Nonexempt employees must be paid for all time worked under California’s Labor Code, even very brief periods of work, according to a recent opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In general, nonexempt employees (often called hourly employees) must be paid for all time spent performing work, but federal law…
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Due to a technicality, the U.S. Supreme Court recently threw out the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2018 decision that barred employers from using prior salary history to justify paying employees less than their opposite-sex colleagues. The federal Equal Pay Act allows employers to explain pay differences between men and women…
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Washington’s new “ban the box” law, which takes effect June 7, 2018, prohibits private employers from asking about criminal history before deciding whether an applicant meets the basic criteria for the position. It also prohibits job ads that automatically exclude people with criminal histories from applying (e.g., by saying “no felons” or “no criminal…
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Join Vigilant members and selected guests as we discuss current issues facing businesses in the area, have questions answered by Vigilant staff, and get to know one another. Sean Brown, Employment Attorney, and Jayson Ballentine, Safety Professional, will be on hand to facilitate the discussion and answer questions. Topics will include: Washington's…
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Question: We just received an application from a candidate who’s clearly qualified, but we know he sued his last employer for discrimination and we’d rather not hire someone who goes around suing people. Can we get in trouble for rejecting him?
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The Question: One of our employees is saying his coworkers are using very obscene racial slurs in casual conversation. We trust our supervisors and they’ve said they can’t imagine this is actually happening. What should we do?
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Q: Is there an exemption from Washington’s paid sick leave law for truck drivers? If not, how do we comply with Washington’s paid leave requirement of providing 1 hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked when we pay our truck drivers in Washington on a cents per mile basis, rather than hourly?
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Washington Governor Jay Inslee has signed a sweeping Paid Family and Medical Leave Bill (SSB 5975) that will have far-reaching implications for employers. The law creates a paid family and medical leave insurance program, where employees will apply to the state to receive a paid leave benefit for a variety of family and medical leaves.
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Q: We’re working with new equipment and a few employees have asked us if they can volunteer to stay after their shift to learn how to use the new technology that operates the machines—should we let them?
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Have you heard about Washington’s new paid sick leave law that goes into effect January 1, 2018, and wondered how it might affect you and your business? More importantly, have you figured out what the requirements of the law are and how to smoothly transition your policies and practices to comply? During our…
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