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Equal pay claims just got a lotLucas Clary 02_web tougher to defend in California.  Last month, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 358, a new law which aims to curb a statewide pay disparity between men and women.  The law, dubbed the California Fair Pay Act, goes into effect on January 1, 2016 and requires immediate, affirmative assessment by most California employers. 

Overview of the California Fair Pay Act. 

Current law already requires California employers to pay men and women the same wage for performing equal work in the same establishment.  The new law broadens that requirement.  It removes the term “equal work” and replaces it with “substantially similar work.”  This means work that is substantially similar when viewed as “a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working conditions.”  The new law also removes the “same establishment” requirement, meaning that employees can now bring equal pay claims by showing the employer paid an opposite sex employee at a different location higher wages for substantially similar work.
Continue Reading California’s New Equal Pay Laws Promise to Bring More Litigation

By:  Vida L. ThomasVida Thomas 04_final

The 2014/2015 California legislative session may go down as one of the most productive in the state’s  history, in terms of legislation passed and signed into law.  According to the Associated Press, Governor Brown signed 808 bills, and vetoed 133 others.   Lest employers worry that they were left out of the…

On October 14, 2015, the California Second District Court of Appeal held in Sharif v. Mehusa, Inc.  that both the employee and the employer can be deemed “prevailing party” for purposes of recovering attorneys’ fees under the Labor Code.  Plaintiff, Mahta Sharif, brought an action against her former employer, Mehusa, Inc., for unpaid overtime (Lab. Code, § 1194), unpaid wages (Lab. Code, § 201), and violation of California’s Equal Pay Act (Lab. Code, § 1197.5).  She prevailed on her Equal Pay Act claim with the jury awarding her $26,300. Mehusa prevailed on Plaintiff’s overtime and wage claims.  Plaintiff filed a cost memorandum and was awarded her costs. She also filed a motion for attorney fees in the amount of $280,432 under Labor Code section 1197.5(g) as the prevailing party on her Equal Pay Act claim. Plaintiff’s attorney fees request consisted of a lodestar amount of $140,216 and a multiplier of two.  Mehusa filed a motion for attorney fees and costs under Labor Code section 218.5 in the amount of $36,982.24 as the prevailing party on Plaintiff’s wage claims.  Mehusa estimated that 75% of defense counsel’s time was spent defending against Plaintiff’s unsuccessful wage claims.
Continue Reading There Can Be Two “Prevailing Parties” in a Single Wage & Hour and Equal Pay Act Lawsuit

When people begin to think about cool weather, hot chocolate, Thanksgiving, and this year the constant announcements about El Niño, only one thing always comes to my mind……..

Employer Handbook Season! 

Yes, the end of the year always brings a flurry of revisions to employer handbooks.  This year is no different.  Business owners, general counsel, and human resources professionals throughout California and the County always look at Q4 and ask themselves “when was the last time your employee handbook was updated?”  We are assisting many clients right now with their handbooks so that they are poised for a January 1 launch. With the constant changes in California (including the dozens of new bills just signed by the Governor), employer handbooks that are more than a year old can quickly become a huge liability.
Continue Reading The Three “H”s of Fall: Halloween, Hot Chocolate, and Handbooks

Sunday, October 11, 2015 was the deadline for the Governor to act on bills that were passed by the legislature.

There were two bills the Governor rejected that are seen as key victories for employers.  They are:

AB 465 was vetoed. This bill sought to bar mandatory employment arbitration agreements.  This would have caused lawsuits…