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 ...]]]> 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 question, NO work can be conducted during that rest or meal break or you start the clock all over again until they get their 10 or 30 minute uninterrupted break.

And if they don’t get both 10-minute rest breaks and 30-minute meal break? You owe them one hour of ”penalty pay” for each missed or interrupted break, up to two hours of penalty pay per day. Plus, the missed or interrupted meal period could also make the employee eligible for overtime because you now have to count that as worked time.

Employer attorneys have been saying you were only required to pay one hour of penalty pay each day, regardless of the number of missed breaks. However, again thanks to UPS, a court case has resulted in a decision that the maximum is two hours each day if two or more breaks are missed.

We’re still waiting for the CA Supreme Court to let us know if we have to “enforce” the breaks or merely “inform” employees that breaks are available. The decision is expected (finally) in April so we’ll cross our fingers until then.

Here are the top 5 reasons we’ve heard from small business owners who initially resist Harassment Prevention training for their employees:

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 ...]]]> 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 a likable, respected old school guy with a sense of humor. He’s meeting with Margo, an employee, about a promotion.  When she arrives, he’s on the phone joking about a gay employee who came in on casual Friday looking like “I Dream of Jeannie.” Margo’s embarrassed by the conversation — and the picture on Roger’s desk of his wife at the beach. She’s easily offended which is a concern Roger has regarding the promotion. He tells Margo she’s qualified, but she’s uptight and makes people paranoid. She needs to loosen up, be part of the team. He teases her about her “Catholic School upbringing” in his warm, good natured, style. He doesn’t mean anything by it. It’s just how he is. Margo tries to tolerate it. 

Think Roger’s behavior is over the top? Think people don’t act that way anymore in our “PC” workplaces? Please! Hand over the rose colored glasses and get me a latte with an extra shot! These high-risk scenarios occur.  It’s often unintentional, unrecognized, and unreported — until a lawyer or the EEOC comes calling. 

Here are three key legal concepts in that scene which your supervisors and managers need to understand:

1. Harassment is Unwelcome Conduct: But welcome to whom? Roger was in a private conversation when Margo walked in. It was welcome to the people having it, but we also must be concerned with what’s welcome to others in the work environment
2. Intent vs. Impact: Harassment is about impact not intent. It’s defined 100% by the impact on the other person. Roger may be good hearted and doesn’t mean anything by it, but unless he’s enlightened, he’s a runaway train rumbling toward a cliff with the company’s good name and resources aboard.
3. Consenting vs. Welcome: If someone consents to something, it’s probably welcome, right? Say you’re in the parking lot, someone puts a gun to your head and demands your wallet. Will you consent and give it up? Yes. Did you welcome being robbed? No. The law recognizes that in the workplace people consent to things they don’t welcome for a variety of reasons. Consent does not necessarily equal welcomeness.

Oh… and speaking of your wallet, when compared with the costs of investigations, lawsuits, settlements and audits, Harassment Prevention Training is incredibly cost effective! When it comes to protecting your business, the old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” couldn’t be more true.

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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.

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 ...]]]> 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 your employee and independent classifications to determine any misclassifications. Once you know what needs to be changed, you need to make those changes. It will come at a cost, so be prepared. Misclassifying can’t be fixed for free by the very nature of the misclassifications. Get professional advice on how to clean this up to avoid it coming back as an issue at some point.

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.

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 ...]]]> 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.

So, let’s go through that math again with the lowest denominator. If one minimum-paid employee misses one rest break one day each week, you have to pay the employee:

1. $8 (one hour) penalty pay for the rest break that was missed that week
2. Multiplied by 52 weeks in a year
   
3. Equals $416.00 just in penalty pay for the year.

Give some thought as to what poor timekeeping records could cost you in a year, then ask yourself if it’s worth throwing away that much money just to make it easier for your employees.
 

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:

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>