Defining “Family,” Quirky Question # 150
Quirky Question #150 An employee has asked if they can take a leave of absence to care for a sick child who is not their own. Do I have to provide leave to an employee for the care of a...
Alcoholism and a Last Chance Warning, Quirky Question # 142
Question: I work as an HR representative in a medium-sized California business – we employ about 50 people. Recently, a situation with one of our employees was brought to my attention, and I’ve been asked how to handle it. We...
Pregnancy Discrimination, Quirky Question # 137
Quirky Question # 137: Our company recently hired a woman to manage our clean room. This job is critical to our business and we spent a great deal of time finding someone who we thought would be the right person...
Key California Employment Decisions from 2009
Top 5 Decisions by the California Supreme Court in 2009 Originally published in the Daily Journal, February 5, 2010. The California Supreme Court decided a number of key cases in 2009 that offer a mixed bag for employers attempting to...
California Wage and Hour Issues, Quirky Question # 128
Quirky Question # 128: I work for a California employer with nonexempt retail employees who earn commissions on their sales. We have been sued for failing to provide our employees with meal and rest breaks. I understand the company may...
Wage and Hour Cases in the Ninth Circuit
Wage and hour class actions comprise approximately one third of all class action litigation. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has taken note as during the past six months, a number of significant wage and hour cases were decided by...
Use of Surveillance Cameras to Monitor Worksite, Quirky Question # 116
Quirky Question # 116: I am the owner of a small private company. I was recently alerted by my secretary that various computers around the office, including some in private offices, have been used late at night to access the...
California Wage and Hour Issues, Quirky Question # 107
Quirky Question # 107: I keep hearing about companies getting hit with class action lawsuits under California’s tough wage and hour laws. As I understand it, when a company treats its employees the same under a single policy, it is...
Vacation Pay Obligations, Quirky Question # 103
Quirky Question # 103: We recently opened operations in California and are concerned that our current PTO policy does not meet California state standards. We were caught unawares by the new Massachusetts Supreme Court case on vacation pay and know...
Overtime Compensation and “Exempt” Employees, Quirky Question # 89
Quirky Question # 89: Our company develops software and is based in California with another location in Arizona. On occasion, our software developers in Arizona come to our California facility to perform some work. Two of our Arizona based developers...
