Seyfarth Synopsis: From Mark Zuckerberg to the mayor of Stockton, the concept of Universal Basic Income is catching fire. What is this newfangled concept, and what can employers expect in the new emerging economy?
UBI – What Is It?
Universal Basic Income—“UBI”—is a form of social security, or a citizen’s stipend, to ensure everyone with a basic income from the
Continue Reading Robots Are Taking Our Jobs! UBI and the Future Workplace
From the promontory of the first full week in January, we look out over the California employment law landscape and offer our fearless predictions for the coming year.
Continue Reading Surveying the California Employment Landscape: Our Predictions for Trends in 2014
Happy New Year, dear Readers!
This week, which marks the one-year anniversary of the Cal Pecs Blog, we look back at the top five issues that you found most interesting in 2013:
Continue Reading California Peculiarities Blog: Top 5 Issues of 2013
By Maya Harel and Colleen M. Regan
As previously reported here one of the pieces of 2013 California legislation that made a big splash is Assembly Bill 10 (AB 10). AB 10 amends Labor Code § 1182.12 and raises California’s minimum wage in two steps over 18 months, from $8.00 to $9.00 per hour (on July 1, 2014) and then
Continue Reading Increasing the CA Minimum Wage Makes A Big Splash, But What Are The Ripple Effects?
By Ann Marie Zaletel and Casey McCoy
Leaves are turning, days are shortening — the classic signs that winter is on its way. With winter comes cold and flu season. Much like flu shots often protect us from coming down with the flu, when done right employee handbooks can help protect employers legally.
Continuing on with Part II of this
Continue Reading Does Your California Handbook Need A “Checkup” This Flu Season?: Part Two
As a loyal reader of our CalPecs Blog, you know that last year’s Senate Bill 1038 eliminated the Fair Employment and Housing Commission, including its administrative adjudication of FEHA claims. The bill created a Fair Employment and Housing Council, to perform the former Commission’s regulatory functions.
Is the Council a new and improved “FEHC”? Time
Continue Reading A New And Improved FEHC? Report From The Fair Employment and Housing Council’s Inaugural Meeting
In addition to the numerous and often mind-numbing requirements placed upon employers in the Golden State, Labor Code Section 2802 requires that an employer “indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties.” The most common employee “expenditure” seen by businesses relates
Continue Reading The Road Less Traveled: Reimbursing Employee Vehicle Expenses Through Increased Compensation Can Make All The Difference
While most employers now use computerized timekeeping and payroll systems, many “round” employees’ time, a practice originating in olden days when time and pay calculations were done by hand. But is this practice legal? According to a recent California Court of Appeal decision, See’s Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court, 210 Cal. App. 4th 889 (2012), the answer is
Continue Reading A Sweet Decision: See’s Candy Clarifies Time Rounding Rules
From the day we join the workforce, we are trained to think work means 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This is especially true in California, which swoops in to reward employees with overtime pay when they work over 8 hours a day. You might be surprised, however, to learn that California allows for some flexibility. Instead of the normal 8 hour day, employers and their workers have the ability to implement an “Alternative Workweek Schedule,” which, if done right, lets employees work more than 8 hours per day, without daily overtime, while putting in fewer days of work per week.
Q: What is an Alternative Workweek Schedule?
A: An Alternative Workweek Schedule (or “AWS” in hip lawyer lingo) is a fancy term for a process allowing employers, with their employees’ permissions, to set work schedules that vary from the usual 8 hours per day, 5 days a week, without paying daily overtime. California Labor Code section 511 governs the requirements for implementing an AWS.
Q: Why would I want to do this?
A: Short answer? Happier employees. Employees like an AWS because it allows greater flexibility in their personal lives. Many employees who are told they can finish their work week in four days by working two extra hours a day will pounce on the idea with unbridled enthusiasm.
The other answer? A well-designed AWS can essentially eliminate the payment of overtime for those using it. Your finance guys will thank you.
Q: What are the possible work schedules?
A: Employers have many options to choose from. The most common are: four days of work per week, for ten hours a day (aka a “4/10 ”); and what’s referred to as a “9/80.” A 9/80 allows for nine days worked in a fourteen day calendar period, totaling eighty hours of work.
Continue Reading Tired of the 9-5 Grind? Consider an Alternative Workweek Schedule!
