2024 Developments in California Employment Law

First, California has expanded its paid sick leave laws. Paid sick leave allows employees to take time off to care for themselves or a loved one. Under SB 616, employers must allow employees to accrue at least 80 hours of paid sick leave or grant 40 hours annually. The law raises the minimum number of hours employers in the state must provide. Employers were required to expand their paid sick leave allotments starting on January 1, 2024. If your employer includes sick leave in your paid time off, the employer does not need to provide additional paid sick leave, but the paid time off must meet the same minimum requirements.

Effective January 1, 2024, the state has also raised its minimum wage to $16.00 per hour. Employers must also provide a minimum of 30 minutes for meal breaks. Additionally, workers who fall under certain occupational exceptions must receive twice the minimum wage, totaling $66,650 per year. If you work in computer software, you may fall within the Computer Software overtime exemption, which requires employers to pay a minimum of $55.58 per hour.

Additionally, SB 699 and AB 1076 clarify the state’s ban on non-compete agreements, which prevent employees of one employer from engaging in lawful business with a competitor company. First, SB 699 clarifies that non-compete agreements are unenforceable in California regardless of when, where, or whether the employee signed it, even if it was signed outside of California. If an employer attempts to coerce an employee into signing an agreement, even without intent to enforce it, the employer may be sued. Second, AB 1076 requires a broad construction of the ban on non-compete agreements unless one of the narrow exceptions applies.

Another significant change is an amendment to California’s existing laws that govern retaliation suits against an employer. The previous law assigned the burden of proof to the employee to show the employer retaliated against them. Under SB 497, the burden of proof in retaliation cases shifts to the employer if it fires or otherwise retaliates against the employee up to 90 days after for engaging in protected activity. The employer can still rebut the presumption of retaliation by showing the employee was fired or reprimanded for a legitimate reason. If the employer retaliates against the employee, the new law requires the employer to pay up to $10,000 in civil penalties per employee.

In addition to these new laws, the California legislature has also enacted laws requiring paid leave for reproductive loss such as miscarriage or failed adoption; banning discrimination or retaliation for the off-duty use of cannabis; and requiring employers to adopt a Workplace Violence Prevention Program and maintain a record of every incident of violence in the workplace.

Speak with an Experienced Los Angeles Employment Attorney for More Information

California’s new employment laws may affect your legal claim against an employer. If you have questions about the impact of these laws on your rights or your suit against an employer, contact our team at Hardin Law Group today to learn whether you can take legal action.

When it comes to overtime, there are many exemptions, so understanding whether or not you qualify for overtime can be difficult. Most employees are considered eligible for overtime, under either state or federal law. Fortunately, with respect to overtime on both a state and federal level, if the requirements do not overlap the laws will favor the employee rather than the employer in most cases.

Exemptions of Overtime Pay

The California Labor Code establishes requirements for employees that qualify for overtime pay. In order to understand whether or not your rights have been violated, it is important that you understand what constitutes overtime and whether or not you are eligible in your current position.

There are many categories of employees that are considered exempt from overtime pay consideration. The burden of classifying employees under these categories falls to the employers. according to the Fair Labor Standards Act. These categories are, but not limited to:

• Administrative, Executive, and Professional Employees;
• Commission based employees: outside or inside salespersons;
• Computer professionals.

What Constitutes Overtime Pay

Overtime is crucial for employees that are expected to work past their usual hours. With both federal and state laws in place, employers are required to pay employees one and a half times their regular pay rate for hours worked overtime.

In order to ensure that you are paid fairly, it is important that you understand how and when you are eligible to receive overtime pay. Reviewing your schedule and mapping out your hours worked is a great way to figure out if you are owed overtime. Scenarios that qualify you for overtime are as follows, but not limited to:

• Working over 8 hours in a workday;
• Working over 40 hours in the workweek;
• The hours worked on a 7^th consecutive workday out of the week.

In the state of California, there are also protections put in place in order to provide extended overtime for those that work past the guidelines set forth for regular overtime. This type of overtime allows for double your regular hourly wage. Double overtime occurs in the below scenarios, but are not limited to:

• Working over 12 hours in a workday;
• Working over 8 hours on the 7^th consecutive workday in the week.

Unpaid overtime can occur accidentally or as a way for a company to try and save money. It is important to know whether or not you qualify for receiving overtime pay. If your title is listed as exempt, but you feel as though you have been misclassified it is crucial that you protect your rights as a worker in the state of California. Contact our team today to understand the legal remedies that are available to you.

