To start off the California Workplace Rights Blog, the blog is reviewing 10 of the most often violated employee wage and hour rights.
Number 7 is another example of an employer failing to pay employees for all hours worked. Some employers make employees perform tasks such as loading or unloading equipment or downloading information to an electronic device before the employee clocks in and begins earning pay or after the employee clocks out at the end of the day. Employees who have been required to perform off the clock work may be eligible to recover regular pay and overtime pay.
If you think your employer has failed to pay you for all hours worked, you may want to speak to an attorney to discuss whether a recovery is possible. Contact the Law Offices of G. Samuel Cleaver by email or phone at 323-648-6676 for a free consultation.
California law requires non-exempt employees to be paid for all hours worked. With the advent of smart phones and other portable electronic devices it is easier than ever for employers to stay connected with employees after work hours. However, just because an employer issues an employee a cell phone doesn’t mean the employer can ask the employee to work for free. Requiring an employee to respond to emails or text messages after working hours constitutes time worked and possibly overtime worked that the employer may be obligated to pay the employee for.
If your employer is requiring you to respond to emails or text messages outside working hours without compensation, you may be eligible to recover lost wages. Contact the Law Offices of G. Samuel Cleaver by email or phone at 323-648-6676 for a free consultation.
California employees have no right to vacation pay. BUT if your employer offers you vacation pay, the employer cannot later take away vacation hours you’ve earned. That means that “use it or lose it” vacation policies are illegal in California. A “use it or lose it” vacation policy means employees lose vacation hours that aren’t used in a certain time period, usually a calendar year. If you’ve lost vacation hours to a “use it or lose it” policy, your employer may owe you money.
Your employer should also pay you all wages due, including unused vacation hours when you leave your job. California law provides a penalty of up to 30 days wages for employers who fail to pay their employees all wages due, including unused vacation, at termination.
If you believe your employer has failed to pay your all wages due at termination, the Law Offices of G. Samuel Cleaver can help. E-mail or call 323-648-6676 for a free consultation.
To start off the California Workplace Rights Blog, the blog is reviewing 10 of the most often violated employee wage and hour rights. The number 3 on the list is misclassification of an employee as an independent contractor.
Very few workers are truly independent contractors. A key test of whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee is how much control the employer has. If the employer tells the independent contractor how to do his or her job, what time to arrive and leave work, etc., then the independent contractor is most likely an employee.
The California Department of Industrial Relations has a list of factors to help determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee. The list is available at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_independentcontractor.htm
Being misclassified as an independent contractor can hurt an employee in many ways. The employer doesn’t have pay its portion of social security and medicare taxes (e.g. FICA). The employer’s portion of FICA is 7.65% percent. That means the misclassified employee will have to pay an extra 7.65% of his or her salary in taxes that the employer should have paid. The employer will also not contribute to state unemployment insurance on behalf of independent contractors so if the independent contractor loses his or her job, it’s possible he or she may not receive unemployment benefits. Overtime and other wage and hour laws do not apply to independent contractors. An independent contractor also does not receive benefits such as health insurance, sick leave and vacation pay that an employer provides to regular employees.
If you are concerned you may have been misclassified as an independent contractor email or call the Law Offices of G. Samuel Cleaver at 323-648-6676 for a free consultation today.
The Coronavirus has affected workers throughout the country, especially in California. Many workers have fallen ill, are caring for family members who have fallen ill or are caring for children whose schools have closed. Recently the Congress passed a law to provide relief to these and other groups of workers. The law is known as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The new law takes effect on April 1.
Important: The law only applies to employers with less than 500 employees. At the end of this post is a link to the Dept. of Labor Fact Sheet About the Law.
(If you think it should apply to all employers, you should contact your Congressional Representative and Senators and ask them to expand it.)
The law is divided into two parts. The first part provides paid sick leave in the following situations:
80 hours of sick pay at your regular rate of pay if you have Covid-19, are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis, or have been ordered to quarantine yourself
80 hours of sick leave at 2/3’s of your regular rate of pay if you are caring for someone who is subject to a quarantine order
80 hours of paid sick leave at 2/3’s of your regular rate of pay because your child’s school or childcare provider is closed due to Covid-19.
Part-time employees are eligible for leave on a pro rata basis.
This leave is in addition to any other sick leave, PTO, etc. that you may be entitled to receive.
Your employer must allow you to use this paid sick leave before requiring you to use any other kind of paid leave.
The second part of the new law is known as the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act or E-FMLA.
The E-FMLA provides 10 weeks of paid leave for parents whose child’s school or childcare provider is closed due to Covid-19. The pay is at 2/3’s of your regular rate of pay. Part-time employees may use E-FMLA leave on a pro rata basis.
As with the FMLA, under the E-FMLA provides job protections for employees who take E-FMLA leave.
Since this is a new law many employers may not be aware of it or may not understand it. You can refer them to the Department of Labor through the link below to learn more about the law.
