Best Best & Krieger News Feed

[VIDEO] BB&K Webinar: Annual Labor & Employment Update 2016

08 Dec 2016 00:00:00 -0800

BB&K Labor and Employment attorneys discussed new legislation and case law impacting California employers - private and public.

What was discussed:

New legislation
Wage and hour update
Harassment, discrimination and retaliation
Disability discrimination and medical leaves
Benefits update including discussion of the Affordable Care Act and the Flores case
Marijuana in the workplace
Public agency cases and updates

This activity has been approved for minimum continuing legal education by the State Bar of California in the amount of two (2) hours of General Participatory credit. Best Best & Krieger LLP certifies that this activity conforms to the standards of approved educational activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing minimum continuing legal education. Best Best & Krieger LLP is a State Bar of California Approved Provider, #1035.

When:
Thursday, Dec. 8
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. PT

Click here for questions.

Materials
Annual Labor & Employment Law Update
New Legislation and Case Summaries

To view a recording of the webinar, click here.

AB 1825 Sexual Harassment Avoidance Training Webinar (November 16, 2016)

16 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, pursuant to AB 1825, requires that employers with 50 or more employees in California provide at least two hours of Sexual Harassment Avoidance Training every two years to any employee who has a supervisory role in operations. This presentation is designed to satisfy those requirements.

Joseph Ortiz will present the training via a live webinar. The webinar is interactive, allowing attendees to ask questions.

The webinar will cover:

What constitutes sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace
How to recognize and avoid harassment
What procedures to follow if you witness harassment or are harassed yourself
The potential consequences - including personal liability - of harassment
Training and discussion on abusive conduct in the workplace ("workplace bullying"), in compliance with AB 2053
New FEHA regulations that took effect April 2016

Who should attend:

Supervisors
Human Resources Professionals
Public Officials
Managers & Private Business Professionals with 50 or More Employees

When:
Wed., Nov. 16, 2016
10 a.m. - noon PT

BB&K Presenter:
Joseph Ortiz, Partner
Labor & Employment Practice Group, Riverside office

Cost:
$50 per person

Please provide payment before the training. Otherwise, you will not be able to join the webinar or receive a certificate of completion. Colleagues must register separately.

Registration:
To register for this webinar, please click here.

Deadline for registration and payment is Monday, November 14.

Payment:

PIHRA 2016 Legal Year in Review

10 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Joseph Ortiz will present “2016 Legal Year in Review,” for the Professionals In Human Resources Association. This presentation focuses on the laws that the savvy HR practitioner should know about, and the significant changes that occurred in Human Resources in 2016. The presentation will include a roll call of the most recent employment-related laws passed by the California Legislature, as well as a "best of" summary of the five biggest legal changes that occurred in 2016. Included will be a discussion of the status of the new white collar exemption salary requirements, new gender protection issues, and much, much more.

When
Thursday, Nov. 10
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Where
Best Best Krieger
3390 University Ave.
5th Floor
Riverside, CA 92501

For more information or to register, click here.

Play hard. Play fair. Play together.

01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Join Best Best & Krieger LLP at the 2016 CALPELRA 41st Annual Training Conference in Monterey, Calif.

BB&K Speakers:

Isabel Safie and Katrina Veldkamp
"ACA Implementation: What Comes Next?"
Although it seems that the ACA is finally in full effect, the IRS continues to publish new guidance, and aspects of the ACA are in flux or have not yet been implemented. For example, the Cadillac tax – although it has been delayed until plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2020, it is moving forward – in this session you’ll learn about its application and how it will impact your health benefit programs. This session will also focus on recent IRS guidance regarding ACA implementation, including new limitations on health reimbursement arrangement coverage and the effect of cash-in-lieu/opt-out programs on affordability calculations. In this session, you’ll also learn what the presenters have learned from the first year of employer reporting and what employers should change in 2017.
Wednesday, Nov. 2
1:30 - 3 p.m.

Alison Alpert and Joseph Sanchez
"You Can't Say That! Free Speech Issues In Public Employment"
Public employees’ right to free speech is more limited than that of the general public. Whether or not a public employer may take disciplinary action against an employee for speech-related conduct, however, is based on a developing body of case law that provides certain balancing tests and guidelines to determine if the speech is protected under the First Amendment. In this session, you’ll learn how you can legally address employee speech that impairs your agency's mission. The session will also highlight issues involving free speech in cyberspace, union speech, and special rules involving high-level policymakers.
Wednesday, Nov. 2
3:30 - 5 p.m.

