Dilemma of the Month: Padding an Employee’s Timecard
The Fair Labor Standards Act has strict rules regarding paying nonexempt employees, and California is even stricter; one of the key components is that employees must be paid for every hour they work
Will Assembly Bill 5 Destroy the Gig Economy?
An end-of-session legislative fight has huge implications for companies and their contractors
A momentous Supreme Court decision. A presidential candidate weighing in. A noisy late-August demonstration outside the Capitol. Not Washington, but Sacramento. Not abortion or guns — Dynamex.
Dilemma of the Month: Responding to Requests for Reference Checks
“Evil HR Lady” Suzanne Lucas explains what you should say — and what you shouldn’t — when a prospective employer calls with a reference check.
Employers Urged to Find New Ways to Address Workers’ Mental Health
Last year, California passed legislation that made it the first state to establish voluntary standards for workplace mental health. Companies like Sutter Health, Walgreens and Bank of America quickly signed on to address mental health wellness in the workplace. Will others follow suit?
That Newsom Proposal For Six-Month Paid Family Leave? It’s Bold—But Less So Than It Seems
Californians who like the idea of getting more paid time off work to care for a new baby may find good news and bad news in the details of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget.
Dilemma Of The Month: How To Handle An Activist Employee
One of our employees is a vegan activist, and has started posting material on the “evils of eating meat” outside his cubicle or leaving them strewn around shared spaces (in the kitchen, near the copier, etc.). Is there anything I can do about this behavior?
These Masks Protect Against Particulates From Wildfire Smoke
Toby Lewsadder stepped outside an Ace Hardware store wearing a simple one-strap dust mask. He knew it wasn’t the right defense against the wildfire smoke lingering in the air, but it was all he could find.
Why Is California’s Rent-Control Initiative Tanking So Badly?
A California initiative to allow more rent control appears to be failing overwhelmingly, despite the state’s exploding housing costs and ever-rising rents, and its sponsors are already talking about trying again in 2020.
Dilemma of The Month: When HR And Department Heads Clash
I’m the HR manager for my company, and a director wanted to write up an employee for posting an article titled “Employees Don’t Leave Jobs, They Leave Managers” on her personal LinkedIn account. The director had already spoken with the employee and asked her to remove the article from LinkedIn, which she did. However, this doesn’t appear to be a violation of our organization’s social media policy. What should I do?
Disaster Contractor Gives Big Money to California Dems
A Florida-based company accused of botching the clean-up after last year’s devastating fires in Santa Rosa has jumped into California politics, writing big checks to Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign and the California Democratic Party.