Employment Law

In California, the relationship of employer and employee is generally “at will.” This means that, without an employment contract, the employer or the employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause.

In order for your termination to be wrongful or illegal, you must have been fired based on a protected category or in retaliation for exercising your legal rights.  Protected categories include, but are not limited to, race, religion, disability, pregnancy, age, national origin, general and/or sexual orientation.  The best thing to do if you are unsure whether you are protected, is to call us for a free consultation.

Misclassification is a complex area of employment law.  Misclassification generally occurs under two scenarios.  The first is when an employer classifies an employee as an independent contractor.  The second is when an employer classifies you as an exempt employee that is not entitled to overtime pay.  Under the independent contractor scenario, everything depends on how much control the employer has over you.  If the employer controls your schedule, the work to be performed, and most decisions about the way your job is to be performed, you might be an employee.  Employees are entitled to overtime, (generally) paid meal and rest breaks, and are covered by workers’ compensation and other protections that the law affords.  In the second scenario, an employer will claim you are exempt and not entitled to overtime.  Whether you are paid a salary or an hourly wage.  What matters is your duties. If 51% of your duties are nonexempt, you are a nonexempt employee.

If you have complained about what you reasonably believe is an illegal business activity or complained about harassment and/or discrimination and you suffer an adverse employment action as a result (termination, demotion, reduction in hours or wages etc.) this is likely retaliation.

Under both federal and California law, employers are prohibited from discriminating against applicants or employees who have disabilities.  This protection extends to perceived disabilities, current disabilities, past disabilities, or any relation to a person with disabilities.  Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation to determine whether you can perform the essential functions of your job. An employer is prohibited from treating a disabled employee any differently than any other employee.

Employers are usually required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified people with disabilities, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.  Reasonable accommodations are any changes or adjustments to a job or work environment that allow a person, with a disability, to perform the essential functions of his/her job and enjoy equal employment opportunities. 

Some examples of reasonable accommodations are:

• Installing a ramp or modifying a restroom to make it accessible.
• Providing screen reader software or sign language interpreters.
• Modifying a policy to allow a service animal in the workplace.
• Adjusting work schedules or allowing telework. 

Employers are not required to provide accommodations that would be unduly costly, extensive, substantial, or disruptive, or that would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the business.  To determine if an accommodation is reasonable, employers must engage in an interactive process with the employee to identify the precise limitations resulting from the disability and potential reasonable accommodations that could overcome those limitations. 

No.  Employers cannot require you to waive overtime pay or work off the clock.  An employee is entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 8 hours in a day OR 40 hours in a week.

If you are a nonexempt employee, any work performed on behalf of the employer is compensable.  It is a good idea for employees to keep records of all time worked in case evidence is needed at a later time.  

No.  An employer cannot deduct pay for rest time.  Rest breaks are paid breaks.

An employer must pay an employee for meal breaks if the employee works through those breaks.  Most employers have employees clock out for meal breaks.  If the break is uninterrupted an employer may deduct the time of the break for the workday hours.

No.  If a meal break is interrupted, the employee should be compensated for that break time.

No,  that is incorrect.

Yes.  It is important that the employee maintain all receipts and turn them in, in a timely manner.

Within 72 hours of resignation.

Same day as termination.

Not necessarily.  An employee may have a retaliation claim if the employee complained about what was believed to be illegal business practices or complaints about a protected activity and/or category.  Just general complaints about personalities or workload are often not actionable.

California is a two-person consent state.  Secretly recording someone, except in a place where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, is illegal.

Litigating a lawsuit is normally a length process.  A case can take anywhere from a couple of months to several years.

Please see a list of our practice areas here: https://www.plblaw.com/practice-areas/

Our firm files lawsuits against government entities and private employers.

A prospective employee will talk to one of our experienced case evaluators and go through a series of questions.  Once all the necessary information is obtained, an attorney will review and determine whether it is a case we can assist with.  The evaluation process can typically take between 30 minutes to 24 hours.

Yes.

Our firm will provide a few referrals upon request.