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

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) recently issued updated guidance regarding rest breaks that reverses its previous position, which permitted employers to require that employees stay on work premises during their rest periods. In this new guidance, the DLSE states that employers “cannot impose any restraints not inherent in the rest period requirement itself,”

Summary of Program

There is no universal way to prepare for a governmental audit, investigation or inspection. The employment laws governing your workplace have different compliance requirements and governmental agencies have different agendas and degrees of power. This seminar will include tips on whether, and how to, conduct a self audit; understanding the do’s and

By:  Lizbeth V. West

As many California employers are learning the hard way these days, the misclassification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees can have far reaching consequences when an employer is audited by different governmental agencies during either a random audit or an audit that is prompted in response to a claim

By:      Lizbeth (“Beth”) V. West, Esq.

In October 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 469 – the “California Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011” (the “Act”). The Act created Labor Code section 2810.5(a) which, as of January 1, 2012, requires employers to provide some new employees at the time of hire with a written notice that details their rate of pay, employer name and address, workers’ compensation carrier, and other information specified in the Act. The Act also instructed the DLSE to create a model notice that employers can use.Continue Reading California’s Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) Has Issued Its Model Notice to Employees Under AB 469