Wage and Hour Issues in California

Wage Payment

In general, wages must be paid at least twice each month on regularly scheduled paydays. Paydays must be designated and posted, showing the date, time and location for payment.

Wages earned between the 1st and 15th of the month must be paid by the 26th and wages earned between the 16th and last day of the month must be paid by the 10th day of the next month. If you have a weekly, biweekly or semimonthly pay period, than wages must be paid within seven calendar days of the end of the designated period.

Payment Upon Termination

You must be paid for all earned wages, including vacation, at the time of termination.

Payment Upon Resignation

An at-will employee who resigns (i.e., quits) without giving 72 hours notice must be paid all earned wages, including vacation, within 72 hours. You may request that payment be mailed.

Penalty for Willful Non-Payment

An employers who willfully violates the wage payment law may be liable for a waiting time penalty, which is equal to the employee’s daily rate of pay for each day the wages remain unpaid (up to 30 calendar days). You cannot recieve a waiting time penalty if you avoid or refuse to accept payment of your wages, nor will you recieve payment if your employer has a good faith dispute about the money owed.

Failure to pay wages is also a misdemeanor.

Holiday, Weekend Pay

California employers are not required to pay employees anything extra for working on holidays or weekends.

Article courtesy of: ELInfoNet.com

This is known as retaliation; it’s illegal.

It also happens all the time.

For those who do speak up, chances are good that protocol will require you to file a complaint within the company. If your company is responsive, you could see results immediately. Many times, however, you will wait. When HR does finally take action, it may not even address the specific individual. Sexual harassment training is a popular course of action for many companies.

As Susan Antilla pointed out in a column published yesterday, changes in the law have put more and more pressure on victims of sexual harassment in the workplace to use internal systems to file complaints. Often, the internal system falls far short of solving the problem.

So, are hostile work environments disappearing or are employees just less inclined to say something for lack of corporate action?

Antilla acknowledges that harassment complaints are declining, but warns against assuming that this is because the problem is disappearing. She notes that retaliation in the workplace is higher than ever and that the harassment cases that do come through are often stranger and more violent.

Employees have the right to expect safety and respect from peers in the workplace. If the company won’t enforce it, then many may decide to seek assistance outside of work.

The Sacramento Sexual Harassment Attorneys and Folsom Employment Retaliation Lawyers of Bowman & Associates have helped clients across California. If you or someone you know has legal questions, contact our experienced employment law firm to speak to an attorney today. We offer free consultations.

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What often happens in California:

Employers will simply add a small amount of managerial authority to a crew member, call that crew member the manager, and put them on a salary. While there is nothing wrong with do that, it does not excuse an employer from paying overtime if that salaried worker then works more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. When improperly classified employees work long hours, they may be entitled to overtime pay reaching back four years.

Under federal law, an employer that knowingly and willingly refuses to pay you overtime wages may have to pay you an additional penalty over and above your unpaid overtime. You may double your unpaid overtime, plus attorneys’ fees. Under California law, an employer who willfully withholds overtime pay can be liable to pay you a penalty of 2% of the amount of monthly overtime pay arrears.

The Sacramento Overtime Attorneys of Bowman & Associates have worked with clients across California. If you or someone you know has legal questions, contact our experienced hours, wages & overtime law firm today. We offer free consultations.

Resources: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division, Turley Law Firm

Wilfrido Mata had served as the sheriff’s director of infrastructure technology and worked for the sheriff’s office for 10 years. Mata’s lawsuit charges that he was informed late last year that the office would be doing a security audit on its computer system without informing the county’s information technology director. The suit alleges that those leading the audit said they could obtain the information they needed through “packet sniffing,” the computer equivalent of wire tapping a phone. According to the lawsuit, Mata raised objections, and when they went unheeded, he went to the FBI. Mata’s lawsuit said he met with FBI agents twice. The FBI asked him to wear a wire to a meeting with the Sheriff’s information technology officials. A week later, he wore it while speaking with the Sheriff’s chief administrative officer. Mata told the administrator the packet sniffing was illegal, then revealed the recording device and said he was cooperating with the FBI, the lawsuit states. Despite what the lawsuit calls years of superior job performance reviews, Mata received a reprimand a month after the confrontation, followed by a rating of “average” in a February performance review. He was fired in May.

