California Labor Law Attorney

Archive for May, 2010

The California Labor Law  covers a wide range of topics and statutes that aim to protect the welfare of the employees without displeasing the various rights and privileges of the businesses. These law provisions intend to make a balance between the labor and the business sectors. However, because of the many discriminative acts done by some employers, this balance has yet to be achieved.

One of the discriminative performances of employers that have been causing disputes in the workplaces involves racial prejudice. Although the prevailing labor laws forbid pointing out employees just because they belong to a different race, many companies still make it difficult for some individuals to be treated fairly in various aspects of employment. These include:

• hiring process
• task assignment and workloads
• salaries
• use of company facilities and equipment
• benefits
• promotions
• seminars and skills training
• dispute resolution
• employment termination

Types of Workplace Discrimination

There are two possible ways an employee may be discriminated in his job. These are:

• Disparate Treatment – this pertains to the simple acts of discrimination done by employers. It involves unfair treatment to the employees who belong to different law protected classes such as race, gender, religion, nationality and even age. Usually, this happens when an employer or a fellow worker uses insults or offensive comments or acts, directly or indirectly, to humiliate an employee creating him a hostile work environment that may also affect his job performance.

• Disparate Impact – this pertains to the implementation of company rules and policies, which exclude particular classes regarding job applications, promotions and wage increases. For an instance, a company has implemented a rule limiting a writer position to white Americans. They may be liable for an offense since an individual’s color or race may not considered as an important factor as regards to his ability and skills in writing.

Legal Remedies

The Racial Discrimination Laws guarantees protection to those employees who may have been unlawfully harassed or discharged from their work due to their race distinct from the majority. If they were able to prove a discriminative act of their employers, they will be entitled of the following reimbursements and damages:

• payment for their past and future loss of wages and other benefits
• general damages that may include pain and suffering, emotional anguish and loss of enjoyment
• punitive damages as may be determined by the court
• reimbursement for their attorney’s service fees

Discriminated employees indeed have all the rights given to them by the law. Yet, due to the probable limitations of their knowledge about their rights, it is necessary for them to appoint an experienced labor attorney to handle their cases. This will certainly increase their possibility of obtaining justice and acquiring damages from their misbehaved employers.

by Rainier Policarpio

California Labor Laws: Asserting Your Employee Rights

Many employees when experiencing a labor violation are confused as to where to turn and typically take one of four paths.

1. A very common path and usually the most treacherous, is doing nothing at all. When an employee is hesitant to hire California overtime lawyers or California labor law attorneys to handle a situation, it usually gets worse before it gets better. Complacency will typically cause labor violations to become more frequent. California labor law attorneys have found that “where there is smoke there is fire” and when one violation is discovered, many others are found.

2. The next course of action frequently taken by employees experiencing a California labor law violation is attempting to handle the problem “through the Employer’s channels or procedures”. This course of action has risks of its own and one of the biggest dangers in filing a formal Employer complaint “though the proper channels” is the risk of retaliation. Employees do not realize that by filing an official complaint they place their employers on guard and exposed to liability if the employer retaliates. Once a complaint is filed for a labor violation, if the employer then retaliates and demotes, harasses, suspends or fires the employee, that employer exposes themselves to additional liability.

3. Another option an employee may exercise is going to the labor board. The California Labor Board does however have limitations, in that they will not purse the 4th years (Unfair Business Practice Claim) as a private attorney would and therefore they may shorten the amount of their claim. Furthermore, the California Labor Board handles very small claims and may not always pursue the employee’s claims as vigorously as California overtime lawyers might. The California Labor Law Board also has a serious limitation in that if either party prevails, the other party has the option to appeal and have the case start all over. Once this occurs, and employee will need to find a California labor law attorney to represent them and also faces the risk that if they lose this appeal the loser must pay the winning parties attorney fees and court costs. On the other hand, if an employee hires California overtime lawyers to handle the claim from the outset and prevails on any part of the claim, the Employer must pay the Employe1000e’s attorney fees. This is a huge advantage. As you can see the California Labor Board has severe limitations and is designed for smaller disputes where the employee does not mind some uncertainty of outcome. While the California Labor Board is free of charge- sometimes you get what you pay for!

4. California overtime lawyers and California labor law attorneys may be the best option when it comes to the enforcement of California labor laws. When an employee hires an attorney who is experienced in California overtime laws, the outcome may be better than testing the waters at the California Labor Board and surely much better than doing nothing at all. Case law and statutes are constantly evolving and knowledgeable California overtime lawyers or California labor law attorneys can in many instances pinpoint the applicable laws and cases that could bring an employee to victory. Even better, if your attorney wins, your employer must pay his or her legal fees!

In closing, an employee has several choices. Hiring a qualified professional to protect your interests is imperative if you want good results. Interview several California labor law attorneys and find out who you feel most comfortable with.

By: mansi gupta