Joseph Beachboard

What legal issues affect workplace dress codes?

09/27/2013

Q. We have been contemplating developing a dress code. What kinds of legal issues do we need to consider?

What’s the law on surreptitious audiotaping?

09/27/2013

Q. One of the employees in our office has been taping conversations unknown to the people he is taping. Does the employee have a right to do this?

Does a natural disaster make former employees eligible for unemployment benefits?

08/22/2013

Q. We had to close down our business because of the damage caused by a natural disaster. Are our employees entitled to unemployment benefits?

Must we pay severance to employee who turned down telecommuting offer?

08/22/2013

Q. We plan to lay off some of our employees and offer jobs to others in our facility in another state. We are also giving a select few of our employees the option to work from home. One of the employees to whom we gave this telecommuting option has declined it and requested severance instead. Are we obligated to pay him severance?

Reporting-time pay: What if it’s clear employee is in no condition to work?

07/23/2013

Q. Does California’s reporting-time pay law apply to workers who report to work but appear to be unable or unfit to work?

How should we pay for overnight travel?

07/23/2013

Q. I know that the laws on overnight travel time are more restrictive in California than under federal law. Does the overnight travel rule under federal law apply in California or does an employer have to pay all travel time even if overnight travel is involved?

Is a minimum wage hike on the way?

06/27/2013

Q. Is it true that the California state minimum wage is increasing soon?

What are the rules for providing, paying for employee uniforms?

06/27/2013

Q. We would like to require employees to pay for their own uniforms. Is this legal? If not, we would like to require employees to purchase uniforms. Then we would reimburse them. Is that OK, or must we purchase the uniforms and provide them to the employees?

Can we change full-timer to part-time after maternity leave?

05/20/2013

Q. We are a small company and have seven employees. One of our employees recently went out on a leave of absence for pregnancy. During that time, we hired a replacement worker to do the same job. The replacement only worked part time, but was still able to complete work that our employee did full time. When our employee returns to work, we would like to change her job status from full time to part time. Is this legal?

Can transportation firm include class-action waivers in arbitration agreement?

04/23/2013

Q. We would like to ask all of our employees to sign arbitration agreements. However, in light of the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision in AT&T Mobility v. Conception, we would like these arbitration agreements to contain class-action waivers. How should we handle this process, given that we are in the transportation industry?