Photo of Meagan D. Bainbridge

Meagan Bainbridge assists employers in all aspects of their employment relationship with their employees. She is an experienced trial attorney and has successfully litigated a wide variety of issues in both state and federal courts as well as before various administrative agencies for clients in a wide range of industries. In addition, Meagan provides advice, counsel, and training to employers concerning their workplace policies, practices, and personnel decisions and is a frequent presenter on employment law topics.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new poster that employers are required to display in their workplaces. The “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster updates and replaces the previous “Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law” poster. According to the press release, the new poster includes the following changes: 
Continue Reading Employers Take Note – New EEOC Poster Available for Immediate Posting

In California, it has long been the rule that an employer is entitled to use a rounding policy “if the rounding policy is fair and neutral on its face and ‘it is used in such a manner that it will not result, over a period of time, in failure to compensate the employees properly for all the time they have actually worked.’” (See’s Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court (2012) 210 Cal.App.4th 889, 907 (See’s Candy I), quoting 29 C.F.R. § 785.48(b) and citing Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) Enforcement Policies and Interpretations Manual (2002 rev.) §§ 47.1, 47.2 (DLSE Manual). However, since that ruling in 2012, California courts have slowly chipped away at that rule. Most recently, the California Supreme Court held that rounding is not permitted for purposes of meal breaks. (See Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC, 11 Cal. 5th 58.) Now, a California Court of Appeal has determined a rounding policy that was otherwise neutral on both its face, and in application, to be unlawful. This ruling calls into question whether California employers may continue rounding employees time under any circumstance.
Continue Reading Rounding Policies Called Further Into Question

In this episode of California Employment NewsLizbeth (Beth) West and Meagan Bainbridge present part four of the Workplace Investigation Series, discussing best practices for effectively memorializing the investigation in a report.
Continue Reading California Employment News: Creating the Report for a Workplace Investigation (Part 4)

In this episode of California Employment NewsLizbeth (Beth) West and Meagan Bainbridge present part three of the Workplace Investigation Series, discussing how to make reasonable investigative findings once all evidence is collected.
Continue Reading California Employment News: Synthesizing Evidence in a Workplace Investigation (Part 3)

On September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed AB 1949, which amends the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to require employers with 5 or more employees to provide eligible employees with 5 days of bereavement leave. Here’s what California employers need to know about AB 1949:
Continue Reading Bereavement Leave Now Mandated for Most California Employees