Vigilant Blog

In order for a professional, administrative, or executive employee to be exempt from overtime in California, the minimum annual salary must be at least $37,440 as of July 1, 2014. This is a result of California’s new hourly minimum wage of $9.00 per hour. The minimum annual salary for exempt workers is calculated by multiplying…

A former PetSmart groomer has been given the green light to proceed with her class action lawsuit alleging that PetSmart’s practice of paying departing employees with a prepaid ATM card was a violation of the California Labor Code. Section 212(a) of the code requires that employers pay wages that are “negotiable and payable in cash,…

Since the California Supreme Court decided in Brinker Restaurant Corp. that employers must “provide,” but need not enforce an uninterrupted meal period, there has been some debate about what an employer needs to do to ensure that it is “providing” a meal period under evolving California law. Now a California court of appeals has ruled…

Protection for military and veteran status – (AB 556 – signed 10.10.13) Expands the Fair Employment and Housing Act to include “military and veteran status” in the list of protected categories. The law will permit employers to inquire about military or veteran status for the purpose of awarding a preference for veterans that is allowed…

Speaking up about concerns in the workplace, and being fired as a result, resulted in a huge jury verdict against a California employer. In a recent case, a federal district court upheld a jury verdict awarding an employee over four million dollars for being fired in retaliation for raising an issue about the company’s meal…