Hello, this is John Fagerholm. Today I am going to give you information about the 5 best ways to protect your business from employee lawsuit; but first let me tell you a little bit about my self before I present you this important information.
I am a lifelong business owner and entrepreneur just like you, all my businesses have done pretty well, they thought me a lot, but I did have an employee issue in the past that cause me some problems so if you are having an employee issue I know just how you feel.
My website is Californiaemployer.com, my website and law firm is dedicated to help California employers with employees issues. I have been a lawyer for 15 years and managing partner. We have helped hundreds of California business owners protect their business.
Preparation is Key
A little bit of preparation before a complaint or a lawsuit can help you a lot. It is important to have systems in place, so have written policies and procedures for everything, have a policy that all employees acknowledge your procedures.
This preparation may cost you a little bit of money but it is worth it. If you are ever involved in a law suit, you want as much evidence as possible or even if you don’t get sued, you will have more peace of mind.
#5 – ACCURATE TIME-KEEPING
The number 5 of ways to best protect your business is time keeping. One of the most common disputes between employers and employees is when employees says they weren’t paid for the time they should have been paid. To avoid this issue, have official time-systems in place that keeps track or their time.
It is best to have them electronically so you can retrieve the records easier and accurately. Also, keep records of their pay checks as well. Make sure the timekeeping and payroll data is kept secure.
#4 – PROCEDURE FOR TERMINATIONS
It is imperative to have a procedure for terminations. California is “At-will” employment state, what that means is that an employee or employer can part ways without reason; BUT some terminations don’t fall under “at-will”
In those cases wrongful termination cases are presented. This involves discrimination, firing for taking protected time off, retaliation firings. To avoid this big issue, have documented set of procedures for terminations.
#3 – GRIEVANCE SYSTEM
Have a grievance system in place. It is important that you take your employees complains seriously and address them accordingly. Your system should include official procedures for filing complaints,
The system should have an alternative so employees can have a way to report incidents to their supervisor. And also very important, If the complaint is about their supervisor your employees should have an option to be able to report this issue.
#2 – CLASSIFY EMPLOYEES CORRECTLY
One of the biggest lawsuits that happen is that they weren’t classified correctly, and that is because there are two types. There is an independent contractor, in this case there are no payroll taxes, wage laws and the employer doesn’t have to recognize overtime.
The other type is the actual employee, in which case, falls under all strict labor laws including overtime, meal breaks, wages and taxes.
#1 EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS
The best & least expensive way to protect your business and to reduce risk of an employee lawsuit is to have an employee handbook. You definitely want to have your procedures in place, and to avoid your employees misunderstand your policies and think they have been mistreated, have an employee handbook that they can consult and you can avoid a lawsuit.
We have a great handbook available that you can get right now, so you don’t have to wait any longer.
Make sure you have a handbook and follow all the procedures we talked about so you can be protected. My office is dedicated to protect employers from employees issues. If you have any questions we do offer 15 minutes free consultations.
Want to read this article in English?
Tener una compañía propia en California puede ser realmente difícil. Hay muchas leyes y reglamentos en el Estado Dorado, puede ser agotador asegurarse de que todas las normas se estén siguiendo. Siempre existe el temor de que un empleado va a presentar una queja de salario, discriminación o algún otro tipo de reclamo.
Puede parecer que todo favorece el empleado, pero no se desespere. Estamos aquí para decirle que en California existen derechos para los empleadores. Lea algunos ejemplos de los derechos más importantes.
California es un estado de empleo a voluntad así que la mayoría de las veces se puede despedir a un empleado sin mucho problema. Lo importante que hay que tener en cuenta es que no halla despedido a un empleado por una de las causas protegidas, estas incluyen la discriminación, represalia entre otros. También a voluntad no se aplica si el empleado tiene un contrato específico. Si este es el caso, usted debe cumplir con los términos del contrato
El Derecho de Contratar a Quién Quiera
Usted como el empresario tiene derecho a contratar a quien usted quiera, presumiblemente la persona que mejor se ajusta a los requisitos del trabajo. Usted no está obligado a llenar una cuota determinada, por ejemplo: una cantidad x de un género o raza. En la parte dónde usted puede verse en problemas es si específicamente no contrata a la persona más calificada debido a género o raza (u otra clase protegida). Esto sería difícil de probar en todo caso, a menos que usted expresó de alguna manera que no quiere contratar a la persona por una de esas razones.
