Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A newly signed piece of legislation that has drawn much attention—S.B. 1661—makes California the first state in the nation to have a paid family leave program. Fortunately, you’ll have time to get ready because employees can’t begin to collect the family leave pay benefits until July 1, 2004. To help you get started, we’ve laid […]
Gov. Davis has signed into law state layoff notice requirements similar to those in the federal WARN Act—but broader. We’ll explain what you need to know about the new state law, which we’ll call “Cal/WARN.” Federal WARN Coverage The existing federal WARN Act applies to employers with more than 100 workers. And notice under WARN […]
In a new case, an employer argued that even when there’s no evidence that a former employee misappropriated trade secrets, you should be able to block the person from working for a competitor merely by demonstrating that the employee’s new job duties would inevitably cause them to rely on your trade secrets. We’ll tell you […]
A law enacted several years ago permits employees to use up to one-half of their accrued sick leave to attend to the illness of a child, parent, spouse or domestic partner. Now new legislation, S.B. 1471, signed by Gov. Davis, makes it illegal for an absence control policy to count sick leave taken under […]
To save time and money administering employee benefits and payroll, a growing number of employers are turning to leasing—or outsourcing—employees rather than hiring them outright. In this special two-part series, we’ll look at whether employee leasing is right for you and explore some of its hidden pitfalls.
In response to the highly publicized corporate accounting scandals involving Enron, WorldCom and a host of other companies, President Bush recently signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, creating tougher new rules for auditing and financial disclosures at publicly traded companies and for protecting shareholders’ interests. The new law also has some serious implications—including both civil […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, recently issued a pair of opinions highlighting disability discrimination issues that employers often stumble over in the hiring process.
Last year, Gov. Davis signed into law some controversial state consumer report rules. And now the governor has signed two new laws, A.B. 1068 and A.B. 2868, that revise the complicated consumer reporting process. The changes have taken effect immediately—and impact how you conduct workplace investigations, background checks and reference checks. Internal Background Check Rules RepealedUnder […]
Earlier this year, we reported on a major California Supreme Court opinion that state anti-bias law doesn’t bar discrimination against older workers in providing fringe benefits such as tuition assistance. Now Gov. Davis has inked into law an amendment to California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act that undoes the high court’s ruling and brings California in […]
Southern California Permanente Medical Group revoked Jerold Friedman’s computer-related employment offer after he refused a required mumps immunization because the vaccine was grown in a chicken embryo. Friedman sued for religious discrimination, claiming the employer conditioned his employment on something that violated his vegan religious belief that it was immoral to kill and exploit animals, […]