Seyfarth Synopsis: When faced with wildfires or natural disasters, California employers must keep calm, carry on, and continue to meet their obligations under California law.
Be Prepared.
All employers, not just those in California, must have an Emergency Action Plan (“EAP”) and Fire Prevention Plan (“FPP’).
California regulations state that an EAP should include (1) procedures for emergency evacuation, (2)
Continue Reading When Disaster Strikes: How Employers Should Respond to Wildfires
Seyfarth Synopsis: As if high rent and California’s peculiar laws were not enough to worry about, San Francisco employers must also comply with City-specific ordinances. Trailblazing City requirements often exceed state laws and have sometimes been harbingers of state-level enactments. One might say that San Francisco, with its distinctive laws, is to California what California is to the rest of
Continue Reading San Francisco-Peculiarities: The City’s Ultra-Unique Employment Landscape
Seyfarth Synopsis: In what many employers will see as a “break” from workplace reality, the Supreme Court, in Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., announced that certain “on call” rest periods do not comply with the California Labor Code and Wage Orders. The decision presents significant practical challenges for employers in industries where employees must respond to exigent
Continue Reading No Break for California Employers This Holiday Season
(with apologies to the song artist)
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit has suggested it might upset longstanding “on call” practices by making California employers liable for “reporting time” pay to employees who phone in ahead of their schedule, only to find that they are not needed for the day.
On October 5, 2016, a Ninth Circuit panel indicated
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Poised to Say “Call Me, Maybe”
Seyfarth Synopsis: Does carrying a pager nullify a rest break? What about the possibility of being tapped on the shoulder by your boss? Or being called on your cell phone? The California Supreme Court considered these and other scenarios during an hour-long oral argument on September 29, as it asked, What does it mean to not “work” during a rest
Continue Reading The $90 Million Question: Can You Rest While On Call?
Seyfarth Synopsis: California’s rules on rest breaks are still developing. Recent cases have addressed the timing of rest breaks, and whether employees (particularly those who remain “on call”) must be relieved of all duty during breaks.
Our fair state has long imposed peculiar—and specific—requirements for employee work breaks. Varying interpretations of the rules for meal and rest breaks have spawned
Continue Reading No Rest for the Weary: California Law on Rest Breaks
By Michele Haydel Gehrke and Colleen M. Regan
Cal Pecs Blog is a BLAWG 100 Fan Favorite!!!!
In November, we announced that our Cal Pecs blog was selected as one of the ABA Journal’s 2014 “BLAWG 100.” Today, we are thrilled to further proclaim that we earned the most votes from YOU, our devoted readers, in the ABA Journal
Continue Reading Thanks for Making Us A Fan Favorite!!! . . . and a Couple of Nitty Gritty Wage Hour Decisions
It is a fairly common practice for companies to have non-exempt employees available by phone at the drop of a hat to respond to emergencies and other unexpected business needs. Yet, if the employee doesn’t actually respond to any phone calls or do anything during that time period, is the company still required to pay them for the mere possibility that their services may at some point be needed?
Any time during which employees are subject to control by the company may be “hours worked,” even though the employees don’t actually perform any work and possibly even if they are able to spend the time doing whatever they choose.
So how do companies know if the employee is under their “control” during on-call/standby time? Like many other areas of California employment law, whether the answer to this question is yes or no turns on the employee’s specific situation.
There have to be some general rules, right? Non-exempt employees may be on-call during unscheduled work hours to respond to calls for help from work. On-call time can be either controlled or uncontrolled, depending on how restricted the employee is in being able to utilize the time for personal pursuits.
To be controlled or uncontrolled: That is the question. Of course, because this is California, there is no hard and fast rule about how many times an employee’s day or evening must be interrupted or for how long that interruption can last before all of the on-call time (not just the time the employee spent dealing with the interruption) rolls into the controlled category as opposed to uncontrolled. Factors that are considered include:
Continue Reading On Call vs. On Duty: I’m About to Lose Control and I Think I Like It!
