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Sexual Harassment: FEHC Finally Approves Training Rules

The California Fair Employment and Housing Commission has finally approved regulations implementing A.B. 1825, the law requiring sexual harassment training for supervisors every two years. The final rules should be ready to go into effect in February, depending on how long the Office of Administrative Law takes to review them.

News Notes: UC Professor Claims Race Bias In Tenure Decision

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that UC Davis will have to face a trial on a charge by Ronald Y. Chuang, a microbiologist and AIDS researcher, that he was discriminated against because of his race and national origin. Chuang claims that the institution failed to give him a tenured position as […]

Labor Extends Comment Period for Caregiver Rule

The Labor Department  has extended the comment period for its proposed rule to provide minimum wage and overtime protections for in-home companions by nine days, the agency announced in a March 9 release. The division published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on Dec. 27, 2011, with a comment period originally set […]

Prop 8 Unconstitutional, For Now

By Mark I. Schickman The legal status of gay marriage in California has been a rollercoaster ride. First, the California Supreme Court held that a ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. Then California passed Proposition 8, writing a ban on gay marriage into the California Constitution — and the California Supreme Court bowed to that […]

Maybe I’m Just Getting Old

I don’t consider myself old, but I think I might be getting a little crotchety as I age. Recently, I’ve found myself frequently annoyed with people. The cause of my crankiness? An apparent lack of concern about being on time. People today don’t seem to concern themselves with being on time for appointments, meetings, or […]

Wage And Hour: Labor Department Spells Out When You Do–And Don’t–Have To Pay For After-Hours Training Time

It’s a common situation. You send some employees to required continuing education courses after work. Others attend classes simply to learn more about your business or industry. Are the employees entitled to pay for the time they spend in class? Probably not, according to a recent U.S. Depart- ment of Labor opinion. But you might […]

Amid Criticism, Labor Withdraws Plan to Limit When Children May Work on Farms

The U.S. Department of Labor is abandoning its plan to limit when children under the age of 16 can work on farms. The plan, proposed in the fall, limited the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “parental exemption” and was intended to help reduce farm-related accidents. Introducing the now-defunct proposal, DOL officials said they were responding to […]

Employees Can’t Sue for Unpaid Vacation Before It’s Earned

By now, most employers have at least heard that California prohibits “use it or lose it” vacation policies—meaning that once an employee earns vacation time, that time can’t be forfeited for any reason. But can an employer decide not to award vacation time right away to new employees? The answer is yes—according to a recent […]