Arlene Prater
"Severance and Last Chance Agreements: How to Negotiate and Draft Agreements That Comply With the Law and Protect Your Agency"
Drafting an agreement that best protects your agency, is acceptable to employees’ representatives, and complies with current legal standards can be a challenge. This session starts with an introduction to the benefits of using these agreements and then covers specific provisions and standards, such as complying with recent EEOC and NLRB enforcement actions, restrictions on employment and employee behavior, Public Records Act and Brown Act requirements, waiving due process rights, and use for creative resolutions of discipline and layoff disputes.
Thursday, Nov. 3
10:30 a.m. - Noon

Alison Alpert
"When an Employee Says, 'I’ve Got My Medical Marijuana Card,' What Can an Employer Do?"
Medical marijuana is in the news. As many states, including California, pass laws for the legal use of medical marijuana, employers are left questioning their drug use policies. Explore this important issue in light of federal and state law and existing employer policies. You’ll learn whether an employer can discipline an employee for off-hours and off-site use or influence, when it is pursuant to a valid prescription, or for off-hours and off-site recreational use, whether employers can still lawfully implement zero-tolerance drug use policies, and whether medical marijuana use must be accommodated. You’ll also learn how employers might accommodate medical marijuana use, if they choose. Learn what should be included in your policies to ensure that any discipline will be upheld on appeal, and leave this session feeling relaxed, knowing you’ve learned how to comply with the law.
Thursday, Nov. 3
3:30 - 5 p.m.

When
Tuesday, Nov. 1 - Friday, Nov. 4

Where
Portola Hotel & Spa at Monterey Bay
Two Portola Plaza
Monterey, CA 93940

and

Monterey Marriott
350 Calle Principal
Monterey, CA 93940

For more information or to register, click here.

Employee Rights!

17 Sep 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Joseph Ortiz will present a seminar on employee rights.

When:
Saturday, Sept. 17
9 a.m.

Where:
Riverside County Bar Association
4129 Main St., 3rd Floor
Riverside, CA 92501

For more information, click here.

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

26 Aug 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Joseph Ortiz will provide Sexual Harassment Prevention Training during a seminar hosted by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce. The training will provide instruction on preventing sexual harassment within the workplace. Attendees will receive a certificate of completion.

When:
Friday, Aug. 26
9 a.m.

Where:
Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce
3985 University Ave
Riverside, CA 92501

For more information or to register, click here.

California Offers Guidance on Educating Employees About Workplace Bullying

12 Apr 2016 00:00:00 -0800

A California law that went into effect Jan. 1, 2015 mandated that managers must be trained to identify “abusive conduct,” or workplace bullying, in conjunction with sexual harassment prevention training. The law was an amendment to the Fair Employment and Housing Act, but lacked details, according to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management. But a new set of regulations that took effect April 1 provide greater details so businesses know what training should include.

Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Alison Alpert, who is head of the firm’s Labor & Employment practice group, was interviewed by SHRM on the new guidelines:

The new regulations must by necessity remain somewhat ambiguous, said Alison Alpert…. “The fear—and I think it’s legitimate—is that [a more specific definition of abusive conduct] would just increase litigation against employers in an unfair way,” said Alpert, who educates supervisors about harassment law and investigates claims of harassment and retaliation.”

…

California law bars abusive conduct in the workplace that targets someone in a category protected from discrimination under categories such as gender, age, disability or ethnic origin. Denying a job or a promotion to someone because he or she uses a wheelchair is illegal; calling his or her presentation “a piece of junk” may be evidence of poor management skills, but it’s not barred by law. As Alpert puts it: “Is it a harasser or a jerk boss?”

Abusive behavior can create a hostile work environment yet not meet the legal standard of actionable, harassing conduct, said Alpert, who has probed allegations of workplace harassment that were, upon review, more accurately defined as bullying.

…

When HR professionals meet with an aggrieved employee, they would be wise to drill down on the list of problematic behaviors detailed by the worker. “When employees come forward,” Alpert said, “they may not be certain what complaint they are making if they don’t really understand the harassment laws. People use the term ‘harassment’ a lot … and they don’t necessarily mean it in terms of the Fair Employment and Housing Act and that legal way. They just mean ‘My boss is being mean to me.’”

