This article is Part 2 of a two-part series providing an overview of laws affecting San Francisco employers. We continue our summary of San Francisco employment-related ordinances. Criminal History Information San Francisco’s “ban the box” ordinance imposes...

This article is Part 1 of a two-part series providing an overview of laws affecting San Francisco employers. San Francisco.  The Bay’s cold waters and strong currents probably are easier to navigate than the local employment laws.  In this two-part article, we...

California employers must pay non-exempt employees at least minimum wage for all time they work on their employers’ behalf. The California Supreme Court recently decided that employers are obligated to pay workers for even small amounts of unrecorded work time. To...

Some employers historically have set a new employee’s wages, at least in part, on the employee’s compensation at his or her previous employer. The rationale most likely is to set compensation high enough to create an incentive for the employee to accept employment,...

California law protects employers from lawsuits based on negative employment references given without malice. Therefore, employers lawfully may communicate with other employers about their current or former employees’ performance, reasons for separation, and more. To...

An employee handbook is an important and useful part of any business with employees. A well-drafted handbook sets the employer’s expectations, demonstrates the employer’s policies are legally compliant, provides needed information, and highlights positive employee...

This article is Part 2 of a two-part series providing an overview of recent United States Supreme Court decisions in employment law.  We continue below with brief summaries of the U.S. Supreme Court’s key employment law opinions. We also preview the employment...

This article is Part 1 of a two-part series providing an overview of recent United States Supreme Court decisions in employment law. The United States Supreme Court issued several decisions during the past year that may affect California employers. We summarize the...

The law is clear that employers and employees may agree to resolve employment-related disputes through an arbitrator, rather than in the courts.  The agreement details the process, such as which disputes are subject to arbitration, how to select the arbitrator, what...

The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Lee is a game-changer for businesses that classify individuals as “independent contractors” rather than employees. Businesses must learn the new test for independent contractor status and...

The general rule is that only the employee’s “employer” is liable for wage and hour violations. However, the definition of “employer” is an evolving area of the law. California’s legislature, federal agencies, and courts have expanded traditional notions of the...

California labor laws generally discourage overtime work by requiring employers to pay a premium for hours worked in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek.  There are additional premiums for work on the seventh day in the workweek, or work...