El Derecho a Pagar sus Rangos Salariales
Aunque para usted como empleador existen requisitos federales y estatales de salario mínimo, no existen requisitos de salario después de alcanzar el salario mínimo. Así, por ejemplo, digamos que usted emplea a un técnico de información y tecnología y el valor del pago de la hora para esta posición está entre $ 25- $ 35 la hora. Usted no está legalmente obligado a pagar dentro de ningun rango de valor con tal de que supere el valor mínimo establecido. Usando nuestro ejemplo, esta posición que normalmente hace un mínimo de $ 25 por hora, usted podría pagar $ 15, $ 20, $ 60 lo que considere necesario. Claro que debe tener en cuenta que usted recibe lo que invierte, no le sugerimos que no le pague bien a su técnico de informática! 🙂
El Derecho a Defender Su Empresa Contra Reclamaciones
Normalmente reclamos relacionados con los empleados en contra de su negocio serán presentados por el empleado ante la Junta Laboral. No se asuste si usted recibe una demanda contra su negocio ya que usted tendrá muchas oportunidades para defenderse contra reclamaciones. Normalmente habrá una notificación de la reclamación y de conferencia, dónde un representante de la Junta Laboral escuchará ambas partes y decidirá si la reclamación tiene que ir a una audiencia. Si usted está muy bien preparado, tenga la documentación que respalde su caso. Frecuentemente se puede obtener la reclamación descartada ese mismo día. Usted también está en su derecho de traer con usted un abogado con experiencia en derecho laboral el cual aumentará dramáticamente las posibilidades de ganar su caso.
Nosotros sabemos que a veces es difícil ser dueño de un negocio en California. Usted crea una empresa que emplea a compañeros californianos, paga sus impuestos, y sin embargo a veces parece que las probabilidades están en su contra. Pero solo debe recordar que sus derechos como empleador si existen en California!
Si usted es propietario de una empresa en California y tiene preguntas sobre los derechos del empleador o cualquier otro asunto laboral, póngase en contacto hoy mismo con nuestros abogados laborales profesionales. Nos especializamos en la defensa de los empleadores y protegemos únicamente los propietarios de negocios!
Somos abogados laborales profesionales y nos especializamos en la defensa de los propietarios de negocios de California. Contáctenos hoy mismo!
How to trademark a name is a key concern for any entrepreneur. Of course you want to make sure you protect all your ideas and hard work!
After reading this article you will know the 3 steps you need to trademark your name.
BUT before we go into the HOW of trademarks and you go out there and start filing or contacting attorneys, its very important that you know the purpose of a trademark, when to use it and what makes it different then a copyright.
My goal with this article is that you have all the information you need to move forward on registering your trademark.
So lets dive right in!
It is very important to first understand what a Trademark exactly is before you move forward with obtaining one.
A Trademark is essentially used to legally represent a brand, product or service.
There are two universally recognized symbols that are typically used to identify brand names that are claimed so people know they are not allowed to use them for their own purposes.
The two symbols used mean something slightly different.
Now everybody has probably seen these two symbols at one time or another (after all we are bombarded with advertising and branding 24/7) but lets take a closer look so you can understand what they mean in more detail.
Non Registered Trademark
The first one is a non registered Trademark (TM) and it means it is not legally registered. If you are currently using a brand name you can already begin to use the ™ symbol with your brand. Your basically staking your claim by using it but you have no legal rights yet because it is not registered (or officially recognized) by the government.
So… What does that mean?
It means that if someone else happens to be using the same symbol or trademark that you are, they can challenge your use of it!
Every situation is different and some of these situations can get pretty complex but…
As a general rule whoever can prove they were using the brand first will usually win.
Registered Trademark
The second symbol is a registered Trademark and it looks like this –> ®, the R means that the trademark has been legally registered.
Having a legally registered trademark means the government has officially recognized your right to use it!