Although the FBI would not comment Tuesday, a sheriff’s spokesman said the FBI did investigate and found no grounds for action. The county’s chief information officer also investigated and found no improprieties, according to the sheriff’s office.

Sheriff Adrian Garcia had not seen the lawsuit, but issued a statement that the allegations “have no merit and are unfounded.” “He was terminated because his performance failed to meet the expectations for which he was hired,” the Sheriff said in the statement. At Garcia’s request, the Public Integrity Division of the Harris County District Attorneys office conducted an investigation last October and determined that no criminal offense had been committed, according to a statement issued by the District Attorney’s Office.

Sacramento Retaliation Attorney David Foos and the Wrongful Termination Lawyers of Bowman & Associates help clients across California. If you or someone you know has legal questions, contact our experienced Sacramento employment law firm for your free consultation; or you can email David Foos directly at dfoos@bowmanandassoc.com.

“It is and continues to be a negative culture,” said Charles T. Mathews, an attorney representing the employees. “They are all second class citizens at Edison.” The suit also alleges that the number of African-Americans employees at the company has “decreased dramatically despite an overall increase in the number of persons employed” by the company since 1996. Utility employees have twice filed class-action lawsuits, in 1974 and 1994, against Edison alleging racial discrimination, Mathews said.

Some employees in the suit were also part of the 1994 suit which resulted in a consent decree in which the utility paid $11.3 million into a settlement fund and agreed to start training and leadership programs, according to court documents. A federal judge in 2003 ruled that the consent decree was fully complied with and dismissed the case, according to court documents. Mathews alleged employees “have systematically watched (Edison) ignore it,” equating them to workers on a plantation. “Don’t ask for an upper management position because you won’t get it,” Mathews said.

The employees in the new lawsuit are seeking damages, attorney’s fees and an injunction against the company to force it to enact the consent decree, according to the suit.

Kathy Jackson, 60, of Chino Hills, who spent 35 years at the company before retiring in February 2009, said it was hard to see others advance in the company before her. “I could train everyone and they would get promotions over me,” she said. “They would select people with less seniority and experience.” And when she did move up, she became a manager but her supervisor gave her only administrative work, she said. Jackson believes it was retaliation for her being part of the 1994 suit. “If you were white or Hispanic, they didn’t do this to you,” she said.

Michael Hoskins, 49 of West Covina, said management positions in his department aren’t posted for all to see. When the jobs are filled, it is usually by a white man who wasn’t trained, said Hoskins, who has worked 23 years for the utility. “It felt discriminatory,” he said. “We have qualified senior people who can meet these standards they put out.”

Utility spokeswoman Vanessa McGrady said it was company policy not to comment on pending litigation.

Sacramento Racial Discrimination Attorney David Foos has won millions for clients across California. If you or someone you know would like to speak to an aggressive and experienced employment discrimination lawyer, contact David Foos at  at (916) 923-2800 or on the web at dfoos@bowmanandassoc.com

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has made an order that most state workers pay be cut to the federal minimum wage level. His reasoning behind this decision is due to California lawmakers inability to pass a state budget.

The Governor’s decision was backed by a state appellate court, however no changes have been made to state worker’s pay thanks to State Controller John Chiang. Chiang states he is unable to make the changes to employees pay because the states payroll computer system is not up to date, and would not be able to withstand such a major change.

In addition, Governor Schwarzenegger is working to implement Furlough Friday’s once again.

We are experienced Folsom Employment Law Attorneys representing clients throughout California. If you or someone you know has legal questions regarding your state employment in California, contact our skilled Folsom Employment Lawyers.

Stay tuned for more information!

Mark Hurd, the chief executive of HP, has announced that he will resign from his position after a sexual harassment probe.

The HP board has appointed chief financial officer Cathie Lesjak as interim chief executive, but she has ruled herself out of the top job on a permanent basis.

Hurd said in a statement that he had been the subject of an investigation into alleged harassment of a contractor. The probe had cleared him, but found that he had broken HP’s Standards of Business Conduct.

“As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my career,” Hurd said.

