California wage and hour law

California Bereavement Leave and Expanded Paid Sick Leave Laws Now In Effect

January 5, 2023 | by Nassiri Law

Two new employment laws in California went into effect Jan. 1, 2023 – one expanding worker protections when a loved one dies, and another expanding existing sick leave laws when caring for a loved one outside of their immediate family circle.

As our Los Angeles employment lawyers can explain, California has some of the strongest worker rights protections in the country – and these two new statutes are good examples.

Let’s start with Bereavement Leave – or more specifically, Assembly Bill 1949. This is a measure amending the California’s Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act to allow workers to take paid bereavement leave, also known as funeral leave or grievance leave.

New California Bereavement Leave Law for Employees

A fair amount of employers in California already offer some type of bereavement leave to their workers as part of their benefits package. Most have a set number of workdays that employees can take off if a loved one dies. Some require that workers first exhaust all their vacation and/or sick days first before they can be permitted to take any additional days for bereavement. Additionally, there are a number of cities throughout the state that require employers operating in those jurisdictions to provide workers with bereavement leave. But these policies are a patchwork of rules, with broad variations on how many days off are permitted, how close in relation the worker must be to the decedent for the worker to claim benefits, how the time must be taken (consecutively, broken up, etc.), and how requests must be made. Smaller employers may not have a set bereavement policy, but rather make determinations on a case-by-case basis.

This new law requires private employers with five (5) or more employees to provide any eligible employees (having worked there at least 30 days) to at least 5 days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member. Some companies already offer more than this, but any employer who offers fewer days than this will need to amend their policies.

“Family member” in this case can mean: Continue Reading ›

California Wage Theft at Construction Company Tops $1.7 Million

November 7, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

California wage theft has cost a construction company more than $1.7 million in fines by the state Labor Commissioner’s Office. The fines stem from alleged failure to pay workers, resulting in overtime and minimum wage violations.

As our Los Angeles wage theft attorneys can explain, companies that steal fair wages from their workers have increasingly been the target of state regulators and labor authorities. Employees who have been victimized by wage theft do have legal recourse, and should consult with an experienced employment lawyer.

In this case, according to FOX 5 San Diego, the construction company in question reportedly failed to pay employees properly as they worked on jobs at both residential and construction projects. It’s purported that 265 workers were impacted by these unfair practices.

The labor commissioner launched an investigation into alleged wage and hour violations starting three years ago, when workers first began reporting they were only being paid for 40 hours of work a week, despite consistently working overtime on mixed-use construction projects in both Los Angeles and San Diego.

The company is reportedly appealing the citations, which allocated $1.6 million in payments to the workers. The Labor Commissioner’s Office will hold a hearing to determine whether the citations will be affirmed, modified or dismissed.

It should be noted that just because a company agrees to pay workers a flat rate doesn’t mean they should be denied pay for overtime hours they earned. California labor laws are in place to protect workers. It’s imperative that workers track their hours and how much they are paid so that they can take action against an employer that swindles them. Continue Reading ›

L.A. Among Cities Implementing Midyear Minimum Wage Hikes

July 23, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

Minimum wages recently went up in a number of cities across California, including Los Angeles as part of a planned implementation of gradual increases. In 2015, city council established a new citywide minimum wage and put L.A. on a schedule to reach $15 per hour by 2020. This would be applicable for businesses with 26 or more employees, with smaller companies given an extra year to reach $15. The minimum wage is set to go up on July 1 each year, with this year hitting $13.25, or $12 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees. In 2022, the minimum will continue to adjust based on cost of living as determined by Consumer Price Index.

Many other cities also raised their hourly minimum wages at the beginning of July, according to UC Berkeley, who has built an inventory of minimum wage ordinances across the U.S. California changes as of July 1 include: Belmont, $12.50; Emeryville, $15.69 (56 or more employees), $15 (less than 56 employees); Malibu, $13.25 (26 or more employees), $12 (less than 26 employees); Milpitas, $13.50; Pasadena, $13.25 (26 or more employees), $12 (less than 26 employees); San Francisco, $15; San Leandro, $13; and Santa Monica, $13.25 (26 or more employees), $12 (less than 26 employees). Continue Reading ›

New Employment Law Bolsters Equal Pay for Equal Work, Targets Gender Discrimination

March 24, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

Gender equality in the workplace has been a long and hard-fought struggle, and it’s not over yet. Recently, a pay equity bill passed in Washington state that will make it more clear what constitutes wage and gender discrimination, ultimately fortifying employee rights.

HB 1506 updates a 75-year-old wage law making it a misdemeanor to discriminate based on gender, according to a report from KING 5 News. This measure will not only make it illegal to discriminate based on gender, but levelthe playing field for all employees. This is achieved in two substantial ways.

