Quirky Question # 222, Seats in the Workplace
Question: We are a retail store. An employee in the warehouse requested an assigned chair to sit on when he is between tasks. Must we comply with this request in our California locations?
Quirky Question # 221, San Francisco Ordinance: Flexible Work Schedule
Question: We have a part-time employee in San Francisco, CA who works Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. as support for our sole salesperson in the Bay Area. She has recently requested to alter her schedule to work...
Quirky Question #220, Independent Contractors
Question: I have always understood that California employers that misclassify workers as independent contractors face potential liability, including compensatory damages, penalties and attorney’s fees. I recently heard a news broadcast that mentioned there were cases suggesting that recent court decisions...
Oracle: Non-Residents Performing Work in CA For CA Companies Are Covered by CA Overtime Provisions
Sullivan v. Oracle Corporation, et al. June 30, 2011, in Sullivan v. Oracle Corporation, et al., the California Supreme Court decided three certified questions from the Ninth Circuit regarding work performed in the State of California by non-residents for California...
Quirky Question # 174: A New CA Claim, Providing Employees with Chairs
Question: I work for a California retail employer. We have tried to stay in line with the state’s myriad wage and hour laws. We’ve audited the exempt status of questionably classified employees. We’ve reviewed and revised our meal and rest...
Quirky Question # 166, Employer Questionnaire Regarding Time Away From Work
Question: We have an employee who has missed a lot of work because of various non-work related injuries, a fall off a motorcycle, a ski injury and various sore back claims. We would like to give him a questionnaire asking...
Quirky Question # 162: Employee Handbooks Creating Vested Benefits
Question: Our company is located in California. We have language in our handbook that says all our employees are “at-will.” Our existing handbook also includes provisions setting out the conditions under which we will lay people off and what benefits...
Quirky Question # 160: Non-Competes and Public Policy
Question: We are a nationwide company with offices and employees in nearly every state. One of our primary growth areas is California. We understand that California courts are generally inhospitable to post-employment restrictive covenants, including non-competes. But, we are trying...
Reasonable Accommodation for Absent Employee? Quirky Question # 154
Quirky Question #154 One of our manufacturing employees, call him Jim, was fairly seriously injured in an accident on the production floor. Jim applied for workers’ compensation and was examined by a doctor. The doctor let us know that in...
Forcing Employees to Litigate in One State, Quirky Question # 153
Quirky Question #153 Our company has independent-contractor consultants in many states. Our headquarters is in Minnesota. We know that we could be sued in any of the states where we have independent contractors, and that many of those states apply...
