Summary of Program

Administering leaves of absence and disability accommodations in California can be very challenging.  California has a new paid sick leave law and numerous other leave laws and wage replacement benefits that interact with one another.  To properly administer leaves and accommodate employees, employers need to understand the various types of leave/accommodations available, who is eligible under what circumstances, how to interact with an employee on a leave, and what obligations an employer has when leave is exhausted.  This seminar will discuss important topics to help employers manage these laws, including:

Program Highlights

  • California’s new paid sick leave law;
  • A summary of employee rights and employer obligations under the various laws;
  • The difference between “statutory leaves,” like FMLA/CFRA, and “wage replacement benefits,” like Paid Family Leave and State Disability Insurance;
  • When and how the laws overlap;
  • The importance of engaging in the interactive process;
  • Recent case law; and
  • How to prepare eLaborEmpSeminarLogoffective documentation.

Sacramento Date:   March 19, 2015

Time:   9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location:  400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor, Sacramento, CA

Orange County Date:   March 20, 2015

Time:   9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location:   Irvine Company Office Properties, 610 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA

To register for one of these seminars, please RSVP to Ramona Carrillo at rcarrillo@weintraub.com.

Shauna Correia.standingIn a time where employees are using personal devices and cell phones for work, and employers permit employees to use computer and phone systems for “incidental” personal reasons, confusion can arise over who owns the devices or the information transmitted over the device. This confusion can create liability and potential problems for employers, such as whether an employer is obligated to pay for any part of an employee’s personal phone, and what devices and information must be provided by the employer in a lawsuit. Please join us for an informative overview of the potential dangers and strategies employers may be able to use to help manage these pitfalls and risks.

About Our Speaker

Shauna Correia | Weintraub Tobin

Shauna Correia is of counsel in the firm’s Labor & Employment and Litigation groups. Shauna is licensed to practice in state and federal court in both California and Nevada. Her employment practice focuses on the defense of employers against wrongful termination, wage and hour, discrimination, intentional tort, civil rights, and leave law claims. She is an accomplished negotiator and experienced trial attorney. She also drafts and negotiates executive employment, partnership and shareholder agreements and reviews and revises employee handbooks and policies. In addition to litigating and negotiating resolution of active disputes, many of Shauna’s clients rely on her for her advisory and risk-management capacities, and her ability to find ways to reduce exposure or avoid litigation. Continue Reading SEAC Webinar: Yours, Mine and Ours: Legal Issues Surrounding Personal and Employer Property

Recently, my Alma Mater, The University of Southern California, was sued by a former member of the Trojan football team.  Former cornerback Brian Baucham filed a lawsuit against USC and former coach Lane Kiffin, alleging he suffered permanent injuries after being forced to play in a game while he was ill.  Baucham’s lawsuit claimed that he was “forced by Coach Kiffin to play a home game even though Mr. Baucham was very ill and diagnosed by the USC Health Clinic with an influenza-like illness, viral pharyngitis and dehydration.”  After playing in a game against Berkeley, “Baucham suffered from cardiopulmonary damage, as well as brain injury with neurocognitive deficits,” according to the lawsuit.  Baucham alleges that USC and Kiffin violated both the NCAA and USC injury protocol programs when they forced him to play.

This got me to thinking: Now that the National Labor Relations Board has found that scholarship football players are employees under the NLRA, what if Mr. Baucham filed suit against USC as an employee? Continue Reading Why Employers Should Think Twice Before Making Employees Play Hurt

LaborEmpSeminarLogoSummary of Program

Most employers know that it is crucial to have well trained supervisors to help ensure that rank and file employees perform their jobs effectively and efficiently.  However, many employers don’t realize how important it is that supervisors be trained to understand the many employment laws that govern the workplace.  Untrained supervisors can take actions (or fail to take actions) that result in significant legal consequences for an employer.  Come join the employment lawyers at Weintraub Tobin for a discussion of best practices for training supervisors and reducing the potential for liability.

Program Highlights

  • An overview of employment laws that impact the workplace and common mistakes supervisors make when they don’t understand those laws.
  • Tips for effective communication between supervisors and employees, including how to give constructive performance feedback.
  • Common supervisor mistakes when hiring and firing.
  • The importance of consistent, objective, and timely discipline.
  • Preventing and responding to harassment and other Equal Employment Opportunity complaints.
  • Documentation:  The good, the bad and the ugly.

Continue Reading Upcoming Seminar: Well Trained Supervisors – Your First Line of Defense

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review California high court’s landmark decision in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, which held that arbitration agreements with mandatory class waivers are generally enforceable, but carved out an exception for the state’s Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) claims.

As discussed in our prior blog post, The New PAGA-Waiver Trap Door, while the California Supreme Court in Iskanian held that an employee cannot waive their right to a PAGA lawsuit, not all California federal courts agree. A number of federal trial judges in California have disagreed and ruled that PAGA waivers are enforceable in their courts. (See, e.g., Lucero v. Sears Holding Mgmt. Corp., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168782 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2014); Mill v. Kmart Corp., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165666 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 26, 2014); Ortiz v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140552 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 1, 2014); Chico v. Hilton Worldwide, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147752 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 7, 2014); and Langston v. 20/20,Companies, Inc., 2014 WL 5335734 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2014).

CLS and other California employers were hoping the U.S. Supreme Court would resolve this growing conflict. Unfortunately, for now, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided they will not resolve this divide. Accordingly, a PAGA waiver in an arbitration agreement may or may not be enforceable, depending on whether the action is in state or federal court. Employers who wish to have arbitration agreements with PAGA waivers should consult legal counsel to determine if doing so is advisable.