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Browse below for news, legal insights, information on presentations and events, and other resources from the Weintraub Tobin legal team.

Upcoming Seminar: Accommodating Employees At Work: There’s More to It Than You Think

Published: January 25, 2013

Summary of Program

Most employers know that employees may need to be accommodated from time to time for various reasons, most commonly due to an employee’s disability or medical condition. However, it is important for employers to understand and comply with how the courts and various federal and state regulatory agencies define accommodations, as well as learn what an employer’s rights and obligations are regarding:

  • Engaging in the interactive process
  • Providing reasonable accommodations

Program Highlights

This informative seminar will cover the many accommodations employers and HR Professionals may be forced to consider, who should be accommodated, and how to engage in an interactive process to determine an appropriate accommodation. Topics will include:

  • How to determine who is entitled to an accommodation;
  • How to engage in the interactive process and how to know when to initiate the initial discussion;
  • The various protected classes and/or activities entitling an employee to an accommodation—including things like disability, religion, and illiteracy, to name a few;
  • How to effectively document the accommodation; and
  • Recent developments in accommodation law.

Seminar Program

9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Seminar

Approved for 2 hours MCLE credit; HRCI credits available upon request.

There is no charge for this seminar.

RSVP

Ramona Carrillo

400 Capitol Mall, 11th Fl.

Sacramento, CA 95814

916.558.6046

rcarrillo@weintraub.com

Employment Law Update – SF Editions: 2012—A Year in Review: 2013—A Challenging Year Ahead

Published: December 28, 2012

Summary of Program

Join the attorneys from Weintraub Tobin’s Labor and Employment Group as they discuss important legal developments from 2012 and review the complexities of a number of new laws facing employers in 2013.

Program Highlights:

  • Wage and Hour Law: New Legislation Makes Compliance Harder Than Ever;
  • Discrimination and Retaliation: New Protected Activities and Regulatory Crackdowns
  • Privacy: Social Media and Beyond;
  • Developments in Leaves of Absence and Accommodation Law;
  • Policies and Contracts: What’s Required and What’s Prohibited; and
  • The NLRB’s Attack on the Non-Union Workplace.

This seminar is available either in person or via webinar! If attending via WEBINAR, you will receive login information one week prior to the seminar.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

9:00 a.m – 12:00 p.m.

475 Sansome Street, Suite 1800

San Francisco, CA 94111

Registration Breakfast

8:30 a.m.

Program

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

There is no charge for this seminar

Approved for 3 hours MCLE Credit; HRCI credits available upon request

RSVP:

Ramona Carrillo
Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916.558.6046
Fax: 916.446.1611
rcarrillo@weintraub.com

Employment Law Update: 2012—A Year in Review: 2013—A Challenging Year Ahead

Published: December 28, 2012

Summary of Program

Join the attorneys from Weintraub Tobin’s Labor and Employment Group as they discuss important legal developments from 2012 and review the complexities of a number of new laws facing employers in 2013.

Program Highlights:

  • Wage and Hour Law: New Legislation Makes Compliance Harder Than Ever;
  • Discrimination and Retaliation: New Protected Activities and Regulatory Crackdowns;
  • Privacy: Social Media and Beyond;
  • Developments in Leaves of Absence and Accommodation Law;
  • Policies and Contracts: What’s Required and What’s Prohibited; and
  • The NLRB’s Attack on the Non-Union Workplace.

This seminar is available either in person or via webinar! If attending via WEBINAR, you will receive login information one week prior to the seminar.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

9:00 a.m – 12:00 p.m.

400 Capitol Mall, Floor 11

Sacramento, CA 95814

Registration Breakfast

8:30 a.m.

Program

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

There is no charge for this seminar

Approved for 3 hours MCLE Credit; HRCI credits available upon request

RSVP:

Ramona Carrillo
Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916.558.6046
Fax: 916.446.1611
rcarrillo@weintraub.com

Parking validation provided. Please park in the Wells Fargo parking garage.

Save the Date: Employment Law Update: 2012—A Year in Review: 2013—A Tough Year Ahead

Published: December 7, 2012

Please join the attorneys from Weintraub Tobin’s Employment Law Group as they review new laws facing employers for the upcoming 2013 year, and discuss important case law developments from 2012.

