California employment attorney

California Supreme Court Orders Employer to Let Workers Have a Seat

April 10, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Every time we go into a retail establishment we see workers standing at the register. There is no real reason that these workers can’t be sitting in a chair other than due to the fact that they have always been required to stand. However, just because it has always been done a certain way to does it make a good reason to doing that something that doesn’t make a lot of sense.

While this seem like a trivial issue, those who worked as a cashier know how painful it can be to stand in the same spot for hours on end. While store owners realize it is painful and are often willing to provide a rubber mats for employees to stand on, they are not ever willing to allow these workers to sit in a stool or chair while working the register. Continue Reading ›

Los Angeles Franchise Owners Apprehensive about Joint Employment

March 23, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Most everyone in the U.S. has eaten at a McDonald’s restaurant at least once in their life. While most are aware that many fast food locations are franchises, they probably have not given much thought to how that works.

While a portion of the locations are company owned, meaning they are owned, operated, and staffed by company employees, more than half of the locations are franchised. This means that a person who wants a McDonald’s franchise, for example, can apply for a license from the company if they can meet all of the requirements. This can include going to a training program, paying several hundred thousand dollars, and even purchasing land and giving it to the company. Continue Reading ›

Employers Call California Assembly Bill 465 a “Job Killer”

September 9, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

There has been a lot of news lately about Assembly Bill 465 (AB 465). While employees and labor rights organizations are heralding the new law a major improvement in the rights of employees, employers are calling it a “job killer,” according to a recent article by the National Law Review.

AB 465 makes it illegal to force employees to sign mandatory employment arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. The mandatory employment arbitration agreements are supposed to be mutually beneficial and must consider an employee’s rights to due process under the law, but in reality they rarely do. Continue Reading ›

Uber Employment Lawsuit Challenges Independent Contractor Status

August 14, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

A class action lawsuit filed in California’s Northern District Court asserts the drivers who work for Uber are wrongly classified as independent contractors when in fact they should be employees.

The ride-sharing service, one of several to crop up in recent years, shot back with a motion asserting the workers are independent contractors, as they have little or nothing in common with one another, aside from having downloaded the company’s digital application at some point in the last six years.

In California, there are approximately 160,000 Uber drivers, and many hundreds of thousands more across the country. Drivers do download an app, which is then accessed by customers who need transportation. In this multi-billion dollar on-demand economy, there are numerous pending cases that question the classification of workers. Continue Reading ›

California Workers’ Compensation Bill Leads to Debate

May 20, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

The workers’ compensation system in California is a very complex process. While it tries to take into account every possible contingency in such a way as to balance workers’ rights and need for quick access to benefits with employers’ need for a way to predict workers’ compensation expenses, from time to time the system will need a major overhaul to keep it up-to-date with changing times and economic conditions.

To this end, California state legislators and Governor Jerry Brown passed a piece of legislation, which provided for somewhat sweeping changes to the state’s workers’ compensation act about three years ago. Many saw these changes as favoring employers and insurance companies, causing a disadvantage to providers of medical care for injured workers and rehabilitation providers, and, in turn, harming many disabled workers, even though it was designed to provide more cash benefits to workers.

Since the bill was enacted, there have been reports of a five percent drop in medical claims associated with workers’ compensation petitions. This has undoubtedly upset medical providers around the state, and they have pushed for new changes to the state workers’ compensation act. A newly proposed piece of legislation entitled Senate Bill 563 aims to address their concerns. According to a recent article in the Sacramento Bee, State Senator Richard Pan, a physician himself, wishes to take away some of the teeth from the utilization review required to approve any medical treatments as absolutely necessary prior to awarding disability benefits to pay for those medical treatments. Continue Reading ›

Court: California Healthcare Employers Subject to Litigation for Meal Break Waivers

February 18, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

For more than two decades, health care workers were given the option to waive a second meal break that would otherwise be required on shifts longer than eight hours under the Industrial Welfare Commission’s Wage Orders, or IWC.

However, in the recent decision of Gerard v. Orange Coast Mem. Medical Center, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, has found part of the IWC orders invalid.

Specifically targeted was IWC Wage Order No. 5. The measure stated workers in the health care industry who worked shifts in excess of eight hours could voluntarily waive their right to one of their two meal periods, so long as the agreement was written and signed by both parties.

California Workplace Bullying Unfortunately Not Illegal

August 10, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

Judging from popular culture, you would think that Americans love workplace bullies. They garner everything from respect (“The Devil Wears Prada”) to guffaws (“The Office”).

However, when it comes to real life, our California employment lawyers know that workplace bullying is no laughing matter. Studies have shown that victims of workplace bullying suffer from psychological and even physical health problems. This negatively affects not only the worker, but workplace morality and productivity.

Bullying at work can be generally identified as involving: