Labor & Employment

Subscribe to Labor & Employment's Posts

In a well written opinion issued December 19, 2012, Judge William Alsup sides with KMart in a suitable seating case brought against retailer by an employee claiming the checkout stand needed to be reconfigured with a seat to sit down. The Court provided employers with the best explanation so far of employer obligations in these types of cases. In so doing, KMart blazed a trail for others in the retail and restaurant industry to use in defending against these types of cases.
Continue Reading Federal Judge In California Tells Class Counsel to Stand Up: KMart Wins Suitable Seating Case….For Now

California Employers have watched in recent years as an obscure provision in California Wage Orders has wreaked havoc in the courts. The provision requires “suitable seating” for employees when the nature of their work reasonably permits the use of seats. Not surprisingly, awareness of this issue came as a result of a warped interpretation of the provision by class action plaintiffs’ counsel.
Continue Reading You’ve Got To Stand Up To Sit Down: Suitable Seating In California

“Suitable seating” class actions have been on the rise in the last couple of years in California. The first “suitable seating” class action is currently under review by a trial judge in San Francisco. However, in the meantime, the Ninth Circuit has decided to consider a related case against Wal-Mart, where plaintiffs’ attorneys are claiming…

Governor Brown recently signed into law AB 2674, imposing new requirements on how and when employers respond to employees’ requests for inspection and copying of their personnel files.
Continue Reading Changes to Procedures and Timing for Providing Employee Personnel Records Under Labor Code § 1198.5

Last year, California revised Labor Code section 2751 such that any employment agreement involving “commission” payments would have to be put into writing with a signed copy of the agreement be given to the employee. Those revisions go into effect on January 1, 2013.
Continue Reading First “Commission” Agreements Must Be in Writing. Now the Definition of “Commissions” is Limited Under Labor Code § 2751