More employment law basics for California employers – a guest post
So, you have opened a business, and decided to hire employees – Now What??
A guest post by
Susan Zeme, Esq., Law Office of Susan Zeme, 510.652.6895 or susan@swzeme.com
1. Workers’ Compensation Insurance – Every employer must have Workers Compensation Insurance coverage. Contact your general liability insurer or State Fund (www.scif.com) for details. Things to know: If an employee is injured at work, he or she must be given a claim form immediately. The employee completes the form and the employer submits it to the insurer. Within one day, the employee is entitled to begin receiving treatment. Within fourteen days, the insurer must inform the employer of claim status. Reach the Department of Workers’ Compensation at www.dir.ca.gov/dwc.
2. Wage and Hour Laws – You need to know what they are and how to comply. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and its chief, the Labor Commissioner, are responsible for enforcement. Contact them at www.dir.ca.gov/dlse. Very generally, full time employees must be paid minimum wage, receive overtime when they work more than eight hours in a day or forty hours in a week, and take a ten minute paid rest break every four hours, and a thirty minute unpaid meal break when they work more than five hours. Non-exempt employees must be paid twice monthly on regularly scheduled pay days. All employees must receive an itemized wage deduction statement with each paycheck. Often, a payroll service is a good idea, because it can guide you through the specifics of paying employees properly.
3. Occupational Health and Safety – Every California employer must provide a safe and healthful workplace. Thus, each business must have an appropriate, effective Injury and Illness Prevention Plan. This area is overseen by California’s Department of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The specifics differ, depending on the nature of each business. There are also record keeping and retention requirements. Contact Cal/OSHA at www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/Cal/OSHA.
4. Equal Employment Opportunity laws – California employers are bound by both state and federal law. You need to know about The Civil Rights Act of 1964, or Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. Because the California laws are most protective of employees, we focus on them. There is too much detail to include here, but the focus of all of these laws is to require employers to judge employees and applicants on their ability to do the job, based on an analysis of the legitimate business reasons for making an employment decision. That is, no protected characteristic, such as race, gender, age, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, etc. should contribute to an employment decision. And, you will need to be able to prove it. For more information, check out the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing at www.dfeh.ca.gov.
5. The Hiring Process – Hiring standards must be demonstrably without reference to legally protected characteristics. That is, they must judge a candidate or employee exclusively on legitimate business reasons, and ability to perform the job. A job application and questions asked during the hiring process should reflect this. If there is a medical condition or disability, be prepared to inquire about reasonable accommodations that might be necessary. It is legal for an employer to impose standards of dress and personal appearance, but they must be non-discriminatory. Employers may require fluency in English if it is a necessary job qualification. Always ask for references and check them. Describing your workplace (and its quirks) in detail to an applicant can save a lot of headaches later.
6. Posting Requirements – Every employer must post a variety of legally required notices, in a location easily available to employees. The required postings include information about the minimum wage, payday, unemployment insurance, paid family leave, disability insurance, discrimination, Cal/OSHA, emergency numbers, access to medical and exposure records, pregnancy disability, workers compensation, family care/medical leave, time off for voting, smoking, and other state and federal laws. Thankfully, there are companies that sell pre-made, laminated posters including all of the legally required information. One web site that sells these posters is www.businessknowhow.com.
7. Employee Policies – Every employer needs written employee policies. The employer’s size, complexity and number of employees will dictate how detailed the written employees policies should be. Small employers may be able to use a shorter set of basic guidelines, while a larger employer will want a complete employee handbook. In either case, there are several policies that every employer should have in writing: Attendance, Breaks, Confidentiality, Disciplinary Rules and Procedures, Dispute and Complaint Resolution, Dress Code, Drug and Alcohol Use, Employee Privacy, Equal Employment Opportunity, Holidays, Hours of Work, Immigration Law Compliance, Injury and Illness Procedure, Leaves of Absence, Overtime, Pay, Performance, Sexual Harassment, Termination Policy, Timekeeping Requirements, Unemployment Insurance, Vacation, Workers Compensation, Workplace Violence.
8. Termination of Employment – Terminating someone’s employment can be stressful and challenging – for both parties. Some general rules can make the process smoother:
- Operate throughout employment under the premise that employment is terminable at will (the default state of the law in California)
- Treat the employee fairly and respectfully, before, during and after termination (Employees who feel they have been treated fairly are less likely to sue)
- Give the employee the real reason for the termination – in writing
- Do not open an argument with a terminating employee
- Assume that any termination letter you write will end up in front of a jury – use it proactively
- Do not close a termination letter with platitudes – that is insulting
- Consider offering severance pay in exchange for a release of claims.
These are just the basics, and there is lot more to California Employment Law. Please contact me if I can help, or answer questions.
Related posts:
