Discriminating against job applicants or employees based on national origin has long been unlawful under both federal and California law. The term “national origin” is not limited to one’s country of birth. But what other characteristics are included within the term?...

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

It’s Monday morning. You’ve just settled in when your assistant tells you a representative from the Labor Commissioner’s Office is here to speak with you. What do you do? Panic and run!  The best answer is C.Chase him out of the building, shouting that he’s not...

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

It may seem as though employers may choose to hire employees who lack criminal histories, particularly in jobs requiring honesty or good judgment. But the government has become increasingly hostile to that notion.  A growing number of federal, state, and local laws...

Social media has blurred the line between work and home lives.  People tell the world what they used to keep to themselves or share only with friends or family. Employees use Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and more to air opinions about managers, working conditions, and...

California lawmakers and regulators in recent years have provided specific direction to employers about how to prevent and correct workplace harassment. For example, in 2016, the California Fair Employment and Housing Council (“FEHC”) issued regulations addressing...

For how many consecutive days may an employer require an employee to work?  Given the maze that is California employment law, one might think the answer to that question was settled long ago.  But no. The California Supreme Court only recently deciphered the meaning...

Employers increasingly are relying on electronically signed personnel records and other documents relevant to employer-employee relationships. Both state and federal laws treat “electronic signatures” as valid as so-called wet signatures, but only when the electronic...

California’s Labor Code and wage orders require employers to “authorize and permit” employees to take periodic, paid rest periods. These requirements equally apply to all employees, unless employees are designated “exempt” under the executive, administrative,...

The California Supreme Court recently issued a landmark decision, holding that a public employee’s written electronic communications via a personal account may be subject to a Public Records Act request. One of the interesting questions the decision raises relates to investigations of workplace misconduct: Can an investigator use a Public Records Act request to obtain communications made by public-sector witnesses on their personal devices? Subject to some significant limitations, it appears that the answer is “yes.”