Understanding your rights as an employee with respect to commission and bonuses is critical in order to ensure you are treated fairly. Section 2751 in the California Labor Code requires that all commission and bonus plans should be in writing, if your employer never presented a plan to you in the form of a contract then your rights are being violated.

Understanding Your Rights

As an employee that earns commissions and bonuses as a main source of income, it is imperative that you understand how and when you should expect to receive what you have earned. An employee can receive a commission in a few different ways such as, but not limited to:

• When an employee secures a client or customer;
• When an employer receives payment a purchase;
• When an employee issues an invoice;
• When an employee receives a purchase order.

Two questions that often come up with respect to commission are, what happens if the purchase is returned or even what happens if more than one employee worked on achieving the sale? For the first question, there should be an outline listed within your employment contract that details what happens if an item purchased is returned. If this is not the case, then this is a violation of rules set forth by the California Labor Code. If you are wondering about how commission works with respect to two individuals making a sale, this concern should also be present in your employment contract. However, if there is no language designating how a commission should be split in the instance that two employees make a sale, then this is something you should speak to your employer about as this violates your rights.

When to Expect Your Commissions and Bonuses

With commissions and bonuses frequently making up the majority of an employee’s paycheck, it is important that they are paid in a timely manner. According to the California Labor Code, commissions and bonuses earned should be paid at least twice a month. However, in most cases the terms of payment are outlined in the employment contract signed at the beginning of employment.

If your employer has not paid you the commissions or bonuses that you have earned, then there are legal remedies available to you. As an employee, you have rights and late commission payments, or even failure of payment can have serious ramifications in your life. A step that can be taken if you feel as though your employer is withholding funds is to file a wage claim with California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE). The DLSE sets forth clear and simple guidelines to assist employees trying to file a claim against their employer. Often times individuals are hesitant to file a claim against their employer in fear of retaliation, however there are rules both on the federal and state level that protect employees from retaliation firings.

Like many other states, California employers are not required to pay their workers holiday pay when they close for business on official holidays. And working on a holiday does not guarantee overtime or additional compensation, though some employer’s do have a policy to pay extra rates such as time-and-a-half. If an employee does work on a holiday, California law only requires that an employer pay an employee their usual rate of pay. The law does not require that an employer pay you any additional pay if you work on the day of a holiday unless it is part of their common practice or if you have worked in excess of a 40 hour, 8 hour per day work week. What’s more, Saturdays and Sunday are paid at the same rate as hours worked during a weekday.

Does your employer have to give you a holiday off?

Absent a religious exception, your California employer does not have to give you time off for a holiday. Failure to acknowledge your reasonably held religious beliefs could land your employer in legal hot water. Learn more about common types of holiday religious discrimination here. Furthermore, a business does not have to close for business on any holiday.

What holidays does California observe?

California observes the official federal holidays: Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Lincoln’s and Washington’s Birthdays, and Cesar Chavez Day. This does not mean your employer will give you these days off. At the most basic level, there is no federal law requiring private employers to give their employees holidays, even federal holidays, as paid time off.

Even though California employers are not required to give you certain days such as holidays off work, there are certain exceptions, such as with a religious accommodation. If you feel that your employer is not respecting your religious beliefs and/or not paying you the wages you deserve, contact experienced Orange County employment lawyer James Hardin today.

The basic requirements of the FLSA include:

• Payment of the minimum wage;
• Overtime pay for time worked over 40 hours in one workweek;
• Restrictions on the employment of children;
• Recordkeeping.

While the FLSA has been amended many times over the year, it currently provides that covered workers are entitled to overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one half times their regular rage. If you have questions about whether or not you are covered by FSLA, contact an experienced Orange County employment attorney.

Wages required by the FLSA are due on the regular payday for the pay period covered. Deductions made from wages (for cash or merchandise shortages, employer-required uniforms, and tools of the trade, etc…) are not legal if they reduce the wages of employees below the minimum wage or reduce the amount of overtime pay due under the FLSA. It is also important to note that various minimum wage exceptions apply under specific circumstances to workers with disabilities, full-time students, youth under age 20 in their first 90 days of employment, tipped employees and student-learners.
In order for FLSA to apply, there must be an employment relationship between an “employer” and an “employee.” An employer, must keep detailed records on wages, hours, and other items generally included to be ordinary business practices. If you do not receive the information listed above on your payroll sheet, you may have a legal claim.