This will help protect your brand so no one can legally threaten it like they can in a non registered trademark. This does not mean that no one will ever challenge your trademark but it does make it much less likely. Also if someone were to come after your trademark they are much less of a threat when you have already registered it.
OK so now you know a little more about Trademarks and Copyrights here are the 3 steps to trademarking your name.
The first step you want to take in trade marking or registering your name is you want to begin to use the brand name. This is extremely important because as we mentioned previously, using it is what makes it eligible for trade marking.
For instance in your products, you want to make sure that you include the name with the ™ on it and with the services, any type of advertising, brochures, business cards, and websites. Begin to use the ™ this makes it eligible for the next step if you choose to take it.
It is very important that you start establishing your intention with your brand. If there is a dispute in the future you want to show proof that you were actually using it and for a longer period of time. Recall as we mentioned above, usually in a trademark dispute the party that proves they were using it longer normally has a huge advantage and will most likely win out.
Has someone already registered your brand name? It is time do some research and you will want to check and make sure if what you are interested in is already in use. Anyone who is serious about their product or their service will normally have taken this step. There is a free resource on line, you can go to www.uspto.gov and use the TESS search which is the trademark electronic search system and check to see. Just type in the name and see if it is actually being used by someone and if they have successfully registered it.
If there is a design element to your brand name, you want to conduct a second search which is in the www.uspto.gov and that is the design search code manual.
The third step is to apply for your registered trademark. For serious business owners that believe that they really onto something with their product, I would recommend to go ahead and file an online application, and this is the actual registering of the trademark which you get to the symbol ®.
You can use two different resources.
The first resource is TEAS which is the Trademark Electronic Application System or you can simply call the Trademark Association to do that.
Lets say you have gone through the steps of registering your trademark with the USPTO and protecting it. Well that is a Federal registration and is only valid within the United States. If you plan on taking your business to the next level and going global, you need to ensure that it is protected internationally. If you do business globally using this property and you don’t take the time to go through this process internationally you are taking all of the time, money, passion and energy that you have put into your products and services and you are opening yourself up for people to steal your work and you don’t want to do that. So take the time to research, conduct the search, find out if other people are using it and if not you can go for it. If your business takes off, you got that taken care off.
Well as an attorney myself I’m going to of course say Yes. But technically you can do the process yourself. You do not have to have an attorney to register a trademark. I look at it like any other type of specialized service. If I needed a new engine put in my car or a new roof for my house, after enough research I would probably be able to eventually figure it out. However the amount of time and energy put into the project, on top of the fact that I would not be certain I was doing it right would make doing it myself completely unrealistic.
Here is why I would also strongly advise against trying to register on your own. I have seen so many cases over the years where someone made a mistake in the process and ended up having to hire an attorney anyway. Having an attorney help you register a trademark from the start is a whole heck of a lot cheaper then having one come back in a clean up a mistake! Trust me on that one.
If you are really serious about your product and services, and all the time, money and energy that you put into that, you really want to protect it from people that may try to copycat and steal your intellectual property.
You need to have legal recourse against these folks and the only way to do that is to have your ownership officially recognized by the government.
Remember there maybe some fees involved in this process and I would also recommend to consult with an attorney just to make sure everything is covered and all the steps are taken.
For the visual learners out there we have included a great infographic below that gives some quick visual information on trademarks.
Welcome, California Employers. We are continuing on our series of blog posts about the 2013 changes in California Employment laws.
One of the biggest enhancements to existing California laws was in the area of breastfeeding discrimination. AB 236 now specifically prohibits workplace discrimination against women who are breastfeeding.
Well the answer to that is… it depends…obviously if there are no women who have the need to breast feed currently under your employment, then there is a little less pressure. If you do currently have women who are breastfeeding who you employ, then keep reading!
The law basically says that a mother can breastfeed her child in ANY location (except for someone else’s home). Since the workplace is one of those places it is allowed the onus is on the employer to provide the means. This means that they must be given breaks where they can breastfeed as well as reasonable accommodations in which to do so. Reasonable accommodations would generally mean close enough to where they work and where they can have some privacy.
There are two angles here where you need to make sure your covered.
