Posts in Employment
Ninth Circuit Requires Employers to Micromanage All Employee Actions- Including What Songs to Play on the Loudspeakers!

Employers can be held liable for sexual harassment based on the type of music that is played in the workplace for all to hear. Sexual harassment is now so broadly defined that the music does not need to target any one person and can be simultaneously offensive to both men and women. Employers should regulate the type of music employees may be allowed to play in the workplace – or limit the type of music to a predetermined list of songs or music channel.

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Big and Small Employers Breathe a Sigh of Relief: Employer’s Good Faith Belief That No Wages Were Owed to an Employee Is a Defense to Liability Under Labor Code Sec. 203 and 226.

Recently in February of 2023, in a rare moment of support for the California employer, a California appellate court explicitly held that the employer is not liable for waiting time penalties or wage statement penalties if, at the time, the employer had a good faith dispute as to whether or not the employee was entitled to additional wages.

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IRS Proposes New Program that will Disproportionately Crackdown on Small Business and the Working Class, i.e. the “Small Guys.”

This past Monday, February 6, 2023, the IRS announced that it is proposing a new program that would allow digital tracking of all service employees’ tips. The new program is called The Service Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (SITCA), which will require more stringent monitoring and reporting of all tips. The SITCA program is the beginning of a new era: one where transactions, even the smallest transactions for a cup of coffee, can trigger tax liability

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California Fast Food Employers Fight Back: Implementation of California’s “First of Its Kind” FAST Recovery Act is Temporarily Suspended.

California restaurant owners are fighting back in court and challenging California’s new and unique Fast Recovery Act. The new law, which gives a supervisory board unlimited unilateral control over the relationship between the franchise owners and the franchise owners employees, has been suspended by a Sacramento judge.

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Ringing in the New Year with Higher Hourly Rates: California’s Statewide Minimum Wage Set to Rise to $15.50 For ALL Employers on January 1, 2023.

Beginning on January 1, 2023, minimum wage is set to increase to $15.50 per hour for all California employers- regardless of size. Small businesses will now be paying employees $1.50 more per hour, which is approximately a 10% raise.

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