For more information on FLSA and how it affects your rights, contact the experienced Orange County attorneys at Hardin & Associates today.

A recent case involving a collective bargaining agreement (Vranish v. Exxon Mobil Corp.) illustrates the fact that unionized California employees may be subject to different legal requirements than employees not represented by a union or labor group when it comes to overtime pay. In this case, the California Court of Appeal ruled on the issue of whether state overtime laws applied to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

The plaintiffs in this case were employees of Exxon Mobil who were represented by a labor organization. The plaintiffs’ employment was covered by a collective bargaining agreement that required the employees to regularly work seven days in a row, with 12-hour shifts each day, and then receive seven days in a row off of work. In light of this unusual work schedule, the employment agreement set forth a definition for “overtime pay” that differed from the standard definition of overtime pay set out in California Labor Code, section 510. The plaintiffs sued, claiming that Exxon Mobil owed them overtime compensation at the rate required by the labor code. California Labor Code section 510, which applies to employee overtime pay in California, typically requires that an employee be paid overtime, or one and one-half times their usual pay rate, for time worked over eight hours and less than twelve hours in a single work day.

In this case, the courts effectively denied the plaintiffs’ claim of unpaid overtime due to the definition of the word “overtime” as used in the employees’ collective bargaining agreement. Finding that California Labor Code section 514 allows for a different definition of “overtime pay” when employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the Court concluded that when there is a valid collective bargaining agreement in place, employers and employees may bargain over both the rate of overtime pay, and when overtime payment will begin. Accordingly, section 510’s definition of “overtime” did not apply, and the employees were not entitled to the overtime pay that they had demanded in their lawsuit.

Cases like Vranish illustrate the nuances in California’s labor laws as applied to businesses.

In light of these nuances, it is important for employees who believe they may have been subject to a violation of wage and hour laws of California to contact an experienced Orange County employment attorney at Hardin & Associates to discuss such employment-related issues.

Minimum Wage Violations in California

The federal law that governs most wage and hour employment practices is the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA is intended to protect employees in Orange County and across the country from unfairly low compensation for their work or services. While under federal law the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, California law states that the minimum wage is $9 per hour (and set to increase to $10 per hour in January 2016). This means that, generally speaking, employers must pay Orange County employees the higher minimum wage of $9 per hour. Discuss your specific situation with a knowledgeable employment lawyer.

Overtime Pay Violations

Additionally, many California employees are entitled to overtime pay if they work over eight hours a day or forty hours in a given week and are entitled to receive double payment for your time if you work more than 12 hours in one day. What’s more, California employees who earn tips are entitled to the full state minimum wage payment for their shifts, in addition to any tips earned.

Whether you’re eligible for overtime pay depends on whether you’re considered an exempt or non-exempt employee. However, your employer might have incorrectly classified you as “exempt.” Therefore, according to California law, you still may be eligible based on your actual job responsibilities. California overtime law violations include unpaid overtime for working extra hours or for work done “off the clock,” and not being given or compensated for meal breaks.

For more information on California wage and hour laws, or to discuss filing a lawsuit against your employer for failure to pay you the wages you deserve, contact the Orange County employment lawyers at Hardin & Associates today.

How do you know if your unpaid internship is also unjust, meaning you should be compensated appropriately for the work you are performing? First, know that California law is on your side. In addition to the requirements set forth by the Department of Labor under federal law, California requires that an additional handful of factors be met in order for your Orange County employer to ‘get away with’ not paying you.

The requirements of an unpaid internship according to the Department of Labor:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

In plain English, the first two factors mean that the primary purpose of your internship must be your educational benefit. Is your current employer providing you with an opportunity to learn about the business in which you are working, or just requiring that you work hard for no pay?

Additionally, under California law:

• Your internship should be part of an educational curriculum;
• Your training should be general to the industry and allow for you to qualify for work in a similar business;
• Your hiring process should be based on criteria relevant for admission into an independent educational program.

If you have read or seen any advertisements or job postings for internships, they should clearly describe the position as educational or training-based rather than employment.

whether knowingly or unknowingly, many Orange County employers do not follow the rules about unpaid internships set forth by federal and state law. If you have been working as an unpaid intern and your internship does not meet any of the requirements set forth above, you may be entitled financial compensation. Contact the experienced Orange County employment lawyers at Hardin & Associates today to discuss your legal rights and potential for financial recovery.