The concept of a “probationary period” at the start of employment derives from the Union context, where new employees are given a certain period before they are covered under the Company’s cba (collective bargaining agreement). There, it makes sense. After that probationary period, the Company must start making contributions under the cba, and at the…
No Fooling – Fast Food Minimum Wage In California Goes to $20 An Hour Effective April 1, 2024
Most of you who are directly affected already know this, but AB 1228 goes into effect today, April Fool’s Day, requiring employees working at “limited-service restaurants” in California be paid at least $20 an hour if the restaurant is part of a chain comprising at least 60 locations NATIONWIDE. VITAL to note – the required…
Refresher About Calculating The Regular Rate Of Pay For Paying Overtime, Break Pay, And Sick Leave
I really thought I had written about this previously here, but I find that so many of my clients are still confused. Don’t beat yourselves up if you have been getting this wrong; this is a very complicated issue, and it bears a few reviews. Many California Labor Code sections, as well as federal wage…
Reminder About Final Pay Rules in California
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…
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…