June 6th, 2010 
James PetersYesterday I came across an article about an “English-only” law Tennessee passed just last week. My first reaction was similar to when I first heard of the Arizona immigration law, which is that it clearly violates federal law, will be struck down by the courts in short order, and is really nothing more than a political ploy to seem tough on immigration policy.
Most past legislation along… Continue reading
September 25th, 2009 James PetersThe Los Angeles Times recently reported on a new bill headed to Governor Schwarzenegger for possible signature (though I believe it is likely to be vetoed) generally prohibiting California employers from requiring applicants to allow them to examine their credit report as part of the application process.
The new California employment law would allow employers to do checks on employees who handle large amounts of money or other sensitive positions. While I recognize that in these situations there may be some correlation between a history of poor financial choices and the ability to do certain jobs, in today’s economy the usefulness of this information is, in my opinion, declining at the same time employers’ use of it as a hiring tool seems to be increasing. Continue reading
March 29th, 2008 James PetersIt is fairly common for sweeping employment law legislation to be introduced in the California legislature and I usually do not pay much attention to these bills because they usually do not become law.
One of two things almost always happens: (1) the republicans introduce a pro-employer bill that will never pass the democratically-controlled legislature or (2) the democrats introduce a pro-employee bill that passes but is then vetoed by… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Other 
Tags: Breaks, California Employment Law, Policy : Legislation, Wages and Hours 
1 Comment » November 20th, 2007 James PetersAccording to an article in today’s Los Angeles Times, Congressional Republicans are pushing to amend federal anti-discrimination laws to do away with the provision that prohibits employers from requiring employees to only speak English at work.
Currently, under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act such an “English-only” policy is considered national origin discrimination. There is a “business necessity” exception to this rule where speaking English is necessary to… Continue reading
November 5th, 2007 James PetersCalifornia 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
November 4th, 2007 James PetersThis 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
November 3rd, 2007 James PetersAs the end of the year approached, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed several employee protections the California legislature passed in 2007. While he felt it was important to give full protections to military spouses whose husbands or wives were on leave, he deemed other employees to be less deserving of similar rights.
This is the first in a series of posts on several important employee rights bills that the legislature passed this… Continue reading
November 2nd, 2007 James PetersCalifornia 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
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