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Employment Law

California Supreme Court limits wage-and-hour litigation

08/26/2009

Here’s a bit of good news from the Supreme Court of California: The court has ruled that labor unions can’t intercede for union members to sue employers for missed meal and rest breaks under the state’s unfair competition law or the private attorney general statute.

Conoco workers won’t get class-action status in W&H suit

08/26/2009

A federal judge recently refused to certify a class-action suit in which workers at several California refiners sought to jointly sue ConocoPhillips Co. for failing to provide meal periods.

Probation officer sues L.A. County for unpaid overtime

08/26/2009

Deputy probation officer Timothy Bentley is suing the Los Angeles County Probation Department, claiming that the county had a “pattern and practice of refusing to pay overtime” to deputy officers in the Suitable Placement Division.

Choose one: Settlement or class-action lawsuit

08/26/2009

Guess what: You can’t press forward with a wage-and-hour class-action suit after you’ve already settled with the organization you’re suing. So said the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals when it tossed a class-action bid brought by two former T-Mobile sales reps.

What should we do before we start taping employees’ phone conversations?

08/26/2009

Q. For quality-control purposes and to ensure that workers are not making personal telephone calls, we would like to tape-record the calls employees make on company phones. Would that be legal?

Should we require a nondisclosure agreement?

08/26/2009

Q. Should we require new employees to sign a nondisclosure agreement in order to protect our trade secrets, customer lists, etc.?

What is California’s law concerning time off to attend school activities?

08/26/2009

Q. Many of our employees have children who will return to school this month. Are we required to grant these employees time off for school-related activities?

Union schism leads to criminal charges against Aramark

08/26/2009

The Workers United union has filed criminal charges with the Philadelphia Police Department against food-service giant Aramark, alleging that the company has pocketed union dues deducted from employees’ paychecks. Aramark manages concessions at Citizens Bank Park, the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, plus 40 other arenas in the U.S. and Canada.

During RIF, make sure your rationale makes sense

08/26/2009

Reductions in force are risky, so plan them carefully. Before you try to explain why you’re letting certain employees go, make sure your reasons make sense.

Complaining about co-worker’s harassment may be protected

08/26/2009

Employees who complain that a co-worker is being sexually harassed by a supervisor may be engaging in protected activity. That’s because a good-faith complaint may amount to opposition to a discriminatory employment practice. Punishing that employee may then be illegal retaliation.