San Francisco Employment Law Focus: Paid Sick Leave

Posted by Anthony Ruggieri on Monday, November 7th, 2011

In February 2007, San Francisco implemented its Paid Sick Leave employment law. Per the terms of the ordinance, contained in Chapter 12W of the San Francisco Administrative Code, employers doing business in San Francisco must provide its employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Paid sick leave may be used for the employee's illness, injury, medical condition, diagnosis or treatment; and for time taken off by an employee to provide care or assistance to certain other persons for a medical reason. The employee can use paid sick leave to care for the following: child, parent, legal guardian or ward,...

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Superior Court of San Francisco Budget Crisis Update

Posted by Marc Kroop on Monday, October 10th, 2011

In a recent blog post, we informed our San Francisco employee clients about significant cuts in the budget for the Superior Court of San Francisco. In that post, we were very concerned that the necessary overwhelming budget cuts would so impact court services that we would be forced to consider alternatives to filing employment law cases in the Superior Court of San Francisco. While there are significant cuts still in effect, those cuts have been drastically reduced as a result of the court’s reorganization and an infuse of several million dollars in funding from the Judicial Council. Significantly, the Superior Court of San Francisco will...

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Filing Your Administrative Charges of Discrimination, Retaliation & Harassment Online

Posted by Marc Kroop on Friday, October 7th, 2011

In the course of providing our free initial consultation to our prospective clients in our San Diego, Orange County and San Francisco offices, we regularly field questions from prospective clients about their employment law claims including discrimination, retaliation and harassment. In some cases, our clients have conducted research on their discrimination, retaliation and harassment in advance of meeting with us and have already taken steps to file their administrative charge(s) of discrimination, retaliation and harassment with the appropriate state or federal agency before meeting with us.

A Practical Approach For Our San Diego, Orange County & San Francisco Clients

For those clients who have not researched the issue, we typically advise those clients of their rights with regard to filing such...

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New Proposed California Employment Law Would Require Employers to Provide its Employees with Bereavement Leave

Posted by Anthony Ruggieri on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

AB 325, a bill presented by Bonnie Lowenthal, is being considered by the California legislature and would require employers to provide up to 3 days of unpaid bereavement leave to employees upon the death of specified family members. This proposed California employment law states that it would be an “unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by any employee to take up to three days of bereavement leave upon the death of a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or domestic partner.” In order to be eligible for the leave, an employee must have been employed with his or her employer for at least 60 days prior to the death of the...

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Those With Disabilities And Medical Conditions Should Obtain Help At The Earliest Possible Time

Posted by Marc Kroop on Friday, September 23rd, 2011

In Rogers v. County of Los Angeles, the Plaintiff Katrina Rogers returned to work after 19 weeks of medical leave only to learn that after a reorganization of her department, her position was filled by another employee and she was transferred to a new department. At the time, Ms. Rogers had been employed by the County of Los Angeles for 36 years. In her lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles, Ms. Rogers alleged two distinct theories of liability. First, Ms. Rogers alleged that the county interfered with her right to medical leave by transferring her to a new position. Second, she alleged that the transfer amounted to retaliation. At trial, the...

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Budget Cuts For The Superior Court Will Force San Francisco Employment Attorneys To Consider Alternative Venues

Posted by Marc Kroop on Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

On July 18, 2011 the Superior Court of San Francisco issued a press release with the following warning: Two hundred San Francisco Superior Court employees will receive their 60-day layoff notices this week as the Court prepares for an unprecedented dismantling of court operations with far-reaching public impacts, Presiding Judge Feinstein announced today. “The civil justice system in San Francisco is collapsing,” Judge Feinstein said. “We will prioritize criminal, juvenile, and other matters that must, by law, be adjudicated within time limits. Beyond that, justice will neither be swift nor accessible.” The court warned of dire consequences for civil litigants...

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The Bad Reference: What Can Your Former Employer Say?

Posted by John Goffar on Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

You’re fired! We have all heard Donald Trump utter this phrase on The Apprentice. But what happens when you have been fired? What if it was for an untrue or unjustified reason? Or worse, what if you actually did something illegal or in violation of company policy that justified your termination? Once you have recovered from the initial shock of your termination, it is time to get back out there and begin searching for a job. But with the black mark of a termination now on their record and the possibility of a bad reference, many employees are paralyzed with fear about what their prior employers are allowed to say to future employers. So what can...

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The Jerk Boss Conundrum: What To Do? Part 2

Posted by John Goffar on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

So you have remained professional and calm and have met with your boss to request that the insulting abusive behavior stop, but the abuse continues. What now?

How To Fight Back Against Workplace Bullying

To the extent possible, document the behavior of your boss including detailed notes of what was said, the date and time of the statement(s) and anyone who was present. While it may not be practicable under the circumstances to contemporaneously take notes (and may anger your boss) as soon as the boss leaves your area immediately write down word for word what was said. This “journal” or calendar can be an invaluable tool for later recounting events to Human Resources or...

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The Jerk Boss Conundrum: What To Do? Part 1

Posted by John Goffar on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

The childhood bully has grown up and is in a position of power. Petty insults, name calling, shouting, exclusion from events, and sabotage, are now daily occurrences. In an alarming trend, more and more employees are subjected to daily abusive language and insults from a Supervisor. It is easy to feel helpless and powerless in such a situation. After all, you can’t complain to the very person you find objectionable right? And if you complain you will be fired right? This is the proverbial “catch 22” in that if you don’t complain you must continue to endure the harassment, but if you do complain you will inevitably be fired. If allowed to continue, The Jerk Boss abuse frequently...

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Overtime For Inside Salespersons in California

Posted by Patrick Nellies on Friday, September 9th, 2011

For employees whose job duties primarily entail inside-sales, a recent California appellate decision has restricted, but in our opinion, left the door open, for such inside-sales personnel to make an overtime claim against their employers. According to Labor Code Section 204.1, commission is defined as "compensation paid to any person for services rendered in the sale of such employer's property or services and based proportionately upon the amount or value thereof." However, the Court of Appeal in Areso v. Carmax (2011) 195 Cal.App.4th 996, interpreted Section 204.1's definition of commission in a way that significantly broadened the previous definition of what constitutes commission/wages. As a result of such...

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