If you are a California business owner who has questions on the new California Breastfeeding Discrimination Laws or any other employment matters contact our professional labor attorneys today. We specialize in Employer defense and ONLY protect business owners!
We are professional labor attorneys who specialize in defending California business owners. Contact Us Today!
2013 New California Employment Laws
Welcome to 2013! It’s a new year but a good California Employer never rests in defense of their business! If you are a regular reader of our blog then you know that our mantra is always ‘preparation is the best defense.
So if you have listened to us then you already have that all important Employee Handbook and you are keeping track of employee policies and procedures. But a new year is upon is and it is important to find out the new laws introduce in 2013 and how they might effect you.
Below is a list of some of the more significant new employment laws of 2013.
A new law for 2013 that has probably gotten the most press is the AB 1844. Called by many the Social Media Law, it forbids employers from asking employees or job applicants for social media usernames and passwords. This would cover Twitter, Facebook, Linked or the many other private social media accounts.
Despite the media firestorm (stories that sensationalize privacy fears do well) we feel this law should not impact most California employers to much. For one thing, we cannot really see a reason why employers would need their employees social media passwords. From a common sense point of view its clear that this is a no brainer. This new provision just makes this technically unlawful and prohibits employers from firing an employee for not providing that personal information on demand.
Potentially much more of a headache to employers is the change to Employee Personnel records. This change clarifies some inconsistencies in a law regarding personnel records enacted over a decade ago. It gives former employees the same rights as current employees to request access to and inspect their company records. This is big! If a former employee is requesting their records from your company it is potentially because they want to file a claim or suit against you. Creating and keeping solid records, policies and Employee Handbooks is more important then ever!
Employers are now required to provide access to the records (or a copy) within 30 days of the employee requesting it. But that’s not all. Your business will be on the hook for a $750 penalty for non compliance, plus the possible legal fees incurred by the requester in trying to force you to comply. As a California employer you are required to keep terminated employees personnel records on file and accessible for at least 3 years.
One small ray of sunshine in this law is they have reduced the penalty for non-compliance. Before it was considered a misdemeanor to refuse to provide an employee record but that has now been reduced to a penalty. Considering in a misdemeanor jail time is technically possible this is good news for employers!
Even with the new provisions to this law there is a lot of ambiguity. For example when it comes to what must be provided to the employee (what constitutes a personnel record) it is vague. It only says that any records for the employee that include their performance or grievances against the employee must be provided to them.
Here are some of the other laws going into effect for 2013. Look for us to have a more detailed article about what you need to know about each. This page will soon have links to pages detailing each provision.
An increase in protection of religious practices in the workplace. This came about as part of the “Workplace Religious and Freedom Act of 2012“. This law signed in by Governor Brown, protects religious accommodation after a recent increase in complaints in California by employees in recent years.
It is important to note that the accommodation includes an employees religious observances and practices. This is going to mean that an employer must be very lenient in allowing their employees to dress and groom in certain ways if it is for religious reasons.
Modifications to Law requiring employers to not allow discrimination of employees who are breastfeeding. Click on the link above for an article with more details on the new 2013 breastfeeding discrimination.
The new law expands and further clarifies pregnancy discrimination laws. It also requires employers (who have 5 or more employees) to allow their pregnant employee up to 4 months leave related to the pregnancy. There is no restriction on how long the employee has worked for the company. In other words a pregnant employee who has worked for you for only 3 months would have the same option for 4 months pregnancy leave as one who has worked for you for 3 years.
This new law helps clarify disability discrimination and accommodation. It has expanded the definitions of mental and physical disability and even includes specific examples, like OCD, post-traumatic stress and heart disease among others.
The legal requirements have become more defined for employers when it comes to wage statements. You are now required as a California employer to follow the guidelines in Section 226.
This rule requires that you provide information to your employee on either a regular basis or when they are paid.
The information you must provide includes:
These are not all the requirements but the ones that stood out the most to us.
If you are proven to knowingly and intentionally kept this information from your employee you could be vulnerable to penalties. If you can prove that it was not intentional and some type of clerical error you may be able to avoid penalties.