To read the full report, which was posted March 30, 2016 to the Society for Human Resource Management website, click here.

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

18 Mar 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger Partner Joseph Ortiz will present a Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce. Participants will receive:

Certification for two hours of sexual harassment prevention training required by AB1825
Knowledge to protect a business from future workplace lawsuits
Knowledge to create a safe and comfortable work environment
Opportunity to engage and ask questions from a skilled labor law attorney

When
Friday, March 18, 2016
10 a.m. – Noon

Where
Riverside Chamber of Commerce

New FEHA Regulations Take Effect April 1

14 Mar 2016 00:00:00 -0800

New amendments to California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act regulations that go into effect on April 1 include changes to policies on discrimination, harassment and retaliation, pregnancy disability and others. The following are addressed by the new regulations:

Employer Anti-Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Policies

The new regulations require employers to develop written anti-discrimination, harassment and retaliation policies that contain the following elements:

List the categories of individuals protected by FEHA.
Explain that FEHA forbids co-workers, third parties, supervisors and managers from engaging in discriminatory, harassing or retaliatory conduct.
Provide a confidential, timely, impartial complaint process that provides for appropriate remedial action and resolution.
Establish a complaint procedure, like a hotline or ombudsman, that does not require employees to directly complain to an immediate supervisor.
Instruct supervisors to report complaints to a designated representative.
Make clear that allegations will be address fairly, timely and confidentially (to the extent possible).
Indicate that appropriate remedial measures will be taken if misconduct is found.
Explain that the employer will not retaliate against employees for complaining or participating in an investigation.

The regulations require employers to disseminate the policies, either by providing a copy in person or by email to all employees with an acknowledgment form to sign, posting the policies on a company intranet site, or discussing the policies with new hires.

The regulations also require employers whose workforce contains 10 percent or more employees whose primary language is not English to translate the policies into every language spoken by at least 10 percent of the workforce.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

The new regulations also clarify FEHA’s requirement to provide up to “four months” or “17 1/3 weeks” of Pregnancy Disability Leave. The regulations explain that “four months” leave is “the number of days the employee would normally work within four calendar months.” Therefore, to determine an employee’s leave entitlement, the employer multiplies the average hours an employee works per week by 17 1/3 weeks. The number of hours individual employees are entitled to take off will vary depending on the employee’s work schedule.

In addition, the regulations provide guidance on accounting for time when using intermittent leave. When employees use PDL intermittently, or use it to work a reduced schedule, the employer may account for leave in increments no greater than the shortest period of time the employer uses to calculate other types of leave, up to one hour. The regulations also make clear that employees are eligible for up to four months of PDL per pregnancy, not per year.

Other Covered Topics

Other issues covered by the new regulations include an explanation of an employer’s duty to prevent and correct discriminatory or harassing conduct, more detailed rules relating to mandatory sexual harassment training, national origin discrimination regulations prohibiting discrimination against employees who hold special driver’s licenses that can be issued to undocumented workers, and regulations conforming to recent legislation regarding gender identity and religious creed discrimination.

The amended regulations are available here.

If you have questions about the new regulations or would like to request review of your discrimination or harassment policies, contact the attorney authors of this Legal Alert listed to the right in the Labor & Employment practice group, or your BB&K attorney.

Please feel free to share this Legal Alert or subscribe by clicking here. Follow us on Twitter @bbklaw.

Disclaimer: BB&K legal alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information in this communiqué.

AB 1825 Sexual Harassment Avoidance Training Webinar (February 25, 2016)

25 Feb 2016 00:00:00 -0800

The webinar will cover:

What constitutes sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace
How to recognize and avoid it
What procedures to follow if you witness harassment or are harassed yourself
The potential consequences - including personal liability - of sexual harassment

Who should attend:

Supervisors
Human Resources Professionals
Public Officials
Managers & Private Business Professionals with 50 or More Employees

When:

Feb. 25, 2016
1 - 3 p.m. PT

BB&K Presenter:
Joseph Ortiz, Partner, Labor & Employment Practice Group in the Riverside office.

Cost:
$75 per person

Please provide payment before the training. Otherwise, you will not be able to join the webinar or receive a certificate of completion. Colleagues must register separately.

Registration:

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Deadline for registration and payment is Monday, Feb. 22

Payment: