Labor Code Section 226 makes California employers liable for penalties if they issue inadequate wage statements that cause ‘injury.” Courts generally have denied penalty claims where hypertechnical violations did not cause real harm. Unsatisfied with this result, employee advocates lobbied for a 2012 amendment. Senate Bill 1255, effective January 1, 2013, amends Section 226(e) to deem “injury” to occur
Continue Reading The 2013 Amendment to the Wage-Statement Statute: A Dog With Bark Worse Than Bite?

In November, Democrats won a supermajority in the California Legislature (55 seats in the Assembly and 27 in the Senate). Democrats now have the votes to pass measures requiring a two-thirds majority vote, without any help from that pesky other political party.  Even more, they then need only to pass the bill to Democrat Governor Jerry Brown for his seal of approval.  Will the Dems use this newfound power to make California even more peculiar on the labor and employment front?  Will Brown rubber stamp what the Dems put on his desk, or continue his reputation of marching to his own drummer? 

It’s still quite early in the 2013-14 Legislative Session – a time when many of the bills introduced are merely “spot” holders for later substantive amendments. Nonetheless, while it is still too early to make any concrete predictions, we can make some educated guesses about what will emerge on the labor and employment front this year:

Prediction #1: More Protected Statuses

The unemployed:  Governor Brown vetoed legislation last year that would have made unemployed a protected status under FEHA, stating that “[t]his measure seeks to prevent discrimination against the unemployed based on their job status by prohibiting employers from stating in employment ads that applicants must be employed.  Unfortunately, as this measure went through the legislative process it was changed in a way that could lead to unnecessary confusion.”  The bill’s author has left the Legislature. If a new bill now goes through the process without such “confusion,” that bill may meet the Governor’s approval.  If so, it would not be the first.  Oregon recently enacted similar protections, as did the District of Columbia and New Jersey.  There was also a similar bill pending on the federal level that died in Committee. 

The homeless:  Assembly Member Ammiano has introduced AB-5, dubbed the “Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act” that would prohibit discrimination under the Unruh Act and Fair Employment and Housing Act on the basis of “housing status,” defined as “the status of having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including the status of living on the streets, in a vehicle, or in a homeless shelter, or similar temporary residence or elsewhere in the public domain.”  The bill is currently before the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary.

Potential consequences of either of the above becoming law?  Employers will face additional challenges in ensuring that recruiters, human resources personnel, interviewers, and management employees are trained to be aware, navigate, and comply with these requirements. 
Continue Reading What New Peculiarities California’s Democratic Supermajority May Have in Store for Employers In 2013

Philosophical Question: If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Philosophical Employment Law Question: If a California employee receives a paycheck that does not contain the pay period dates (or other custodial information), does the employee suffer an injury?

California courts, among the most liberal in the nation, have struggled with this deep philosophical question (not the one about the trees).

Majority View: Most courts have concluded that an employee does not suffer an injury when his or her paystub does not contain information like pay period dates or the employer’s full name and address. These courts require proof of an actual injury to trigger penalties under Labor Code section 226.

Minority View: A smaller number of courts have held that injury occurs automatically if the paystub does not contain every single element that Labor Code section 226 requires.

CA Lawmakers’ View: The division among the courts prompted the Legislature to pass (and the Governor to approve) legislation that amended Labor Code section 226 (effective January 1, 2013) to state that an employee will be deemed to suffer injury if an employer fails to provide a wage statement or accurate and complete information as required by law, and the employee cannot promptly and easily determine from the wage statement alone one or more of the following:
Continue Reading Adding Insult to Injury: California Legislature Defines “Suffering Injury” for Labor Code Section 226 Wage Statement Violations