Under the Healthy Workplaces and Healthy Families Act (HWHFA), eligible employees may take paid sick leave for the following reasons: An employer must develop and implement a breastfeeding accommodation policy and include it in the employee handbook or policies provided to employees. The employer must distribute the policy to new employees when hiring and when an employee applies or requests parental leave. The top 10 workers` rights under California`s Labor Act include: As the minimum hourly wage increases, so does the minimum wage for exempt workers. As of January 2023, exempt employees are entitled to receive at least $62,400 per year. Employers are required to inform each employee of their rights by providing specific information to new employees at the time of recruitment and to other employees upon request in a notice prepared by the Labour Commissioner, available in English and Spanish. If you are an employee who was paid piecemeal during the period from July 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015, the Office of the Labour Commissioner may have collected wages for you from your employer for rest and recuperation periods and other unproductive periods. If you believe that your employer has paid these salaries to the Labour Commissioner on your behalf, please complete this form and send it to the address below or take it to the office of a local Labour Commissioner. Please complete a separate form and submit it for each employer that you believe has paid your salary to the Labour Commissioner. Help make pay equity the norm in California.
Tools and resources for employers, workers and trade unions to comply with the Equal Pay Act are now available. Reasonable precautions may also include a modified work schedule or work tasks, unpaid leave, or special equipment to assist the employee in carrying out his or her professional duties. Employers also cannot dismiss employees because they are illegally exercising their statutory dismissal rights. For example, if an employee has complained to the company`s human resources department about sexual harassment, or if an employee has filed a workers` compensation claim for a workplace injury, an employer cannot retaliate against that employee by dismissing them. That would be illegal and would amount to an unlawful dismissal. The Federal Worker Adaptation and Retraining Act (WARN) requires companies that employ a certain number of employees to notify certain companies in writing of mass layoffs or plant closures. Employers can be held liable for payment arrears, penalties of up to $500 per day for each day of the violation for up to 60 days, and the cost of employees` medical expenses that would have been considered under an employee pension plan for the period of the violation. The California version of the WARN Act is broader and affects more employers than the federal version. If you believe your rights as an employee in California have been violated, call us today at (818) 990-8300 for free advice and a full case assessment. We can fight to protect your rights and help you get the compensation you rightly deserve. California employees are also entitled to overtime pay. Employers must pay employees “one and a half hours” of overtime for any work performed for more than eight hours per work day or 40 hours per work week.
Sexual Harassment Quiz » It is important that you understand what constitutes sexual harassment and take steps to prevent and stop harassment in the workplace. California employers with five or more employees must provide harassment prevention training to all employees. In California, employers can introduce alternative work weeks that allow their employees to perform a daily routine of more than one eight-hour workday and avoid overtime penalties. However, the implementation of an alternative weekly work schedule requires strict adherence to government guidelines. Among other things, a secret ballot must be adopted by two-thirds of the unit that would be affected by the alternative weekly work schedule. Failure to follow proper procedures when introducing another work week can invalidate the alternative weekly schedule and result in penalties of up to four years of unpaid overtime pay, interest penalties and attorneys` fees. A whistleblower is an employee who discloses information to a government or law enforcement agency if they have reason to believe that the information discloses the following: Employers cannot circumvent overtime requests by requiring or pressuring employees to work “off the clock.” Employers must pay “double time” for work performed more than 12 hours on the business day or more than eight hours on the seventh day of a work week. At Kingsley and Kingsley, we have more than four decades of experience fighting for the rights of employees who have been abused, treated unfairly and exploited.
Our lawyers are passionate about justice and the fair remuneration of our clients. It is illegal to harass an employee or candidate because of their gender. Sexual harassment in the workplace can include unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Independent contractors Properly classifying an employee as an employee or independent contractor is an important task – not ranking an appropriate classification can result in liability for missed meal and rest periods, overtime, and other wage and hourly claims and penalties. California has moved away from the “right to control” test, which is most often used to determine whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor who has focused on the hiring company`s ability to control how the work has been done. Managers in the State of California may be held personally responsible for ensuring that workplace harassment can continue to occur after the harassment is reported. Managers can also be held responsible for hazardous work environments. Any employer or manager who has real knowledge of a hidden danger and fails to inform the employees concerned and the competent state authority may be fined or imprisoned, or both. This type of discrimination involves the unfavourable treatment of a candidate or employee because of their sex or gender identity. Discrimination against a person based on their gender identity, including transgender status or sexual orientation, is considered discrimination on the basis of sex and a violation of Title VII.
As a California employer, you play many roles in your business. One of them is to make sure all of your employees understand California labor laws as well as your company`s human resources policies. CalChamber and HRCalifornia have the tools you need to provide your employees with the necessary information. Employee manuals aren`t the only way to communicate with your employees. California and federal law requires all employers to place required signs and notices in a conspicuous place where they can be seen by all employees. These required and recommended posters and notes can be found at HRCalifornia and in our CalChamber store. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits an employer (with 15 or more employees) from discriminating on the basis of race, colour, national origin or religion. Under this federal law, it is illegal for an employer to refuse to hire, discipline, fire, refuse training, demote or harass an employee because of these protected characteristics. Working in human resources in the state of California requires knowledge of a variety of HR topics. In addition to understanding California labor law, human resources professionals must create corporate policies, communicate those policies to employees, manage hiring and firing, and manage benefits.