First, the measure defines what it means for “similarly employed” workers to receive equal compensation. As our employment attorneys can explain, many companies skirt the issue of “equal pay for equal work” by giving employees different titles, even though the tasks and work load are similar. In the past, employers could argue that because the jobs technically weren’t the same, wage comparisons were not relevant. By moving the goalpost to include “similarly employed” workers as deserving equal pay, Washington has removed this loophole and made sure that those with similar responsibilities and skills remain on a level playing field. Continue Reading ›

Employees Win in California Supreme Court Wage and Hour Ruling

March 14, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

Employees got a big win in California Supreme Court recently in a case that ruled on interpretation of guidelines regarding overtime wages. The case in particular examined what formula should be used to calculate overtime wages and whether companies should follow Division of Labor Standards Enforcement rules or federal standards. Plaintiff said company was undercutting his pay by using the federal formula rather than following California rules, which give more favor to employees. And the high court, thankfully, agreed.

Overtime rate of pay is usually calculated using a formula of 1.5 times the regular pay rate. If an employee makes an hourly wage and nothing else, the calculation is easy. For example. someone who earns $12 per hour would receive $18 per hour once they rolled into overtime hours. But there are different interpretations as to what the calculation would be when an employee has additional income that needs to be included, such as a flat sum bonus, according to a Bloomerg report. That’s the crux of the case at hand.

Defendant in this case was a manufacturing company that paid workers an extra $15 bonus for each Saturday or Sunday they worked. The bonus was the same regardless of how many hours were worked on that shift. Defendant was using the federal formula for calculating the overtime rate of pay, which adds up all income earned and divides by all hours worked, including the overtime hours. A lower appeals court sided with the company, sending the case up to the state Supreme Court.

Tipped Employees Might Have to Share Tips Under Proposed Rule

February 15, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

Anyone who has ever waited tables knows how valuable a good tip is. It brings the wages of tipped employees up, makes it possible for restaurant owners to keep food prices reasonable, and gives workers an incentive to work during extra busy and stressful shifts throughout the week.

U.S. Department of Labor defines tipped employees as those who regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. Such employees, depending on the state, can be paid a minimum of $2.13 per hour, as opposed to the traditional federal minimum wage of $7.25. The tips that are used to bring tipped employees up to minimum wage are known as a tip credit. If the employee does not make enough in tips to meet the federal minimum wage standard, the employer must make up the difference, according to 29 U.S. Code § 203 (m).

California, however, is a bit different in that the state requires employers to pay full minimum wage before tips. The state’s minimum wage is also higher than national, ranging from $10.50 (for employers with fewer than 26 employees) to $11 (26 or more employees). Continue Reading ›

Wendy’s Reducing Workforce by Using Electronic Kiosks

May 29, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

In some gas station markets, you can go to the counter where fresh sandwiches and other food is prepared and use a computer screen to place your order. You can decide what you want on it, what you want with it, and pay for your order at the kiosk. You are then given a printed ticket to show to the workers making your order at the food counter.

According to Wendy’s, the well known fast food chain , responded to recent decisions by lawmakers in California and New York to raise their respective minimum wages for workers to $15 per hour is causing the restaurant chain to replace actual employees with electronic kiosks that allow customers to place and pay for their orders. Continue Reading ›

Major Tax Breaks for Two Tech Sector Employers for Adding Jobs in California

April 12, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

If you turn on any cable news network you are likely to see what is going in the Republican primaries, and you are likely to hear about jobs to going to China if you ever see Donald Trump speak. Regardless of your opinion of who, if any of the people running for the presidential nomination in both parties is the right person for the job, there is no question that more jobs in American in a good thing for the nation.

While manufacturing jobs are getting harder and harder to come by in the United States, there is an increase in jobs in the tech sector. While California is well known as the center of the tech industry, many only think of Silicon Valley, and there is good reason for that as it has been a major hub over the years. However, when many may not realize is that due to tax incentives locally, Los Angeles is becoming a major hot bed for tech center jobs, and this only expected to increase over the next several years. Continue Reading ›

Hospital Workers Protest High Salaries of Executive

March 14, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Companies expect workers to understand that when the economy is bad or if the company has experienced tough times for other reasons. While that may make some sense, it doesn’t always seem that way when the company executives are making $500,000 a year and getting millions in bonuses while telling everyone else they need to tighten their belts.

According to a recent news feature form the Orange County Register, union member employees from Kaiser Permanente are protesting these excessive salaries as well as these huge bonuses. They chose to hold the protest outside the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where the healthcare executives were holding their board meeting. The choice of venue to hold the meeting at hotel known for being extremely luxurious amenities only serves to prove their point. Continue Reading ›

Costco Raises Wages to Keep Best Workers

March 10, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

As it stands now, Costco is considered one of the better employers for which you can work. This is one of the reasons they have one of the highest rates of retention for workers in the retail industry. Workers there say this is not only because of better pay, but also because of how well workers are treated by the company. Many people assume all workers want is more money, but they also want to be treated with respect, like a valued part of the company. This is one of the major reasons attrition rates will stay down.

However, it is obvious the amount of pay is the primary reason people will stay at a company, because, at the end of the day, nobody is working for a big box retailer simply because they love the work. According to a recent news feature from the Orange County Register, Costco is raising its minimum wage for employees to keep up with increased competition from other employers who have recently raised their employee wages as well. Continue Reading ›