California employers have had a duty to maintain certain employee records and a duty to give current and former employees access to their personnel file.  Effective the 1st day of 2013, the California enacted several changes regarding the procedure and timing for responding to a current or former employee’s request for their personnel file. Under…

When an employee is paid by commission, disputes often arise between the employer and the employee as to how commissions are computed and paid.  When the underlying agreement was created orally or amended orally, there is no hard evidence of the what parties actually agreed to.  In October 2011, California solved this problem by amending…

With the social media becoming a part of almost every person’s life, employers increasingly have demanded access to prospective or current employee’s social media accounts.  Effective this year, California has ended this practice by enacting Labor Code section 980. The new law begins by broadly defining social media as “an electronic service or account, or…

In one of my videos, I explained that an employer’s duty to pay overtime is not based on whether the employee receives a salary.  An employer’s duty to pay overtime turn, instead, on whether the employee qualifies as an exempt employee.  What happens, therefore, when a non-exempt salaried employee works overtime?  In an effort to…

When discrimination is a substantial factor for terminating an employee, the employer often has legitimate (non-discriminatory) reasons for the termination.  Although employers often raised these mixed motives as a defense to employee discrimination claims, it was unclear whether and to what extent a “mixed motive” theory is an available defense for employers under the Fair…