Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

California Equal Pay by Gender – Is Race Next?

May 7, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Assurance of equal pay is an important issue in California and across the country.

Before last year, California had one of the toughest equal pay laws on the books. It got even tougher in December when lawmakers passed the California Equal Pay Act, which formally went into effect Jan. 1, 2016. The law requires women and men who do substantially similar work to be paid equally – no matter how their jobs are officially described. The goal was to avoid situations in which companies would hide behind job titles to pay women less for doing the same work as men. For example: Housekeepers at a hotel shouldn’t be paid less than the janitors at the same facility who clean bathrooms and common areas – much the same work in both cases.

But now, there is a proposed amendment to that law which would include a provision to ensure those of different races or ethnicity are not given the short stick when it comes to equal pay.

Sexual Harassment Training Under Scrutiny by California Investigator

May 5, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Amid growing allegations of widespread sexual harassment at the University of California Berkely, California’s top sexual harassment investigator is initiating a comprehensive review of training policies throughout the state.

The California Department of Fair Housing, responsible for enforcing the state’s civil rights laws, has created a task force that will specifically focus the effectiveness of current sexual harassment awareness training. The effort is being overseen by the department’s director, Kevin Kish.

The announcement came just two months after a number of allegations of misconduct by faculty arose at the university, which became national news and sparked a conversation about how we handle gender discrimination at universities and colleges. Continue Reading ›

Employment Lawsuit: Illegal Firing for Refusal to be Scientologist

May 3, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

A woman who practices Catholicism says she was wrongfully terminated from her job at a bottled water company in Nevada because she refused to convert to Scientology.

The employment lawsuit asserting religious discrimination alleges the worker was under pressure to watch pro-Scientology videos and was turned down for a pay raise when she did not show interest in switching faiths.

Based in Las Vegas, the company, Real Alkalized Water (also known as AffinityLifestyles.com) is owned by Nevada state Assemblyman Brent Jones, a Republican. His son, who is vying for an open state Assembly seat in the November election, is the executive vice president of the firm. Continue Reading ›

Changes to California’s Sexual Harassment Law to Take Effect

May 1, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news feature from the National Law Review, a new law has taken effect in California that will make some changes to the state’s mandatory sexual harassment education requirement.

Specifically, the new law will require employers to have training about topics such as discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliatory employment practices. There will also be requirement to document the training and keep detailed records in the event of an inspection by the state labor regulators. Continue Reading ›

Report: Increase in Paid Family Leave in California

April 30, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news feature from Benefits News, a new labor law taking effect in 2018 will increase the amount of pay for family leave based upon a percentage of their average weekly wages during normal (not overtime) working hours.

The state employment law will provide California’s workers with six week of paid family leave, and this will be administered through a state unemployment provision of the labor code. While this may sound confusing, Governor Jerry Brown signed Bill 908 into law that will require workers in California to have 55 percent of their average weekly wages paid for up to six weeks a year if that employee decided to take the up to six weeks of family leave to which all workers are entitled each year. Continue Reading ›

Uber Settles with Drivers in Employment Lawsuit in Los Angeles

April 27, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

By now, most everyone is familiar with Uber. The company makes a smart phone app that you can download and use when you need a ride. When the company first started, it was primarily a black car service. The company got limo drivers to sign up for the service and agree to pick up customers for rides during the time they were not working on their regular jobs.

While this was initially good for black car drivers, it essentially put black car companies out of business, because everyone just gets an Uber ride now instead of calling for a traditional black car service. Then the taxi drivers became upset that someone with no special insurance, and no background check, and no hack license could pick up fares and steal their business. As a result, you can now call a cab on Uber. Continue Reading ›

Former Orange County Assessor’s Office Workers Wrongful Termination Suit Going to Trial

April 25, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news release from the Voice of OC, two former employees at the Orange County Assessor’s Office have filed a lawsuit claiming wrongful termination and various other allegations of violations of the California labor code.

While there was some hope that the case would be settled prior to trial, it now appears that it will likely be heard before an Orange County jury, as the trial is scheduled to start in October of this year. Continue Reading ›

Newspaper Delivery Workers Ruled to Be Independent Contractors

April 22, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

When most people hear the term “contractor” they immediately think of a person you can hire to do work on your home. You may be adding and extra room, building a garage, finishing a basement, or having many other types of work performed on the house.

For example, if you wanted to turn an unfinished basement into a guest apartment, you would have a contractor come over and prepare and estimate, and then you would hire this person to do the work. He or she would tell you how long the job would take and what it would cost. He or she would tell when you should stay out of the home to avoid any disruption and when the work would begin. Continue Reading ›

4,200 Jobs Added in California with Sharp Drop in Unemployment Rate

April 17, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news feature from the Los Angeles Times, 4,200 jobs have been added to the economy in California. At the same time, we are experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in nearly the past decade. The current unemployment rate in the State of California is 5.4 percent.

It should be noted that even at 5.4 percent, which is the best we have seen in California since 2007, these figures are still above the national average of 5 percent, but with the number continuing to fall each month (last month was 5.5 percent), the state may be closer to the national average if current trends continue, and for an economy the size of this state, that is a major accomplishment. Continue Reading ›

Union Workers May Not Benefit from New Minimum Wage in LA

April 14, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

By now everyone is aware that the City of Los Angeles has raised the local minimum to $15 dollars an hour. This was seen as a major victim for the city’s large number of working poor, and is one of the most progressive increases in the nation. However, according to a recent news feature from the Los Angeles Times, union members who work are large hotels are one group that will not be seeing a nearly 70 percent raise in their monthly wages.

The reason for this is because they are members of a union and the job has been officially unionized because enough employees signed onto the union to allow the organization to have exclusive bargaining rights with respect to negotiations between the union and employer. Continue Reading ›