California Labor and Employment Law

10 Signs You’re About to be Fired

Getting fired doesn’t always involve a dramatic showdown meeting with your boss who tells you to pack your things and get out. In an age where employers are paranoid about getting sued by fired employees, firing an employee is often more complicated, involving many subtle steps. As an (more…)

Popularity: 28% [?]

What Break Periods Am I Entitled To?

Under California law (which is much more generous to employees than federal law), if you are a non-exempt worker, you are entitled to meal and rest breaks: a 30-minute meal break if you work more than 5 hours in a workday, and 10 minutes breaks for every 4 hours you work. There are other requirements though. If your boss doesn’t comply with break requirements, they are required to pay you one extra hour of regular pay for each day on which a break violation occurred.

For the nitty gritties, see below: (more…)

Popularity: 30% [?]

What Kind of Lawyer Do I Need?

Here’s a quiz: What kind of lawyer do you need for the following situations?
a. Your landlord won’t return your deposit even though you moved out of your apartment months ago.
b. Your boss has wrongfully terminated you because you told him you were pregnant and need time off.
c. Your vintage car has been damaged by your neighbor while he was backing out of his driveway and he refuses to pay for your $6,000 repair bill. (more…)

Popularity: 37% [?]

Can My Employer Monitor My Web Surfing or Emails at Work?

Absolutely, yes. And what’s worse, they probably are.

Employee surveillance has never been easier thanks to advances in technology and the emergence of computers and the Internet. Employers are taking advantage like never before.

According to a recent survey conducted by the (more…)

Popularity: 34% [?]

My Boss, the Equal Opportunity Jerk

Every office has got one. A jerk whose sole mission in the workplace is to make everyone else miserable. If you’re really unlucky, that jerk happens to be your boss. I get a lot of calls from people that go something like this:

“My boss is a total jerk. He constantly yells at everyone and treats everyone like dirt. He makes ridiculous demands and picks fights with people all the time. Because of him, a lot of people have quit. (more…)

Popularity: 37% [?]

Can My Boss Fire Me at Any Time for Any Reason? What is “at will”?

“At-Will”. California is an “at-will” employment state. What does this mean? In most cases, it means that your boss can fire you at any time for almost any reason or no reason at all. She can fire you because she

1. doesn’t like you
2. thinks you’re too tall or short
3. thinks you talk too much or too little
4. is upset you didn’t say “Good Morning” to her in the right way
5. is mad you made the coffee too strong and forgot the cream
6. dislikes your shirt
7. thinks you’re too fat or thin
8. thinks you’re too ugly or good-looking
9. mistakenly thinks you did something that you didn’t
10. is in a bad mood and you happen to be the closest one to her
11. and on and on.

(more…)

Popularity: 49% [?]

Defamation in the Workplace

Introduction

You hear it all the time: “I’m going to sue you for slander!” “You’ve defamed me, you’re going to hear from my lawyer!” “That’s libel! I’ll see you in court!” Sometimes you’ll read about a celebrity getting big dollars because a newspaper has libeled her.

So what is “slander”? “libel”? “defamation”? And can you sue on them?

Let’s start with an easy one first. Libel and slander are types of defamation. Slander is oral or spoken defamation. Libel is written defamation.

What is defamation?

Now that that’s out of the way, what is defamation? Conventional wisdom holds that it is when someone says something bad about you. But the legal meaning of defamation, the type you can sue on, is much (more…)

Popularity: 72% [?]

Background Checks — What Are My Rights?

If you’re applying for a job, or want to keep one, you’re going to have to accept that background checks are becoming a part of work life. An estimated 50% of resumes submitted by job applicants contain false or inaccurate information. Bad employees who slip through the hiring process can also create significant legal liability for their employers in the form of lawsuits for negligent hiring, negligent retention, or vicarious liability for employee misconduct. Employers are increasingly finding that their best defense is to conduct thorough background checks into job applicants and existing employees (more…)

Popularity: 76% [?]

I’ve Lost My Job – How Do I Get Unemployment Benefits?

Losing your job and being unemployed is no fun. But that doesn’t mean you have to lose your sense of humor. Go here to watch cartoonist Odd Todd’s take on losing his job.

Now you’ve hopefully gained some perspective. Back to the task at hand.

Benefits

To help you get back on your feet and into your next job, the federal government has established the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program. This is a federal (more…)

Popularity: 53% [?]

Is Arbitration Good or Bad for Employees?

Answer: Bad.

This question is often debated among attorneys, judges and arbitrators. Judges like arbitration because they’re chronically overworked. For instance, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California had the honor of being the second busiest federal district court in the entire country, with 11,585 civil (more…)

Popularity: 95% [?]