Dates:

January 17,2013 – Sacramento

January 31,2013 – San Francisco

More details to follow. Please register now as seating will be limited.

RSVP:

Ramona Carrillo

Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin

400 Capitol Mall, Floor 11

Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone: 916.558.6046

Fax: 916.446.1611

rcarrillo@weintraub.com

 

WEBINAR: Tips When Hiring and Firing – Get It right Before The Fight

Published: November 8, 2012

Download: Tips when Hiring and Firing.pdf

Summary of Program

The Labor and Employment Group at Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin is pleased to offer this very informative training session that will discuss recent cases to help business owners, human resource professionals, and managers avoid liability and effectively hire employees as well as carry out disciplines and terminations.

Some of the topics to be discussed include:

  • Effective hiring practices.
  • What can you ask during an interview?
  • An employer’s right to discipline employees; is it limited?
  • Effective policies, training and documentation to reduce liability.
  • Beware of “Progressive Discipline” policies.
  • Did the employee quit or was [s]he “constructively terminated?” (What does that mean?)
  • What type of conduct can constitute “retaliation” and under what law?
  • Who is a “whistleblower” and under what law?
  • Can an “at-will” employee be wrongfully terminated?
  • What constitutes “wrongful termination?”

 

Lunchtime Webinar:

This program is available only via webinar.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

HRCI credits available upon successful completion and verification of attendance for duration of webinar.

There is no charge for this webinar.

RSVP

Ramona Carrillo
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Fl.
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.558.6046
rcarrillo@weintraub.com

Information on registering and logging in to this webinar will be provided after you have RSVP’ed and approximately one week prior to the session.

TRAINING: Mandatory AB 1825 Sexual Harassment Prevention

Published: November 7, 2012

Download: Sexual Harassment Prevention.pdf

Summary of Program

The regulations regarding California’s Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for supervisors require that certain employers provide training to their supervisors every two years.

The Labor and Employment Group at Weintraub Tobin is offering a two hour in-person training session that will comply with all the requirements outlined in the regulations, including things like:

  • an overview of sexual harassment laws;
  • examples of conduct that constitute sexual harassment;
  • lawful supervisory responses to complaints of harassment in the workplace;
  • strategies to prevent harassment in the workplace; and
  • practical and inter-active hypotheticals and examples to help illustrate what sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation can look like.

If you are an employer with 50 or more employees, and have supervisors who have not yet been trained, this training is a must. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you comply with your continuing sexual harassment training obligations.

Training Program:

Thursday, December 6, 2012

9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Training

Charge: $50.00 per supervisor

Location:

Weintraub Tobin
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

Parking validation provided. Please park in the Wells Fargo Center parking garage.

RSVP

Ramona Carrillo
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Fl.
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.558.6046
rcarrillo@weintraub.com

SEMINAR: Risks and Benefits of Social Media and Computers in the Workplace – Sacramento

Published: October 29, 2012

For employers, are social networking sites Happy or Sad?

Summary of Program

Employees use networking sites to communicate with one another (as well as current and potential customers). They post their daily thoughts and activities, upload photos and, occasionally, adversely impact ther employers’ buusiness. What can an employer do to protect itself without intruding on employee rights?

Some of the topics to be discussed include:

  • Employer’s use of employee’s social media information versus the employee’s right to privacy.
  • Protection of employer’s Confidential and Proprietary Information.
  • Potential employer liability for employee’s on-line conduct.
  • The importance of effective Electronic Use and Social Media policies.

Location

Weintraub Tobin
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

Parking validation provided – please park in the Wells Fargo Center garage

Seminar Program

8:30 a.m. Registration and Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Seminar

Approved for 3.0 hours MCLE credit;
HRCI credits available upon request.

There is no charge for this seminar.

RSVP

Ramona Carrillo
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Fl.
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.558.6046
rcarrillo@weintraub.com

SEMINAR: NEW LOCATION! Risks and Benefits of Social Media and Computers in the Workplace

Published: October 10, 2012

Download: Social Networking SF v2.pdf

For employers, are social networking sites Happy or Sad?

