Wage & Hour

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On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court applied an expansive definition of independent contractor in a ruling that is sure to have a dramatic impact on many California businesses, and the burgeoning gig economy in particular.

In the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior L.A. County, a class action was brought on behalf of a group of delivery drivers who were classified as independent contractors by delivery company, Dynamex. Dynamex argued that the drivers were properly designated as independent contracts under the totality-of-the-circumstances standard set forth in the Borello case—utilized by California businesses since 1989—which concentrated primarily on the degree of control the employer exercised over the worker. Dynamex’s drivers provided their own vehicles, paid their own transportation expenses (fuel, tolls, vehicle maintenance, and insurance), set their own schedules, and were generally free to choose the sequence in which they made deliveries and the routes they would take. They were also allowed to simultaneously work for other delivery companies.  
Continue Reading The California Supreme Court Makes It More Difficult to Classify Workers as Independent Contractors – Assumes all Workers are Employees

It is an old joke that the world can be divided into people who are good at math and those who go to law school.  Whether you believe the joke or not, math – or in this case, simple arithmetic – can be at the heart of many wage and hour questions.  On March 5, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued an opinion in Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp.  The Court articulated a rule on how an employee’s overtime pay rate should be calculated when the employee has earned a flat sum bonus during a single pay period.  Please be aware of the emphasized language:  flat sum bonus.
Continue Reading Are You Doing it Right? California Supreme Court Clarifies Overtime Rate Calculations

Assembly Bill (“AB”) 2069 was introduced by the California Assembly on February 7, 2018. Currently, California employers can deny employment or impose discipline on cannabis users, regardless of whether such use is for medical purposes. AB 2069 would amend the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to make it an unlawful practice for an employer to take adverse action against an applicant or employee because of a positive drug test for cannabis (by a medical cannabis card holder) or because of one’s status as a medical cannabis card holder.
Continue Reading Medical Cannabis Users May Soon be Protected Under FEHA – AB 2069

Navigating a worker’s compensation claim in California can be challenging, to say the least. It involves a detailed understanding of several statutory schemes and steps along the way. Yet, processing the claim, insurance, and proper documentation can just be the start. Wary employers should carefully consider the labor and employment implications of a worker’s compensation claim.  This complimentary webinar will discuss important topics to help employers manage these laws followed by an extended Q&A, including:

  • What to do and how to prepare Pre-Injury and Day of Injury;
  • What to do upon receipt of first medical report or work status providing restrictions;
  • How to concurrently navigate an employee’s time off of work under workers’ compensation, disability accommodation, and statutory leaves of absence; and
  • What happens when an employee has reached Maximum Medical Improvement with Permanent Disability/Work Restrictions.

Continue Reading WEBINAR: Worker’s Compensation and Employment Law – Preventing Claims from Turning into Employment Lawsuits

Beware.  Routine criticisms of job performance when directed to employees engaged in a caring profession, may subject you to retaliation and whistleblower claims.

So you hire an employee, call her a brick layer.  She is a horrible brick layer.  You get in constant arguments with her concerning the quality of her brick laying.  You say that the bricks must be square and aligned and she says, no they look better if they are crooked, uneven and “rustic.”  Firing that employee for discharging her duties as a brick layer in a way the employer finds unacceptable is, in almost all cases, a low risk decision.  Subjective dislike of an employee’s work performance is a time honored and well recognized “legitimate nondiscriminatory, nonretaliatory,” reason for termination.
Continue Reading Have You Ever Disagreed With An Employee About How They Should Do Their Work?