Mark Holston, HP’s general counsel, said during a conference call that Hurd had charged expenses to the company while having a personal relationship with a female marketing contractor between 2007 and 2009. The expenses reportedly ranged from $1,000 to $20,000.

“It was not the dollar amount of the expenses that drove the board’s decision,” said Holston. “It was a systematic pattern of improper expenses and inaccurate reports, and the disregard for the values of HP that Mark admitted he did not live up to.”

Gloria Allred, a Los Angeles lawyer who has won several major discrimination cases, is representing the contractor and issued a statement that at no time did her client have an affair with Hurd.

The contractor contacted HP about a claim for discrimination on June 29, and the company launched an investigation. It found no case for sexual harassment but did find the financial irregularities.

“The board investigation found that Mark demonstrated a profound lack of judgment that seriously undermined his credibility and damaged his effectiveness in leading HP, and Mark agreed,” said Holston.

Hurd is understood to have agreed to repay the money. According to the terms of his resignation, he will receive an immediate payment of $12,224,693 and various stock options.

Please contact the Law Office of Bowman and Associates, APC for more information regarding Employment Law cases and what your rights are as an Employee. We have been helping employees in Folsom and throughout California fight for their rights.

Author Lain Thompson

The jury took only about an hour to put a price tag on the racial and religious persecution it concluded that the Egyptian-born Muslim suffered.

UT Southwestern, which portrays itself as a world-class institution that prizes diversity, denied mistreating AIDS clinician Naiel Nassar and quickly vowed to appeal.

“We are greatly disappointed by the jury’s decision and do not believe it reflects the fairness with which UT Southwestern approached Dr. Nassar’s employment,” the university said a public statement.

Nassar, a U.S. citizen, traced his problems to 2004, when UT Southwestern made Dr. Beth Levine chief of infectious disease medicine. She drove him to quit by 2006, Nassar said in a 2008 lawsuit.

Levine wanted Nassar to bill insurers for some of his services, “which is illegal because Dr. Nassar’s salary was fully funded by a federal grant,” the lawsuit alleged. “If UTSW were allowed to bill for the salaried position of one of its professors that is fully funded by the taxpayers, then UTSW would be, as the saying goes, ‘double dipping.’ ”

Levine told Nassar that she thought people from the Middle East were lazy and questioned his direct supervisor about his productivity, the suit said. Questions allegedly included “Is he really working?” and “Is he billing enough?”

The Sacramento Discrimination Attorneys of Bowman & Associates help clients across California. If you or someone you know has legal questions, contact our experienced Sacramento Employment Law Firm

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Castellanos worked at Coastside Scavenger for 37 years. In the lawsuit Castellanos says the company started to criticize his job performance and suggested he resign in the wake of his sons’ decision to file a grievance over alleged wage and hour violations and unsafe working conditions. They were fired in 2008. He was also demoted from operations manager to lead mechanic. After he was fired, general manager Chris Porter called him a “crook” and a “thief” and went out of her way to malign his reputation to prospective employers.

“It was wrong what they did to me. They shouldn’t have terminated me just because my sons had a lawsuit against them…They did a lot of bad things to me. They bounced checks on me, they harassed me – I had to file a lawsuit as a matter of principle,” Castellanos said this week on his way to a job interview.

A lawyer for Coastside Scavenger did not return calls. Reached by telephone Tuesday, Porter was surprised to learn about the lawsuit. “I have absolutely no comment,” she said.

If you need an aggressive Sacramento employment attorney with proven results, contact David P. Foos at (916) 923-2800 or e-mail at dfoos@bowmanandassoc.com.

In a suit filed in federal court in Wyoming, an employee alleged that May asked her to spend the night with him while he was visiting the Holiday Inn in Casper and that she was denied a promotion after turning him down.

May, a Parker Republican who leaves office after this year because of term limits, said the allegations are untrue.

The Wyoming lawsuit was filed May 14 against MARS Development LLC, a hotel development company that May co-owns. In the suit, three other employees also allege that they faced retaliation for making complaints about sexual harassment at the hotel.

If you need an aggressive Sacramento employment attorney with proven results, contact David P. Foos at (916) 923-2800 or e-mail at dfoos@bowmanandassoc.com