Summary of Program

Employees use networking sites to communicate with one another (as well as current and potential customers). They post their daily thoughts and activities, upload photos and, occasionally, adversely impact ther employers’ buusiness. What can an employer do to protect itself without intruding on employee rights?

Some of the topics to be discussed include:

  • Employer’s use of employee’s social media information versus the employee’s right to privacy.
  • Protection of employer’s Confidential and Proprietary Information.
  • Potential employer liability for employee’s on-line conduct.
  • The importance of effective Electronic Use and Social Media policies.

Location – UPDATED!

The location of this event has changed. The new location:

Weintraub Tobin
475 Sansome Street, Suite 1800
San Francisco CA

Seminar Program

8:30 a.m. Registration and Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Seminar

Approved for 3.0 hours MCLE credit;
HRCI credits available upon request.

There is no charge for this seminar.

RSVP

Ramona Carrillo
400 Capitol Mall, 11th Fl.
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.558.6046
rcarrillo@weintraub.com

Governor Brown Signed AB 2103 Making Clear “Mutual Wage Agreements” are Illegal in California

Published: October 1, 2012

As the L&E Law Blog readers may recall from the August 31, 2011 blog post and the teleseminar I conducted on September 14, 2011, the court in Arechiga v. Dolores Press, Inc. (2011) 192 Cal. App. 4th 567 was the sole California decision that held that “mutual wage agreements” were legal in California despite the express language in section 515 of the Labor Code.

Review of Arechiga:

In Arechiga, the court held that mutual wage agreements that factored in overtime pay into a non-exempt employee’s set weekly compensation were enforceable if they were in writing and contained at least the following:

(1) the days that the employee would work each week;
(2) the number of hours the employee would work each day;
(3) that the employee would be paid a guaranteed salary of a specific amount;
(4) that the employee was told the basic hourly rate upon which his salary was based;
(5) that the employee was told his salary covered both his regular and overtime hours; and
(6) that the agreement was reached before the work was performed.

AB 2103:

AB 2103 was signed by Governor Brown on September 30, 2012. The bill expressly states that “[i]t is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this act, to overturn the decision in Arechiga v. Dolores Press (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 567.”

Section 515(d)(1) of the Labor Code has always provided that when calculating the overtime rate for non-exempt full time salaried employees, “…the employee’s regular hourly rate shall be 1/40th of the employee’s weekly salary.” The court in Arechiga held that such language did not preclude an employer and employee from agreeing to a set regular rate of pay and set overtime rate of pay, all of which is included in a set weekly salary. In order to prevent an employer from factoring in overtime into a non-exempt employee’s weekly salary, the new law adds the following language to section 515(d):

“(2) Payment of a fixed salary to a nonexempt employee shall be deemed to provide compensation only for the employee’s regular, non-overtime hours, notwithstanding any private agreement to the contrary.”

Therefore, the strict reading of section 515 that California courts applied prior to the Arechiga case is now codified in the statute.

What Does All of This Mean?

Using the facts from the Arechiga as an example, below is the difference in overtime pay a non-exempt employee paid on a salary basis would receive under section 515 versus under an illegal mutual wage agreement.

  • Employer and employee agree that a salaried non-exempt employee will work 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, for a total of 66 hours per week (26 hours of which were overtime) and will be paid a set weekly salary of $880.00
    • Under an illegal mutual wage agreement, the employee’s regular rate of pay is $11.14 per hour and the overtime premium is $16.71 per hour. The employee is paid a total of $880.00.
    • Pursuant to Labor Code section 515(d), the employee’s regular rate of pay is $22.00 per hour and the overtime premium is $33.00 per hour. ($880.00 / 40 hours = $22.00 and $22 x 1 ½ = $33.00). Thus, the employee would be entitled to $880.00 for all regular hours (40 hours) and an additional $858.00 in overtime pay (26 hours x $33.00 per hour).

Lesson.

There is a big difference between the two methods of calculation – $858.00! Therefore, if employers are going to pay non-exempt employees on a salary basis, they must remember that such salary will be used to calculate their regular rate of pay based on a statutory 40 hour workweek, which will in turn form the basis of their overtime premiums. The higher the weekly salary, the higher the regular rate and overtime premiums will be.