The changes here in AB 1175 increase the amount of wages that are exempt from garnishment. This change does not go into effect until after July 1st of 2013. Before this change only about $217 dollars a week is protected from garnishment. Hardly enough to make any real impact!
Senate Bill 863 This is an attempt by the state to reforms workers compensation by lowering cost and increase savings. If these changes work out as expected it may actually benefits employers by lowering your overall cost.
Some of the key details can be found below.
SB 1186 is mean to reign in the frivolous litigation we have seen over the years regarding technical violations for accessibility.
It is meant to:
AB 1845 clarifies the states position that the Employment Development Department or EDD, can deny reimbursing you the employer if you overpaid in unemployment insurance. Specifically if they determine the cause of the mistake was made by you, your business did not respond to the EDD in a timely manner or you did not provide all the needed information.
Remember this is not ALL the new laws for 2013 but the ones we think most impact our readers.
If you are a California business owner who has ANY questions on the new 2013 Labor Laws or any other employment matters contact our professional labor attorneys today. We specialize in Employer defense and ONLY protect business owners!
We are professional labor attorneys who specialize in defending California business owners. Contact Us Today!
Owning a business in California can be really tough. There are so many laws and regulations in the Golden State it can get overwhelming making sure you are following all of them. There is always the fear that an employee will file a wage, discrimination or some other type of claim.
It may seem like everything favors the employee but do not despair. We are here to tell you that employer rights do exist in California. Read on for examples of some of the most important ones.
California is an at-will employment state so for the most part you can terminate an employee without to much trouble. The major thing you have to keep in mind is that you did not fire the employee for one of the protected reasons which include discrimination, retaliation among others. Also at will does not apply if the employee has a specific contract. If so you would need to follow the terms of the contract.
You as the employer who you want, presumably the person who best fits the job qualifications. You are not obligated to fill a particular quota, for example x amount of one gender or race. Where you can possibly get in some trouble here is if you specifically don’t hire the most qualified person just because they are a certain gender or race (or other protected class). This would be hard to prove at any rate unless you expressed in some way you did not want to hire the individual for one of these reasons.
While there are both federal and state minimum wage requirements for you as an employer, there is no such salary requirements after meeting minimum wage. So for example, lets say you employ an IT technician and the standard range for this position is $25-$35 an hour. You are not legally obligated to pay in any type of range, just as long as its above the minimum wage. Using our example you could pay this position that typically makes a low of $25 an hour $15, $20, $60 whatever you see fit. Now keep in mind you get what you pay for so we dont suggest you under pay your IT guy! : )
Typically employee related claims against your business will be filed with the labor board by the employee. Don’t panic if you receive a claim against your business as you will have plenty of opportunity to defend against claims. Typically their will be a notice of claim and conference where a labor board representative will hear both sides and decide if the claim needs to go to a hearing. If you are really well prepared, have documentation that supports your case you can often get the claim dismissed that day. You are also welcome to bring an experienced labor attorney with you which should dramatically improve your chances of success.
So we know that it is sometimes hard owning a business in California. You create a business that employs fellow Californians, you pay your taxes yet it seems the odds are stacked against you. But just remember employer rights do exist in California!
If you are a California business owner who has questions on employer rights or any other employment matters contact our professional labor attorneys today. We specialize in Employer defense and ONLY protect business owners!
We are professional labor attorneys who specialize in defending California business owners. Contact Us Today!
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Hello again. Today we are going to talk about a tough but necessary subject for any California business owner to know. How do you terminate an employee in California? How do I reduce my risk for a wrongful termination claim from an employee? After reading this post you should know the answer to these questions and more, including the importance of developing a formal termination process for your business!
The first thing you need to do is to determine which category your employee falls under. This can either be a contract employee or an at-will employee. Most California employees are at-will which is exactly what it sounds like. They are there under their and your will and can leave or be terminated at any time. This of course is not as simple as it sounds. They can only be terminated provided its not for any reason that falls under wrongful termination.
A contract employee is a little different because they can only be terminated based on what their individual contract says. With a contract employee you will usually be bound by what the contract says regarding their termination. If you feel you need to fire a contract employee, immediately review the contract you have with that person in detail.
