’ve forgotten, California law mandates at least a 10-minute rest break in the middle of each 4-hour work period for non-exempt (hourly) employees. That usually means a rest break mid-morning and again mid-afternoon. You can’t combine it with the lunch period. You can’t come in late or leave early as count it as a rest period.
The law also mandates at least a 30-minute meal period for non-exempt employees working more than 6 hours that day. If the employee will absolutely be off work within 6 hours, you can forego the meal period. But you better be sure they are gone by hour 6! If they are eligible for the meal period, it must begin within the first 5 hours of their workday.
The tricky part is making sure the employee takes the minimum time mandated for each break. No picking up the phone, no other employee asking them a work [click to read more ...]
Guest Blogger Kit Goldman is a nationally acclaimed trainer and workplace expert. She has helped clients ranging from “Mom and Pop” businesses to industry giants like State Farm, Johnson & Johnson, Turner Broadcast and MGM, to prevent costly lawsuits through powerful, “edutainment”-style training.
Here are the top 5 reasons we’ve heard from small business owners who initially resist Harassment Prevention training for their employees:
Training just stirs things up It’s a can of worms Why open Pandora’s Box? It’s not in my budget Let sleeping dogs lie
To which we point out that every employer has a mandatory, no exceptions legal duty to protect employees from unlawful harassment! Educated employees know what the boundaries are and can avoid and prevent harassment.
Supervisors and managers have a mandatory, no exceptions legal duty to take immediate and appropriate action if they knew or should have known harassment may be occurring! Educated supervisors and managers know what to look for and what to do if it happens and showing you took steps to prevent harassment can greatly reduce legal exposure should it occur.
With that in mind, let’s peek in on Roger, a supervisor at a fictional company:
He’s [click to read more ...]
Thought you might like to hear an interview I did on BlogTalk Radio with Diane and Joseph Sampson, of Sampson California Realty.
Listen to internet radio with SampsonCARealty on Blog Talk Radio
Yes, it’s that time again! January is fast approaching and your company probably needs new employment law posters for the wall this year. Since there is a new addition to the 2012 posters and a few minor updates, you can’t easily get by with last year’s model. The link below will send you to a website that has posters for California but you can easily access the other states on this website, too. You do need posters for any other states where you have employees… and, yes, you need one for every state where you have ANY employees.
Click here to go to the site with posters!
As a side note, this site has the state and federal posters as separate posters and sells the set for $39.99. The information that continues to be added to each of these is making it harder to get everything on one gigantic poster.
Don’t forget that you should also have your IWC Order posted next to your employment law poster. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, contact me! There are 17 to choose from and you use the one that best fits your industry.
On 9/19/2011, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis hosted a ceremony at U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in Washington to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Internal Revenue Service that will improve departmental efforts to end the business practice of misclassifying employees in order to avoid providing employment protections. In addition, labor commissioners and other agency leaders representing seven states signed memorandums of understanding with the department’s Wage and Hour Division and, in some cases, its Employee Benefits Security Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and Office of the Solicitor. The signatory states are Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah and Washington. Secretary Solis also announced agreements for the Wage and Hour Division to enter into memorandums of understanding with the state labor agencies of Hawaii, Illinois and Montana, as well as with New York’s attorney general.
The memorandums of understanding will enable the U.S. Department of Labor to share information and coordinate law enforcement with the IRS and participating states in order to level the playing field for law-abiding employers and ensure that employees receive the protections to which they are entitled under federal and state law.
What Should You Do?
Audit [click to read more ...]
I just wanted to let you know that, in California, the Workers’ Compensation poster information has been revised with wide-ranging changes due to the recently amended Medical Provider Network (MPN) and employee information regulations. Employers are required to post the “Notice to Employees” update by October 8th, 2010, to comply with the amended regulations. Failure to post the notice by the October deadline can result in fines up to $7,000 in civil penalties.
