
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM
RICHARD SIMMON'S UPDATE:
Richard stated that more than
150 new workplace bills were signed into law by Governor
Davis between 1999 and 2003, which in most instances had a
negative impact on CA businesses. Collectively, these bills
added or amended literally hundreds of statutes that
directly regulate workplaces.
PAGA
(Private Attorneys General Act of 2004)
- CA's "Sue Your
Boss" law.
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Creates substantial new
sanctions for those Labor Code provisions that did not
prescribe civil penalties before 1/1/04. The new sanctions
establish separate penalties for each employee and each pay
period in which a violation occurs.
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Plainly encourages employees
to bypass internal grievance procedures and litigate claims
over virtually any perceived violation of state law.
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Employees will profit by suing
their employers rather than pointing out problems so they
can be quickly corrected internally.
Simmons
Recommends:
Employers in every industry
should conduct carefully planned internal compliance audits
– preferably with the advice of legal council. The audit
should focus on at least 15 separate areas governed by state
and federal laws, including: 1. Labor Code rules, 2. Wage &
Hour, 3. Posting, 4. EEEO, 5. Employee Benefits, 6. Hiring,
7. Leaves and Time-Off Rights, 8. Personnel Policies &
Handbooks, 9. Recordkeeping, Retention and Reporting, 10.
Privacy, 11. HR forms, 12. Employment Relationships
(independent contractor, volunteer, etc.), 13. Payroll
Taxes, 14. Miscellaneous. You can purchase Richard's PAGA
manual through
www.castlepublications.com.
ONGOING INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Richard recommended including
a written policy in the Employee Handbook expressing the
employer's commitment to an ongoing interactive
communication process whenever an employee (or applicant)
requests reasonable accommodation due to a disability or
medical condition. Employees should be required to bring
such requests to the immediate supervisor, Human Resources
or any other member of management immediately in order to
begin the dialog in a timely manner. While accommodations
may not always to possible, the employer should make every
reasonable effort to find solutions to such employee
requests.
SEXUAL
HARASSMENT TRAINING REQUIREMENT REMINDER
California employers of 50 or
more employees are now required to provide 2 hours of sexual
harassment training for all supervisory employees, every 2
years. REMEMBER...the employee count includes all those
who perform employee-type duty, such as temps, contractors,
etc. ALSO, employees outside of the state are included in
the count.
The definition of "supervisor"
will likely be considered the same as is used in the FEHA
legislation which includes all those with the "authority to
hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall, promote, discharge,
assign, reward or discipline other employees or the
responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their
grievances, or effectively to recommend that
action.....requires the use of independent judgment." A
non-exempt employee could be considered a supervisor under
this expansive definition. |