California has some of the strictest rules about payment of wages upon termination, and employers get this wrong ALL the time. For some reason, people seem to think they have 24 hours in which to pay final wages after termination. Nope, nope, and nope. FINAL WAGES, INCLUDING ALL ACCRUED AND UNPAID VACATION OR PTO, MUST…
Author: Beth A. Schroeder
Keeping Compliant with Payroll – Retention, Content, and Dates
MAKE SURE YOU KEEP COPIES OF ALL PAYROLL DOCUMENTS BEFORE YOU SWITCH PAYROLL PROVIDERS This issue seems to crop up on nearly a daily basis for us. My team and I are responding to demand letters from lawyers, asking for the payroll records for an employee. We are defending wage and hour lawsuits, single employee,…
Understanding California’s Definition of Independent Contractor
Let’s start with a bit of context. The people who work for you are, generally speaking, employees. “Employees” get protections of the California Labor Code (overtime, breaks, minimum wage, expenses), which also allows them to sue for many of the violations, often leading to PAGA and class action lawsuits. They are also governed by similar…
Happy Valentine’s Day, California! Don’t Forget to Send A Note to Your Beloved Employees with Non-Competes
CALIFORNIA PASSES TWO MORE LAWS TO PROVE HOW MUCH IT ABSOLUTELY DETESTS NON-COMPETE CLAUSES Back in 1872, as a fractured and battle-weary nation tried to recover from the effects of the Civil War, dealing with racism and poverty, and trying to reconcile incompatible personal values and business practices, people started moving west. California was thriving,…
Two Recent Cases About PAGA Go Different Directions
On January 18th, our friends at the California Supreme Court finally issued the long-awaited decision in Estrada v Royalty Mills Inc and handed another blow to those of us trying to defend these PAGA cases. The Estrada decision held that trial courts lack the inherent authority to strike claims under PAGA based on the argument…
Some Sticky New Sick Leave Issues
As you all should know, California amended its sick leave law effective January 1 of this year and increased the amount of annual days provided to employees from 3 to 5, and the number of hours from 24 to 40. Obviously, if you are in locales like Los Angeles or Santa Monica where the requirement…
New Year Brings New Minimum Wages
On January 1, the state-wide minimum wage in California rose to $16 an hour, for ALL employers. When the state minimum wage increases, so, too, does the minimum salary to be exempt. That salary is now $66,560. That is the salary regardless of whether your employee works full time or part time – if you…
Juneteenth Edition – The Story of John and Jeff – A Cautionary Tale from a fellow Labor Law Attorney
Good morning, welcome to my latest edition of Monday Morning Briefing – Juneteenth Edition. I am actually penning this article on Sunday morning, because it is my intent to take off the Juneteenth holiday, in Santa Barbara. And as I was unable to get a Briefing out to you last week due to a mediation…
Fed Continues Flexibility with I-9s; 1 Month Countdown for Min Wage Hike; Call to Action for LA Restauranteurs
Good morning, welcome to my latest edition of Monday Morning Briefing, and HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! It’s a pretty quiet week, heading into the summer, I think. So I want to go over a few reminders of things coming up. DHS AND ICE GRANT EMPLOYERS MORE TIME TO RESUME FULL COMPLIANCE WITH PRE-COVID I-9 COMPLIANCE…
Confusion over service charges and gratuities continues; Off the Clock Issues Spread; Fed Ex Case Reminder
Good morning, welcome to my latest edition of Monday Morning Briefing. I hope you all got a chance to enjoy a bit of this lovely May weather we have been having – I know I personally am still enjoying these beautiful California wildflowers. But it is still busy out here in the world of California…