Click here to order your new full-color and fully laminated 2011 California and Federal Labor Law posters today. You’ll have the new, required Workers’ Compensation information in addition to all your other 2011 posters.
California has been reaping the financial benefits of your timekeeping efforts. Over the past couple of years, more and more companies are getting caught by insufficient proof that they’ve properly tracked (and paid for) employees’ time.
A proper time card shows: exactly what time your employee started work, exactly what time your employee left for a meal break, exactly what time your employee returned to work, and exactly what time your employee quit working for the day.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Then why are so many companies paying huge fines and penalties? Because they aren’t doing it correctly.
I recently viewed a company’s time cards for all of 2009. Every time card for every employee said exactly the same thing: in at 8:00a, out at 5:00p, one hour lunch. Let’s face it, there is no way even one employee clocked in and out at exactly the same time every day for a year. Don’t even get me started on the impossibility of taking exactly one hour for lunch every day.
Those time cards do not protect that company from claims because they aren’t truthful. It doesn’t matter that the employees filled them out… they aren’t believable and certainly not honest. [click to read more ...]
The feds passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and it took effect on 11/21/09… which means you should add it to your wall of employment law posters immediately. (Note: California already prohibits this type of discrimination, so you may be covered if the “EEO and The Law” section of your posters includes genetic information.)
This federal law affects you if your company has 15 or more employees. GINA is intended to prohibit genetic information (such as genetic tests and family medical histories) discrimination by insurers and employers. Although this isn’t the type of information you just trip across, review your forms to check that you aren’t asking a question that could fall into this category. Your to-do’s for GINA include:
Adding the GINA poster to your wall (or confirming it’s already included in your current posters). Here’s a copy for you: Give me GINA! Update your non-discrimination policy to include genetic information. Audit yourself to ensure you aren’t asking employees for information that’s not allowed by GINA. You may request sufficient information to meet certification requirements for state or federal medical leaves but be sure what you’re asking for doesn’t cross this line. Separate genetic information, including family and medical leave certifications, [click to read more ...]
A 2008 survey of 4,387 workers within low-wage industries in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City revealed that many of the laws meant to protect workers are frequently violated. Here are a few examples of the violations:
Minimum Wage: 26% of workers were paid less than minimum wage. Overtime: 25% worked over 40 hours the previous week, but 76% of them were either underpaid or not paid at all for the time. Off-The-Clock: Almost 25% came in early and/or stayed late but 70% received no pay for work performed outside of their shift. Meal Break: 86% were legally entitled to at least one meal break during the previous week; however, 69% of them received no break at all, had their break shortened, were interrupted by their employer, or worked during the break. Pay Stub: 57% didn’t receive a proper pay stub with their pay from the previous week. Pay Deductions: 41% had improper deductions in their pay for damage/loss, work-related tools/materials or transportation. Retaliation: 20% had made a complaint to their employer or attempted to form a union in the last year. 43% of those experienced at least one form of retaliation by their employer or supervisor, such as being threatened with [click to read more ...]
You’ve heard me talk a lot about all the employment laws California has. Now the feds are getting more liberal and it’s bound to be interesting to see what passes. Currently pending legislation includes:
Family Fairness Act of 2009: This would eliminate the 1,250 hour requirement of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) so part-time employees could also be eligible for this leave.
FMLA Enhancement Act of 2009: Companies with only 25 employees would be subject to FMLA (instead of the current 50 employee minimum) and it adds more reasons an employee could take leave time.
FMLA Inclusion Act: This widens the circle of what is considered family in relation to FMLA leaves.
Family Leave Insurance Act of 2009: In California, we have the Paid Family Leave and this is very similar except both employees AND employers would pay 2% of pay into it.
Healthy Families Act: If passed, companies with 15+ employees would have to provide up to 7 paid days of sick leave each year.
Paid Vacation Act: This requires employers to provide one week of paid vacation each year and increases that to two weeks after 3 years of employment. It may not affect companies of <50>
[click to read more ...]
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