California Labor Law Attorney

Archive for September, 2010

How about these right… I think you’ll find the following nuggets of wisdom particularly insightful. Leave your comments below. Check out the second one in particular…

Senate GOP: Border troops could lead to immigration compromise

… brought upon America by greed of corporate opportunists who hire foreign labor. The majority of citizens are against any path to citizenship Read the rest of this entry »

Is there a FL labor law that says if your boss is 30 min late to open the business can you can go home?

No; but if he required you to be present, and you receive and hourly wage, he must pay you for being there.

Does this go against New York State Labor laws?

I work at a rest stop on the thru-way. I usually work 8 hour shifts with one 30 minute unpaid break. Everyone else I talk to tells me that in an 8 hour shift, I'm supposed to get two 15 minute breaks and a 30 min break, all paid. I looked up NYS labor laws, but its all in legal jargon…help?

Significance Of Right To Work Law

The Right to Work law provides employees with the option to join or not join a union. Employees who are employed in airlines, railways, and federal enclaves are not entitled to such option. The Right to work law also gives the employees the choice to financially support a union.

Right to work employees can have equal representation Read the rest of this entry »

When people call me about employment issues they don’t realize one important law- in almost every state you are terminable at will. That means that your employer can fire you anytime and for no reason at all. The only way you are protected from being fired on the spot without notice is if you have a contract of employment. A contract of employment must be in writing and should specify your length of employment, salary, terms of employment, vacation, bonus calculations, the basis of termination and any warnings to be given (make it at least 3 warnings if you can) prior to termination and must be signed by your employer, among other things.

Now, most people never get employment contracts because their employers do not want to lose the right to terminate you with or without cause. But there is a saving grace–if your employer wrote an intial offer of employment letter and you commenced employment based on that letter, you can use the terms in that letter as your contract of employment. Hopefully the letter spells out your salary and length of employment because there are cases where if your fired before the end of the term in that letter than you can be due the balance of your salary for that term. So, if your salary was $40,000 for the year and the offer of employment letter states your term is 1 year then if your fired in the first 2 months, your due the balance of 10 months salary. And if your employer has an Employee Handbook with rules and regulations therein (usually terms of termination, warnings, vacation pay) then that Handbook is also a binding “contract” of employment. Read the terms of your Handbook because it may spell out how and when you can be terminated which may or may not be good for you depending on whether or not it limits the employer’s liability for terminating you. On the other hand, if the Handbook has terms regarding certain pre-warning procedures before terminating you an dthose procedures were not followed , then you can enforce those procedures as terms of your contract. If your employer breached those terms he most likely must re-instate your employment and follow those procedures before terminating you.

The most important part of your employment is getting paid, so if your employer fires you and refuses to pay you what you understand to be due you, then use your Offer Letter and the Employee Handbook as your “contract” of employment. The employer must follow any terms in those documents. There are also labor laws in each state that require payment for overtime, limited hours of work for certain jobs and notice of your termination date and your health insurance termination dates and proper notice is required as to how to extend your health benefits (“COBRA”). Also, law specify that an employer must pay you at least every two weeks, so if your fired and the employer doesn’t send your last check to you on time an dholds it back-he violated labor laws and can be held liable to you for extra money you pay to recover your wages.

For instance, in New York the Labor Law mandates proper notice of employee termination and benefits termination. An employer failing to follow the Labor Laws is penalized under Labor Law 198, in addition to ordinary costs lost by the employee he must pay a reasonable sum for expenses which may be taxed as costs are allowed by the court. Furthermore, in any action instituted upon a wage claim by an employee which the employee prevails, the court is required to allow such employee reasonable attorneys’ fees, Labor Law 198(1-a), and upon finding that the employer’s failure to pay the wage specified by statute was willful, an additional amount as liquidated damages equal to twenty-five percent of the total amount of wages due is also paid to the employee. Labor Law 198(1-a). Case law holds an award of liquidated damages to employees proper where the employer knowingly, deliberately and voluntarily disregarded its obligation under the Labor Law to pay the employees’ commissions, which would be deemed “willful” failure to pay wages. P & L Group, Inc. v Garfinkel (1989, 2d Dept) 150 AD2d 663, 541 NYS2d 535.

So, don’t despair if your employer gives you a hard time when your fired–there are laws requiring him to pay your wages and your Employee Handbook and Offer of Employment Letter also can be used as valid contracts to support your position for wages.

This article is certainly not all inclusive and is intended only as a brief explanation of the legal issue presented. Not all cases are alike and it is strongly recommended that you consult an attorney if you have any questions with respect to any legal matters.

by: Susan Chana Lask, Esq.

