December 2nd, 2008 
James PetersIn most layoff situations, especially these days, the layoff is legitimate and a necessary evil in cutting costs. However, just because an employee has not been wrongfully terminated in a layoff does not mean they have no California employment law rights. One common example is receiving all unpaid vacation pay.
Under California employment laws, once employees have accrued… Continue reading
August 7th, 2008 James PetersOver the past couple of months I have been dealing with a case against a major national bank on behalf of one of its former employees. The case involves his “discretionary” annual bonus, which most employers would say is just that-discretionary. However, the term discretionary is misleading because except in some very limited circumstances a party to a contract does not have absolute discretion.
This… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Other 
Tags: Bonuses, California Employment Law, Cases, Employment Contracts, Wages and Hours 
1 Comment » June 22nd, 2008 James PetersThis post is part of our ongoing series dealing with “family status” discrimination. Family status claims implicate several employment laws, depending on the facts of a given case. For example, the federal Equal Pay Act (“EPA”) and also California law mandate “equal pay” between men and women.
The fact that women disproportionately care for children in the United States is likely a direct contributor to the fact that women still tend… 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 6th, 2007 James PetersYesterday the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Gattuso v. Harte-Hanks Shoppers, Inc., ruling that employers may reimburse employee expenses in the form of “additional wages” payable in a “lump sum” instead of reimbursing each separate expense for the exact amount incurred.
This case deals with a scenario common to sales employees where the employer simply gives the employee a set automobile “allowance” or a “per diem” payment that is… Continue reading
November 6th, 2007 James PetersAs explained in various posts on this blog, California employees are presumed to deserve overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 in one week or 8 in one day, even if they are paid a salary, unless the employer can prove that an exemption to that rule applies.
The “computer software professionals” exemption is rarely used successfully by employers in overtime cases and such employees are usually non-exempt employees… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Overtime Tags: California Employment Law, Wages : Overtime, Wages and Hours 2 Comments » 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
February 19th, 2007 James PetersMy employer pays me at one rate of pay for my regular work, but then pays me minimum wage for travel and attending seminars after-hours. How is my overtime supposed to be calculated?
A: Calculating overtime for an hourly employee who is paid at two separate hourly rates is a fairly complicated analysis and does not come up very often, but hopefully the explanation… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Overtime Tags: California Employment Law, Commissions, Minimum Wage, Q&A, Wages : Overtime, Wages and Hours 13 Comments » January 26th, 2007 James PetersYesterday, it was reported that Wal-Mart had reached a settlement with the Department of Labor to settle unpaid overtime claims by its employees.
The odd thing about this settlement is that Wal-Mart turned itself in to the Department of Labor and negotiated a quick settlement with the government and the employees had no say in what they settled for.
Apparently, the settlement included absolutely NO penalties, NO interest… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Overtime Tags: California Employment Law, News, Wages : Overtime, Wages and Hours 1 Comment » January 21st, 2007 James PetersAlthough this series on commissioned salespeople and overtime might not be the most exciting employment law topic, for those with large unpaid claims, it probably is the most exciting… Continue reading
January 21st, 2007 James PetersEven if you meet the criteria to be classified as “exempt” from overtime pay as a commissioned salesperson, the business your employer is engaged in can also automatically qualify you for overtime, regardless of how you are paid.
Commissioned salespeople can only be “exempt” if their employer is a “retail or service establishment”. Whether your employer qualifies is very complicated… Continue reading
January 18th, 2007 James PetersIn order for an employee to qualify as “exempt” from overtime pay as a commissioned salesperson, the main test that must be met is the employee MUST make more than 50% of their wages in the form of “commissions”. This test is not as straightforward as it might sound at first.
What are “commissions”?
Many employees receive what their employers call “commissions” as part of their wages each pay period, but… Continue reading
January 18th, 2007 James PetersThis is the first in a series of posts dealing specifically with the issue of commissioned salespeople and unpaid overtime. This is an area most employees, many employers, and even a large percentage of California attorneys do not understand correctly.
Top salespeople often make a very comfortable living and never even think about whether they are legally entitled to overtime pay.
Usually only salespeople who are wrongfully terminated or seek legal… Continue reading
January 17th, 2007 James PetersEmployers and employees are often confused about how many hours an employee must work before overtime must be paid. California law is more complicated than most states on this point, but it is also much more generous to employees than most.
Employers must pay all non-exempt employees overtime at the rate of time-and-one-half for all hours worked:
1) Over 40 in one week,
2) Over 8 in one day, and… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Overtime Tags: California Employment Law, Wages : Overtime, Wages and Hours 3 Comments » January 17th, 2007 James PetersEmployers, either through ignorance or intentionally, often make big mistakes in calculating overtime rates of pay for their employees and these often turn into big claims by the employees for unpaid wages later on.
To calculate an employee’s “overtime rate” of pay, you first have to calculate their “regular rate” of pay, which is the number multiplied by 1.5 to get an “overtime rate”… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Overtime Tags: Bonuses, California Employment Law, Commissions, Wages : Overtime, Wages and Hours 1 Comment » January 14th, 2007 James PetersDefense attorneys for large corporations in California have been trumpeting the case of In re Farmers Ins. Exch., 466 F.3d 853 (9th Cir. 2006) for the proposition that insurance claims adjusters are now exempt employees who are not entitled to overtime pay. However, this is not true when it comes to employees in California.
Although the case is a 9th Circuit opinion, the case was brought in… Continue reading
Posted in Wages : Overtime Tags: California Employment Law, Cases, Wages : Overtime, Wages and Hours 3 Comments » January 11th, 2007 James PetersOn January 1, 2007, California increased its minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.50 per hour.
Putting aside the fact that an extra 75 cents for each hour worked really has no effect on people’s lives (just $1,560 per year before taxes), there are some “side effects” of this increase employees should be aware of.
Background
Under California law, the presumption is that all employees must receive overtime pay at 1.5 times their hourly Continue reading
January 7th, 2007 James PetersI work from a home office in California, but my employer is based in Illinois. I have many business expenses I pay out of my own pocket but my employer refuses to reimburse me for them. Is this legal in California?
A: In California, Labor Code § 2802 requires all employers to reimburse employees for any business expenses they incur… Continue reading
Posted in Q&A, Wages : Expenses Tags: California Employment Law, Expense Reimbursement, Q&A, Wages and Hours No Comments » January 4th, 2007 James PetersI have worked for a company over 20 years and now I am retiring. I never took a vacation the last ten years I worked there. Each year I lost all of the vacation time I did not use. My son told me that is illegal in California. Is that true?
–Need a Vacation (CA)
A: Your son is correct. In California, so-called Continue reading
Posted in Q&A, Wages : Other Tags: California Employment Law, Q&A, Vacation Pay, Wages and Hours 24 Comments » December 31st, 2006 James PetersMy employer terminated me today (December 31, 2006). I was supposed to receive a $10,000 performance bonus for 2006, but one of the terms of my bonus agreement says that I have to be employed on January 1, 2007 to get my bonus. The company is not doing very well and I think I was actually terminated so that they did not have to pay me… Continue reading
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