Two recent California appellate court decisions, Bright v. 99¢ Only Stores, 189 Cal. App. 4th 1472 (November 12, 2010) and Harris v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 191 Cal. App. 4th 210 (December 22, 2010), both held that California retail employers who fail to provide their employees with reasonable seating as required by California's Wage Order No. 7 may be sued for civil penalties up to $200 per employee, per pay period, plus attorneys fees and costs under California's Labor Code Private Attorney General Act of 2004 [...]

In Holmes v. Petrovich Development Co., LLC, No. C059133 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 13, 2011), the California Court of Appeals held that an employee's email messages to her attorney sent using the employer's computer and through the employer's network were not protected by the attorney-client privilege (could be used against the employee at trial) because the [...]

Payroll Tax Changes For 2011

Beginning January 1, 2011, all California employers will be required to report the Unemployment Insurance, Employment Training Tax, State Disability Insurance contributions, and Personal Income Tax withholdings quarterly on Form DE-9 (Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages ) instead of annually on the Annual [...]

While most employers are aware that Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination in employment against persons with disabilities, most employers are less familiar with Titles II and III of the ADA which requires privately owned business that provide goods or services to the public (retail store, hotel, bank, law firm, Etc..) and commercial facilities (warehouse, factory, office building) designed or constructed after January 26, 1993, or altered after January 26, 1992, to comply [...]

On September 27, 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision in Wang v. Chinese Daily News, 435 F.Supp.2d 1042 (2006), which held that newspaper journalists and commissioned salespersons' for the Chinese Daily News were improperly classified as exempt from overtime pay under both federal and California law. [...]