Should I provide harassment prevention training if my company does not have 50 or more employees?
Absolutely!! Harassment and discrimination claims in the workplace should not be taken lightly. The Department of Fair Employment & Housing defines sexual harassment as harassment based on sex or of a sexual nature; gender harassment; and harassment based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Every company, even companies with one employee, are required to […]
Politics in the Workplace
As Election Day approaches, politics inevitably seeps into the workplace. What if employees become disruptive, argumentative, annoying, or just plain unproductive on account of politics in the workplace? Does an employer have the right to limit political activities of employees in the workplace? The answer is: “It depends.” In the private sector, in some jurisdictions, […]
New EEOC Publication Addresses Thorny ADA Issues
What happens when an employee with a mental disability misbehaves in the workplace? If the mental disability causes the employee to misbehave and violate workplace conduct rules, can the employer discipline the employee? The EEOC has tackled this thorny ADA question, and many others, in a new publication titled: ”The Americans With Disabilities Act: Applying […]
Wage & Hour Update: Pro-Ration of Minimum Salary For Part-Time Exempt Employees Disallowed
The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued an opinion letter on the topic of pro-rated salaries for exempt employees. An employer inquired whether it is an acceptable practice to pro-rate the minimum allowable salary of an exempt employee to reflect his 20 hour per week part-time status, by paying the worker $15,000. In a letter […]
What to Do in the First 30 Days After Being Sued
In the fiscal year 2004-2005, 1,423,097 civil lawsuits were filed in California. Given those statistics, odds are that many businesses will end up in court sooner or later. For those of you who have not had this misfortune, here are six crucial basics you should know about what to do—and not do—within the first thirty […]