There are plenty of potential pitfalls and landmines when terminating an employee. The BEST WAY to minimize headache and risk associated with this is to have a formal process already defined. Do not wait for an unpleasant situation to come up where you need to terminate an employee right away with no formal process to follow. This can lead to mistakes and potentially open you up for a wrongful termination suit by the terminated employee. Another benefit to having a formal termination process is you are much less likely to miss any steps in the termination process.
Make this process as formal and professional as possible! Create written documentation of the separation process between you and this employee that includes dates, reasons and (hopefully) signatures from the employee expressing their understanding of the situation. Keep those records on file! I cannot stress enough how important it is you keep this information on the employee for access later! An employee can make a wrongful termination claim against you 6 months or even a year or two later! We have also seen some of clients have a claim made against them who were shocked because they did not expect it from the employee. Having these records if you end up with a claim will be very, very valuable!
With your employee leaving you will need to make sure you handle all the details and get them everything they are owed. Most employees will be most concerned with their final paycheck. Remember you owe them their final pay check on their last day not on the next scheduled pay period! You will also owe them any of the vacation time they accrued but did not use. Getting them their final paycheck in a timely manner with little hassle will greatly reduce their desire to come back later with a complaint against your company.
No matter how contentious the situation becomes with your employee try to stay calm and professional! This is where a formal termination process will come in handy. If you are following company policies its a little easier for the parties not to take things personally. Remember your goal is to separate the employee from your company quickly, legally and without hassle! If you make things personal with the problem employee they are much more likely to want to get back at you with a complaint. Even if you personally dislike the employee try not to let that effect your decision making (harder said then done I know). Think about it. If you do things by the book and professionally the termination should go smooth and you will not have to deal with the person any more. If you make things personal and upset the person they are more likely to try to file a complaint which will not only waste your time and money but keep the person who is causing you stress in your life for a while longer!
Much better to take the higher road and get the situation over and done with as soon as possible.
If you follow these tips you should have most of your bases covered.
If you are a California business owner who has questions on the process of terminating an employee or any other employment matters contact our professional labor attorneys today. We specialize in Employer defense and only protect business owners!
We are professional labor attorneys who specialize in defending California business owners. Contact Us Today!
Here we go again! Another blog post about one of our favorite subjects… Employee Handbooks! We know, we know, employee handbooks again? but its just because we care about protecting your business and there is no better way at affordable price then having a solid Employee Handbook.
One of the most common questions we get is “What are good examples of Employee Handbook policies?” Well of course there may be some slight differences of what you need to focus on depending on what state you are in and its laws. For the most part there are some basic policies that should cover most situations. California is one of the most strict states for labor laws and that is what the policies in our handbooks are created to satisfy.
So lets take a look at some of the “must have” policies.
INTRODUCTION
You will want to have a good introduction at the start of your employee handbook that welcomes the employee to the company. This is often a letter to employees from the CEO or owner of the company with their signature at the bottom. There is a lot of flexibility in the introduction. You can briefly go over the mission of the company or maybe just keep it to a simple welcome letter.
DESCRIPTION
After the introduction letter you will want to give a description of the employee handbook. Here you can include your expectation that the employee read and understand the policies. You can add that the company has the right to revise the handbook at any time, so if you ever need to change policies at a later, then when the employee received this copy you will be covered. You may want to also include a paragraph describing your an “Equal Opportunity Employer” and that your company makes every effort to comply with federal and state discrimination laws.
JOB EXPECTATIONS
In this section its important to specify what is expected from the new hire in their job. (it does not need to be detailed for each individual job, more of company expectation for employee performance). Most companies have some type of trial period of 3 or 6 months where the employee is being trained and evaluated. After this probationary period is over the employer (you) might have higher expectations of their performance.
Here is where you really want to get into the meat of things and start specifying your company policies. Below is a list of some of the most common and what we include in the Handbooks we create for our clients. Each policy is followed by a brief description.
Working Hours and Schedule – Specify your standard business hours and typical employee working schedule expectations.
Meal and Rest Periods – Make sure you don’t miss this one! Many employee claims against employers come from accusations of not allowing the minimum state mandated time for meal breaks and rest periods. Specify what your policy is making sure it meets the minimum required by law.
