Supervisors are an employer’s first line of defense against claims and lawsuits. A well-trained supervisor can lower an employer’s risk of being involved in litigation and set the stage for the successful defense of claims that do arise. In addition, a well-trained supervisor is critical to creating and promoting a happy, productive work environment for employees.

The SEAC invites you and your supervisors to join local employment experts to discuss relevant issues and topics including:

  • The top 10 legal mistakes made by supervisors;
  • Responding to injuries, needs for accommodations and leaves of absence;
  • Performance, feedback & discipline;
  • The risks and benefits of supervisor documentation (and the fine line between saying too much or too little); and
  • Preventing and responding to harassment (and other EEO) complaints (a great way to get in mandatory supervisor training) AB 1825 compliant.

Date:  Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Time:  7:30 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Location:  Sacramento State Alumni Center, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819

For more information and details of this seminar, please click here.

On November 4, 2014, Oakland voters passed measure FF.  This measure establishes a minimum wage in the City of Oakland to $12.25 per hour beginning March 2, 2015.  This brings Oakland’s minimum wage increase in line with San Francisco’s minimum wage, which also increases to $12.25 effective May 1, 2015.  Proposition FF also requires that Oakland employers provide paid sick leave to their employees beginning on March 2, 2015. Employees would accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.  Employers may cap paid sick leave earned by an employee at 40 hours for employees of small businesses (defined as employers who normally have fewer than ten workers) and 72 hours for employees of other employers.  Employees may use paid sick leave for the employee’s own illness or injury, or to care for certain family members who are ill or injured.  Employees with no spouse or domestic partner may designate one person for whom the employee may use paid sick leave to provide care.  All of these paid sick leave provisions mirror San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance which voters previously passed and became effective 2007.

Summary of Program

The regulations regarding California’s Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for supervisors require that certain employers provide training to their supervisors every two years.  The Labor and Employment Group at Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin is offering a two hour in-person training session that will comply with all the requirements outlined in the regulations, including things like:

  • an overview of sexual harassment laws;
  • AB 2054—requires training on the prevention of abusive conduct in the workplace
  • examples of conduct that constitute sexual harassment;
  • lawful supervisory responses to complaints of harassment in the workplace;
  • strategies to prevent harassment in the workplace; and
  • practical and inter-active hypotheticals and examples to help illustrate what sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation can look like.

If you are an employer with 50 or more employees, and have supervisors who have not yet been trained, this training is a must. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you comply.

Training Program

Date:  December 11, 2014

Time:  9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Charge:  $75 per supervisor.

To register for this seminar, please email Ramona Carrillo at rcarrillo@weintraub.com.  For additional information, visit our website at www.weintraub.com and click on the News and Events tab.

Summary of Program

Most business owners know that customers and employees may need to be accommodated from time to time for various reasons.  Often this is because of an employee’s disability, medical condition or a condition present on property owned by the business and open to the public.  It is important for business owners to understand and comply with how the courts and various federal and state regulatory agencies define accommodations, as well as learn what business owners’ rights and obligations are regarding: (1) engaging in the interactive process; (2) providing reasonable accommodations; and (3) removing barriers to access.

Program Highlights

This informative seminar will cover the many accommodations business owners, employers and HR Professionals may be forced to consider, who should be accommodated, and how to engage in an interactive process to determine an appropriate accommodation.  Topics will include:

  • How to Determine Who is Entitled to an Accommodation
  • How to Engage in the Interactive Process and How to Know When to Initiate the Initial Discussion
  • The Various Protected Classes and/or Activities Entitling an Employee to an  Accommodation—including things like disability, religion, and illiteracy, to name a few
  • Service Animals in the Workplace
  • How to Effectively Document the Accommodation
  • Recent Developments in Accommodation Law
  • A primer on Title III “Public Accommodation” Liability
  • Disabled Access Cases
    • ADA Mills Are Still Active
    • How Alterations to Your Property May Affect Your Obligations Under the ADA
    • It’s Not Just the ADA

Date:   Thursday, November 20, 2014

Time:  9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

To register for this seminar, please email Ramona Carrillo at rcarrillo@weintraub.com.

 

The Labor and Employment Law group is proud to announce the addition of Vida L. Thomas to our team.  An AV-rated attorney who has practiced employment law for over 20 years, Vida has recently joined Weintraub Tobin as Of Counsel and will head up the Firm’s workplace investigations unit.  She began her career at Kronick Moskovitz as an employment litigator for seven years and then co-founded Carlsen Thomas, LLP, a boutique employment law firm providing top-notch workplace investigations and employee training throughout California for 13 years.  Also, as the Co-Chair of the Association of Workplace Investigators (“AWI”) Committee on Best Practices, Vida helped develop AWI’s “best practices” framework for workplace investigations.  Vida advises employers regarding all aspects of employment law and human resources management, serves as an expert witness in state and federal employment lawsuits, and mediates litigation and non-litigation matters.

Vida is an excellent addition to our deep bench of talented labor and employment attorneys and she shares the firm’s commitment to client service and teamwork.  Please join us in welcoming, Vida to the team.