California Passes Law Increasing the Minimum Wage

A new law increasing California’s minimum wage to $15 per hour applies to all businesses with employees in California – and not just to those employing minimum wage workers.  The law, available here, implements a phased approach to increasing the statewide minimum wage and distinguishes between employers with 26 or more employees and employers with 25 or fewer employees, giving these smaller employers one additional year to

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New Regulations Require Most CA Employers to Update their Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policies by April 1st

The California agency tasked with enforcing the state’s anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation laws, the Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), has recently implemented new regulations that will require California employers with five or more employees to revise their workplace policies and/or employee handbooks by April 1, 2016.  Specifically, the regulations require employers to say more to employees about the topics of anti-discrimination and anti-harassment

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What California Employers Need to Know About the State’s New Sick Leave Law

As of today, most California employers are now required to provide their employees no less than 3 days or 24 hours—whichever is greater—of paid sick leave per year. An overview of the most important parts of the law is below: 1.  Who Does the New Law Apply To: All California employers. The only employees exempt from the law are those covered by a valid collective bargaining

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Bernstein & Friedland, P.C. Obtains Nearly $350,000 on Behalf of Employee in Unpaid Wage Case

For more than one year, Bernstein & Friedland, P.C. vigorously represented a blue-collar worker whose long-time former employer failed to pay him overtime and did not provide him legally compliant breaks.  The employer aggressively defended the case, which culminated in a one-week trial involving eight testifying witnesses.  Following trial, the court awarded our client approximately $86,000 for unpaid overtime wages, missed meal breaks, and related

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Jury Awards Fired Pregnant Worker Nearly $185 Million

Plaintiff Rosario Juarez sued her former employer, AutoZone Stores Inc., for demoting her and ultimately terminating her after she announced her pregnancy in 2005.  According to Juarez, when she informed her district manager that she was expecting, the manager responding by saying, “Congratulations…I guess.  I feel sorry for you.”  Juarez alleged that the company subsequently doubled her assigned list of tasks, making her work day substantially

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New Law Makes Paid Sick Leave Mandatory in California

Although many employers make paid sick leave available to employees, such paid time off has not been legally required in California.  However, with the passage of the “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014,” California will become the second state in the nation to require paid sick leave. The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 will go into effect July 1, 2015. The Act

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