Pay/Timekeeping/Overtime – Specify what your company pay schedule is. Employees work to get paid and they expect to know exactly when that is. This is where you spell this out, be it weekly, bi-weekly etc. Also let your employees know what is expected from them when it comes to timekeeping (clocking in/out of work). Many disputes between employers and employees come from time worked discrepancies. You can help reduce much of this confusion with clear policies mandating strict timekeeping requirements. This leads us into Overtime. Another common employee claim is they were not paid there rightful OT. By having the policies in place AND keeping strict and accurate employee time records you will reduce your exposure greatly!
Harassment Policies
Harassment policies are another common employee claim. To help protect your business specify your states harassment laws and make it crystal clear that your company does NOT tolerate any harassment of employees! The harassment policy is just as much (or even more so) for your managers and supervisors then it is your employees. Often we have seen an employer get hit with a harassment claim when they are not even the one being accused of harassment! One of their managers have been accused and your business is on the hook. By specifying your harassment policies you are protecting your business from supervisors as well, letting them know it will not be tolerated.
Prohibited Conduct
Now it’s impossible to cover every behavior you might find objectionable at work but you may as well try! Go ahead and list all of the conduct that you want your employees to know wont be tolerated. We wont go in a lot of detail here but some obvious examples of prohibited behavior might be, no theft or damage of company equipment, no working while intoxicated, etc…
Benefits/Terminations
If you offer additional benefits to your employees put them in writing. This may include Holiday pay, sick leave and health and medical packages. It could also include retirement benefits.
As far as terminations go, California is an “at-will” employment state meaning an employee or employer can sever their relationship at any point. For the employer you may terminate the employee at any time as long as its not for any of the “protected” reasons, discrimination etc..If you are in a state that is not “at-will” employment, then you will need to research your situation. The bottom line is put your termination policies in writing in the handbook.
Conclusion
This article is an example of employee handbook policies but does not even include all of the ones we have in our California Employee Handbooks. There is just too many possible policies depending on your situation. We do hope that you have a better understanding of what some of the most important ones are.
If you are a California business owner who needs an employee handbook or just have questions on employee matters you do not know how to deal with, contact our professional labor attorneys today. We specialize in Employer defense and only protect business owners!
We are professional labor attorneys who specialize in defending California business owners. Contact Us Today!
As an employer or business owner it’s important to understand the basics of California overtime laws. As of this writing the basic definition of overtime in California is any work over 8 hours in one day. If you look at it by week it would be any hours over 40 worked in a week. The pay rate would increase for any hours worked over the 8 or 40. This is typically 1.5 times the rate of their standard pay or the amount they work during their regular hours.
You are not necessarily completely restricted to the 8 hour, 40 hour work week by law. There are some cases in which you can agree with your employees for them to work 10 hours within 4 days of a single week, making it 40 hours total in one whole week. Even in this case you need to consider the overtime law, just a little differently. The criteria for overtime pay in that particular situation is for any hour worked beyond the 10-hour daily limit. This type of agreement cannot be done in a person to person basis and you should consult experts and acquire permit in order to operate like this.
Double Time Violations
Double-time violations are a little different but you still need to know about it as it is also covered in California unpaid overtime laws. Double-time violations happen when you failed to compensate your employees for their work over 12 hours in a day. Double-time rate is different than overtime rate which is only 1.5 times the regular salary. Double-time rate is computed at your employees regular rate times 2. (pretty clear why it’s called “Double time”). So remember even if you are ok with paying your employees 1.5 their regular rate for OT, once they go over 12 hours you will need to bump it up to double their normal rate.
Tracking Time
Remember YOU are responsible for tracking the hours worked by your employees. The California unpaid overtime laws put the burden of tracking hours worked to the employers rather than to their employees. When an employee makes a claim you didn’t pay their OT hours, what you need to do is prove to the court that the claim is not true, and that they didn’t work for those hours that they are trying to claim. Make it a company policy that no employee works overtime without your (or the appropriate managers) approval and the time is recorded and tracked!
