Category Archives: Employment
Signs Your Employer is Using Pretext to Set You Up
Although there are many illegal reasons to fire or punish an employee, there are also plenty of perfectly legal reasons. One of those reasons is simply poor job performance, not doing what your superior says, violating company rules, or any of a number of things that common sense would tell you could get you… Read More »
Can Your Employer Make You Disclose Your Social Media Passwords?
When you apply for a job, or even when you are already working for an employer, you probably expect there will be some investigation into your background. You’d expect to provide things like criminal background checks, drug tests, or credit checks. But what if your employer or potential employer goes a step further: what… Read More »
Understanding California’s Ban the Box Laws
While it is admittedly never great to have a criminal history, the fact remains that the criminal law is an imperfect system, and people make mistakes. That shouldn’t forever mark you as unfit for employment. That concept is at the heart of California’s “ban the box” initiative, which limits how much a potential employer… Read More »
Workers Returning From Medical Leave Can End Up Being Victims of Discrimination
Under both California and federal law, employees have a right to leave from work, to attend to their own, or to family medical issues, problems, or emergencies (which also includes childbirth, and post-childbirth care). And often, employers abide by these laws, understanding that there can be penalties for violating a worker’s medical leave act… Read More »
Can You Get Punitive Damages in an Employment Discrimination Case?
In an employment discrimination case, just like in many types of cases where someone is injured or wronged, the purpose of damages is to make the victim whole. In employment law cases, that can include lost wages, or financial losses because of harassment or discrimination. That can also include compensation for the victim’s emotional… Read More »
Discriminatory Things Employers Say in Job Interviews
Let’s say that you go to a job interview. The questions seem pretty standard. They didn’t seem to ask anything that would seem obviously discriminatory. But did they? You may be surprised to know that there are a lot of things that employers cannot ask in job interviews—but they often do. And when they… Read More »
Discrimination in the Workplace Because of Mental Health or Mental Illness
Despite all the public information campaigns, the news articles, and the awareness movements, the sad fact remains that there is still discrimination against people with mental illness. That discrimination comes in two forms: One is the mere fact that so many people don’t see mental illness as “real,” or at least, a real disability,… Read More »
Things You May Not Have Known About the FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA says that if you work more than 40 hours a week, you are entitled to overtime. That seems pretty straightforward, but the FLSA is actually quite a complex law. The good news is that many of those complexities work in favor of workers. Here are some things… Read More »
In California, Wage Theft is Now a Felony
When we talk about not getting paid for work, we usually talk about violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and situations where an employer unknowingly miscalculates hours, or takes tips from employees or other things are illegal, Wage Theft When a worker isn’t paid what he or she is due, it is… Read More »
Proposition 22: Do Workers Win?
The fight in California as to whether gig workers will be legally considered independent contractors or actual employees, progresses, as the California Supreme Court hears arguments as the Proposition 22 case. How It Started The entire debate started when the State of California instructed gig employers, companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and similar companies,… Read More »
