There are numerous exemptions and exceptions that relieve California employers from the some legal duties with regards to providing their employee with rest and meal breaks. These exception usually apply to employees of such professions and in such environment where complying with the general rules would be unduly burdensome impracticable for the employer.
In the absence of an applicable exception, the following general rules apply to meal and rest breaks in California. An employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of at least 30 minutes. However, if the total work day of the employee is sex hours or less, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee. It is very prudent for an employer to obtain such consent in writing in order to avoid subsequent claims for unpaid meal breaks, as the employer would normally have a burden of proving that he/she complied with the law.
Under California Labor Code 512, an employer may not employ an employee for a work period of more than 10 hours per day without providing the employee with a second meal period of at least 30 minutes. However, if the total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee, but only if the first meal period was not waived.
The right to meal periods and penalties under California’s Labor Code applies, and has consistently applied, to workers who are members of a union and who are covered by collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). Moreover, the right to meal periods and penalties for violation of those rights is non-negotiable and cannot be waived.
Many employment contracts and the majority of the union collective bargaining agreements provide that the employee should not be terminated unless for good cause. It is important to understand what the "good cause" standard exactly means, as the meaning of "good cause" in this instance is quite different from the ordinary meaning of the words "good cause." Many workers are used to believing that sexual harassment hostile work environment is an unlawful conduct at work place which involves unwelcome sexual advances of a co-workers or a supervisor such as sexual innuendos, offensive touching, and alike. Although those are typical examples of a situation which is likely to be classified as sexual harassment, the offensive words or conduct directed at an employee because of his or her gender may create a hostile work environment even if those words or conduct are not sexual in nature. For example, using a word “bitch” repetitively in the presence of both men and women but in reference to women may constitute unlawful gender harassment. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides job security to an employee who is absent from work because of the employee's own serious health condition or to care for a specified family members with serious health conditions, as well as for the birth of a child and to care for a newborn child, or because of the placement for adoption or foster care of a child with the employee. One of the most common ways that employer tries to fight their former employee's claim for unemployment insurance benefits is arguing that the employee was terminated due to misconduct. Misconduct in the context of unemployment insurance code is a term of art, and understanding its legal definition is crucial to appealing the denial of unemployment benefits at the appeals board if your initial claim has been denied. Under a "use it or lose it" policy, an individual who does not use all of his or her accrued vacation pay by a particular time forfeits the right to be paid fro those days at a later date. The California Supreme Court held, however, that vacation pay vests as it is earned, and any vacation earned cannot be taken away. Vacation pay is, in effect, additional wages for services performed, the receipt of which is postponed. Thus, this "use it or lose it" policy is unlawful. In recent years, it has become increasingly popular for businesses to use the services of independent contractors for both short and long-term projects rather than to hire new career employees. Business can retain the services of independent contractors directly, or through a temporary employment agency. Under California law, an employer is required to promptly and thoroughly investigate any claim of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation. The obligation to investigate arises out of the affirmative duty under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, Cal. Gov. Code section 12940(j) and (k) to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring. The duty to investigate a harassment claim promptly and throughly exists whether or not the claimant consents to an investigation or cooperates with one. Further, neither an employee’s failure to report harassment nor the fact that the harassment stopped before the investigation began conclusively absolve an employer from liability for discrimination and harassment. Moreover, it is not enough for an employer to conduct an investigation without also taking measure to protect the employee from retaliation. Several laws protect California women from pregnancy discrimination at workplace. These laws interact with each other in complex ways. Each law and protection may or may not apply depending on the size of the employer, the employee’s length of service, and other facts. Some leaves run concurrently, while others don’t. A non-sexual conduct at workplace can still constitute hostile work environment sexual harassment7/8/2008 It is commonly known that sexual harassment at workplace involves unwelcome acts of sexual nature by a co-workers or a supervisor, such as unwelcome touching, repeated unwanted propositioning, conditioning employment or promotion on sexual favors, etc. |
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