RSS FeedOne employment law claim that has been quickly becoming more popular these days is “family status discrimination”. That is, discriminating against someone based on their familial obligations or simply because they have a family in the first place.
Widespread use of this claim is so recent that it does not even have a consistent name in legal circles. We call it “family status discrimination”, but others call it “family… Continue reading
Archive for the ‘Medical Leaves’ Category
Family Status Discrimination Series
April 16th, 2008 
James Peters 
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The Best Worst Paid Leave Policy Ever
January 28th, 2008 James Peters A Reuters story this morning deals with what is both one of the most liberal paid leave policies I have ever seen and also one of the most blatantly discriminatory.
Hime & Company, a Tokyo-based marketing firm, offers paid leave to employees who have a bad breakup, termed “heartache leave”. While this is quite generous and one could argue that such a leave is often necessary to regain your… Continue reading
"Mind-Numbing Lawyer Gobbledygook" Overrated?
January 19th, 2008 James Peters An article in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times discusses their own parent company, Tribune Co.’s new employee handbook that was introduced by their CEO, Sam Zell, via a recent e-mail to employees.
This caught my eye because it is not every day that a company publicly releases or discusses their employee handbook. In fact, many handbooks actually state that its pages are the employer’s property and must be returned… Continue reading
Schwarzenegger "Terminates" Employee Rights (Part 3)-Family Values?
November 5th, 2007 James Peters California Senate Bill 836 was heralded nationwide as the first law prohibiting employer discrimination against employees based on their “family status”.
For example, discrimination against employees who are single parents who have to take their child to the doctor would be… Continue reading
Schwarzenegger "Terminates" Employee Rights (Part 2)-Difficult Choices
November 4th, 2007 James Peters This is a real dilemma for many employees who have their own immediate families to also think about and cannot afford to be terminated, but are also needed to care for other close family members.
These are the kinds of protections that should be “no brainers” under California law. If an employee’s domestic partner is seriously ill, they should be able to take time off to care for them. Period. Continue reading
California Passes Spousal Military Leave Law
November 2nd, 2007 James Peters California has passed a law providing employees whose spouses are on active military duty with protected leave from work to be with their spouses when they are on leave from duty.
Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 392 into law last month and it became effective immediately. The Bill has two main components:
1. An employer of more than 25 people must provide an employee with up to 10 days of unpaid leave… Continue reading
Glass Ceiling is Still an Obstacle for Female Interviewees
March 4th, 2007 James Peters Sometimes it is easy to forget that discrimination against women, minorities and (of course) minority women still occurs in this country.
This might bring to mind examples where uneducated, unskilled women are denied employment and/or harassed by uneducated men who think of them as sex objects, such as in the movie North Country.
However, as discussed on Susan Cartier Liebel’s blog, this subject comes up… Continue reading
Q&A: Terminated While on Medical Leave
January 16th, 2007 James Peters I took a one-month FMLA medical leave for surgery, but my employer laid me off two weeks into the leave. I have always heard that an employer cannot terminate an employee who is on a medical leave. Is this true?
A: It is a common misconception among employees that employers cannot terminate them if they are on a medical leave. While in practice most… Continue reading