Exemptions
In general, almost all employees in California are covered by the overtime laws, however there are some positions that have exceptions. Check this link to see what the exceptions are and if any of your employees fall in these categories. It can be a little confusing but just know that if you don’t have any employees who fit the criteria, they are not exempt and you will have to follow all California overtime laws. If you do employ people in some of the positions mentioned you can contact us to help you figure out your exemption options.
What you should do
It’s really important for you as a business owner to understand California unpaid overtime laws. By understanding them you can plan and create company policies according to the laws and make sure they are being followed. An employee can make a claim of unpaid overtime that goes back as far as three years from the time they actually file the complaint against your company! That’s why it is so important to keep good records and have specific policies that are followed. If you do eventually face a lawsuit or wage claim, then you will be much better prepared in order to save your company from a ruined reputation and from costly lawsuit fees.
If you are a California business owner who has a overtime wage claim made against you or just have an employee issue you do not know how to deal with, contact our professional labor attorneys today. It will cost money in attorney fees but it may well save you a ton of money and possibly your business against an employee related claim. We specialize in Employer defense and only protect business owners!
We are professional labor attorneys who specialize in defending California business owners. Contact Us Today!
Wrongful Termination California: As a California employer and business owner how do you avoid this very common employee lawsuit?
Like most states California is considered an “at-will” employment state, so what is even considered a wrongful termination?
Yes, it is true that California is an “at will” employment state. This basically means that you as the employer and your employees as well, can break your relationship at any time. You can fire them without having to provide some proof or cause that justifies it, and they can quit with out having to give you a specific reason.
Sounds easy right? Well you own a business in California, so I don’t have to tell you that nothing is ever that easy in the Golden State!
There are a number of “exceptions” to these at-will employment rules. If you terminate an employee under one of these protected exceptions and they can prove it, well you could be in for a headache!
Lets take a closer look at some of the areas that would not fall under the at will employment law.
The first one is very common in wrongful termination cases :
If you terminate an employee based on discrimination it could be classified as a wrongful termination. California has categories that are considered “protected classes”. Some of the discrimination claims that an employee can make are age, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation and a few others.
If you sense that you are having an issue with an employee that falls in one of these categories you want to make sure you are extra careful not to give any reason for them to believe they are being discriminated against. If you do end up firing the employee you don’t want them to use some innocent comment you made in the past against you and claim discrimination.
Another one you can get in trouble for is:
Maybe you have an employee who is a slacker. Always calling in sick or not showing up for work one reason or another, usually it seems when you need them most. Well just be careful you do not fire someone when they are missing work for a “protected” reason.
Some of the most common ones are taking time off for Jury duty, family leave and medical/maternity leave. If they are gone for one of these reasons and in their absence you decide your business is better off without them you will want to be very careful with what you do here. They could easily accuse you of firing them for taking one of the protected leaves.
If you want to fire an employee make sure it’s no where near the time they take one of their protected leaves (time off) absences!
Here is another big one:
A retaliation firing is when an employee reports an employer for an illegal wrong doing and the employer retaliates by firing that employee. For example lets say an employee felt your company was discriminating against another employee and reported it. If you were to fire that employee in response, that would be considered retaliatory and is illegal.
You may have heard of this situation by it’s common name “whistle-blower protection”. It is designed to shield employee from reporting illegal acts in the work place and believe me you do not want to be accused of going after a whistle blower.
Error on the side of caution! As you know after reading this article, California is an at will employment state BUT (and that’s a big but) if you fire someone for one of the reasons discussed you can find yourself on the wrong end of Wrongful Termination Suit.
There are a few other situations that you can be accused of wrongful termination but familiarize yourself with the ones in this article as they are the most common.
Before firing an employee ask your self if they fit or could possibly claim to fit any of these situations. Just by being aware of what is considered a wrongful termination and making sure you proceed with caution if the employee fits that situation could save you from the serious headache a claim can bring!
Normally an employers first sign that they have a complaint against them from an employee is with a notice of claim and conference. This is a notice from the Labor Commissioner informing the business of the complaint. Our article on notice of claim and conference explains it in detail but basically it is the first step in the process for an employee complaint against your business.
We are professional labor attorneys who specialize in defending California business owners against wrongful termination claims. Contact Us Today!
https://www.californiaemployerattorney.com/
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