Many companies require their employees to sign confidentiality agreements that prohibit the employees from disclosing non-public information about the company to outsiders. In general, these confidentiality agreements aim to protect a company’s proprietary information that gives it an advantage over its competitors; things like trade secrets, inventions, customer lists and strategic plans. Recently, however, a growing number of companies have written whistleblower confidentiality agreements … [Read more...]
California Paid Sick Leave Law: What Most Employees Are Entitled To
Under California’s paid sick leave law, with some limited exceptions, California employees are now entitled to accrue and take paid sick leave. California is the second state in the nation to mandate paid sick leave for its employees; Connecticut was the first. But unlike in Connecticut, California’s new paid sick leave law applies to employers of every size. Here’s how California’s new paid sick leave law works: To accrue paid sick leave with a particular employer, an employee must work for … [Read more...]
Employee vs Independent Contractor: How California Law Protects Workers
California protects working conditions for employees in the state through a broad set of laws, rules and regulations. For example, California employers must pay their employees a minimum hourly wage (now at $9.00 per hour) and, generally speaking, one-and-a-half times the minimum wage for overtime work of more than 8 hours in a day or more than 40 hours in a workweek. There are exceptions for professional, managerial or technical employees who are exempt from the minimum wage laws. Employers in … [Read more...]
California Equal Pay Act: New Law Aims to Close the Wage Gap for Women
In 1949, California enacted an equal pay law to ensure that women were paid the same as men for the same work. Sixty-six years later, the California Legislature amended that law in a way that might actually close the persistent wage gap women workers face. The Fair Pay Act of 2015, signed by California Governor Jerry Brown in early October, mandates that California employers pay men and women the same wages for “substantially similar work” as measured by skill, effort, level of responsibility, … [Read more...]
Supervisor Harassment Liability: What Makes You “The Boss”? The U.S. Supreme Court Weighs In
What actually makes someone the "boss?" That is exactly what the U.S. Supreme Court is currently trying to decide after they heard arguments in a case involving workplace discrimination at Ball State University. Just 14 years ago, it was decided that employers could be held liable for supervisor harassment in the workplace, but it was never determined what qualified someone as a supervisor.The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case brought by Maetta Vance, the only black employee in the catering … [Read more...]