Are you paying attention to employment law requirements? If you aren’t, you should be. Not only are you required to follow specific regulations concerning employment law, but you are also required to notify your employees of their employment law rights by placing an employment law poster in a conspicuous place in your business where your employees will be likely to see it, such as an employee break room. There are eight basic Federal employment laws that you should be aware of and understand.

The first of these is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This employment law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex. In addition, sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and sexual harassment is also prohibited under this employment law.

Next, there is the Civil Rights Act of 1966. This employment discrimination law prohibits based on race or ethnic origin.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits employers from paying different wages to men and women that perform essentially the same work under similar working conditions.

Most employers have heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but do not understand how this employment law can impact them. This law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin or citizenship of persons who are authorized to work in the United States.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, also known as ADEA, prohibits discrimination against individuals who are age 40 or above.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination against minorities based on poor credit ratings.

The Bankruptcy Act prohibits discrimination against anyone who has declared bankruptcy.

In addition to these employment laws, you are also subject to the following employment laws.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act provides specific regulations regarding the safety and health conditions of employers and employees in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories

FMLA, the Family Medical Leave Act, allows employees to take unpaid leave from their jobs under specific conditions.

Under the Employee Polygraph Protection Act Labor Law, private employers are not allowed to use lie detector tests for either pre-employment screenings or during the course of employment.

FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, provides for minimum wage and overtime pay standards as well as recordkeeping and child labor standards in private as well as public employment.

Beyond the major Federal employment laws, you will also need to make sure that you are in compliance with state employment law as well. Each state may provide for employment laws in addition to the federal employment laws mentioned above. For example, California employment law covers several areas such as unemployment labor law insurance, temporary services or leasing labor law and state disability labor law.

by: Matt Bacak

Every employer in the US, with 2 or more employees, has an obligation to display the current State and Federal Labor Law Posters. These are designed to present important information in a clear format for employees and must be displayed where they can be easily seen by all workers, for example in a break room or near the main entrance.

While most businesses will be required to post the same Labor Law Posters, the specific that your company will need to display varies depending on the type of business that you run, for example a construction company may have different law requirements to a legal firm. Some of them do not need to be displayed if they do not apply to your company because, for example, you do not have the required number of employees. Whatever the size or type of your business it is mandatory that you display all of the correct law posters that are applicable for your premises.

These law posters must be displayed in a language that can be understood by all employees. If a single employee does not write or speak English, these must be displayed in a language they do understand. They cover all aspects of employee rights. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) posters detail important health and safety information about the workplace, as well as outline the proper procedures for reporting any concerns about related work conditions. While The Department of Labor issues law posters covering content such as minimum wage, disability rights, family leave and other important legal topics for employees.

Since the labor laws vary from state to state, in addition to Federal laws there are also unique State law posters. These outline any labor laws that are specific to your particular state and must be displayed alongside the other laws applicable to the entire U.S.

As laws are constantly being revised and changed, it is also important that you display the most recently updated laws. The latest 2010 Labor Law Posters should replace any older versions within your workplace immediately in order for you to continue to meet the mandatory compliance regulations.

Purchasing Osha4Less’s 2010 Poster Compliance solution will mean that you will automatically be sent the latest updated laws for the remainder of 2010, so you never have to worry about being out of date with your compliance.

Every worker should know what rights he or she is entitled to as an employee. Individuals working in the United States are subject to a wide range of labor laws. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the basics of some common types of labor laws to ensure that you are being treated fairly as a worker.

While each state has its own individual labor laws, there are certain Federal mandates that affect all workers. For instance, the Family and Medical Leave Act gives all workers the right to take up to 12 weeks off of work without losing their jobs. Employees may use this time for their own illness, to take care of a family member, or as part of their maternity or paternity leave. It is important to note, however, that this provision does not require the employer to pay the employee during this time. The Act only ensures that the employee cannot be terminated from his or her position as a result of taking time off for medical or family reasons.

Another common type of labor law involves unemployment compensation. Unemployment benefits vary greatly from state to state, but all states require employers to provide some type of unemployment compensation in the event that they terminate an employee. There are various eligibility requirements, however, for the employee to receive these unemployment benefits. For example, the person often needs to have been working for the company where he or she was terminated for a certain length of time before the unemployed individual is eligible to collect compensation benefits. Moreover, the amount of compensation that the former employee receives will vary greatly depending on the amount earned during his or her time with the company.

For those who are looking for work, it is important to be familiar with equal employment opportunity laws. These labor laws make it illegal for an employer to discriminate against a job candidate on the basis of sex, religion, race, age, disability, pregnancy, or national origin. These laws also forbid sexual harassment in the workplace and have established guidelines for equal pay.

All workers in the United States should be familiar with labor laws in order to know their rights as employees.