Category Archives: Wage Statements

July 2023 California Employment Law Notes

We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2023 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Enforcement of PAGA Carve Out Suggests Need For New Revisions To Arbitration Agreements PAGA Debt Not Dischargeable in Bankruptcy Distributors Not Liable For Unpaid Wages Of … Continue Reading

Statute Prohibits Employer Retaliation For Report Of Unlawful Activity Even If It’s Already Known To Employer

By Tony Oncidi on July 18, 2023 Posted in Cal. Lab. Code § 1102.5(b), California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, California Supreme Court, Immigration, Retaliation, Wage Statements, Whistleblowers

People ex rel. Garcia-Brower v. Kolla’s, Inc., 14 Cal. 5th 719 (2023) The California Supreme Court has held that an employee who makes a whistleblower complaint to his or her employer may bring a retaliation claim under the whistleblower statute (Cal. Lab. Code § 1102.5(b)) even if the subject of the complaint was already known to … Continue Reading

12 California Counties and Municipalities Increasing Minimum Wage Rates on July 1

By Mark Theodore and Michelle Lappen on June 15, 2023 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Minimum Wage, Payroll, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

As we previously covered here, the State of California and select California cities increased the minimum wage effective January 1, 2023. Now, another round of minimum wage increases from a dozen localities will take effect on July 1, 2023. The following list contains the local minimum wage rate, effective July 1, 2023, for non-exempt employees … Continue Reading

Good News for Employers: Good Faith Belief of Compliance Precludes Both Final Wage and Wage Statement Penalties

By Kate Gold and Sehreen Ladak on March 3, 2023 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, California Labor Code Section 203, Class Actions, Labor Code § 226, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

Last summer, we reported here the California Supreme Court ruling that premium payments owed under Labor Code section 226.7 for meal and rest break violations constitute “wages.” The Naranjo et al. v. Spectrum Sec. Servs., Inc., 13 Cal. 5th 93, 102 (2022) decision had significant ramifications because it triggered related obligations for employers to report … Continue Reading

January 2023 California Employment Law Notes

By Tony Oncidi on February 8, 2023 Posted in Age discrimination, Anti-SLAPP, Bonus Compensation, Breach of Contract, Defamation, Discrimination, Employment Law Notes, Hiring, Independent Contractors, Jurisdiction, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Minimum Wage, Overtime, PAGA, Payroll, Wage Statements, Wrongful Termination

We invite you to review our newly-posted January 2023 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Age/National Origin Case Was Properly Dismissed Despite “Direct Evidence” Of Discriminatory Animus Family Court May Order Employer To Provide Determination Of Arrearages Owed In Spousal … Continue Reading

Family Court May Order Employer To Provide Determination Of Arrearages Owed In Spousal Support Case

By Tony Oncidi on February 8, 2023 Posted in Payroll, Wage Statements

Brubaker v. Strum, 2023 WL 179541 (Cal. Ct. App. 2023) The family court ordered the employed former husband in this case to pay his former wife monthly child and spousal support payments; the husband’s employer was ordered to withhold the total amount of support payments from the husband’s paychecks and to forward those amounts to … Continue Reading

California Minimum Wage Increases for 2023

By Tony Oncidi and Wesley C. Shelton on December 8, 2022 Posted in Minimum Wage, Payroll, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

Effective January 1, 2023, California employers will be required to meet new minimum wage requirements, at both the state and local level. This increase in the minimum wage affects not only non-exempt employees, but also the minimum annual salary requirement for overtime exempt employees. Increase and Consolidation of the California Minimum Wage Previously, the State … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court Rules Meal and Rest Break Premiums Constitute “Wages” Potentially Triggering Penalties for Violations

By Kate Gold and Ariel Brotman on May 23, 2022 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, California Labor Code Section 203, Class Actions, Labor Code § 226, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

In a much anticipated ruling, on May 23, 2022, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Naranjo et al. v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. Previously, the Court of Appeal held that unpaid premium payments for meal period violations did not entitle employees to additional penalties for either inaccurate wage statements or failure to timely … Continue Reading

Heightened PAGA Penalties Are Inapplicable For Most Wage Statement Claims

By Tony Oncidi and Philippe A. Lebel on January 3, 2022 Posted in PAGA, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

Christmas came early this year for California employers. Bucking the trend of unrelentingly bad news for employers in the state, the California Court of Appeal has held that the default (lower) penalties found in the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) and not the heightened penalties set forth in Labor Code section 226.3 (“Section … Continue Reading

Statute Of Limitations Tolled By Related Class Actions

By Tony Oncidi on January 28, 2021 Posted in Class Actions, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Overtime, Wage Statements

Hildebrandt v. Staples the Office Superstore, LLC, 58 Cal. App. 5th 128 (2020) Von Hildebrandt filed a putative class action against Staples asserting that he and other general managers of Staples had been misclassified as exempt from overtime and that, accordingly, they were owed compensation for unpaid overtime, missed rest and meal periods, inaccurate wage … Continue Reading

July 2020 California Employment Law Notes

By Tony Oncidi on July 31, 2020 Posted in California Labor Code, Discrimination, Employer Liability for Worker's Actions, Employment Law Notes, Independent Contractors, Leaves of Absence, Liability for Employee's Actions Outside the Workplace, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, Off-the-clock Issues, PAGA, Religion, Sexual orientation discrimination, Uncategorized, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2020 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Supreme Court Recognizes Discrimination Protection For Gay/Transgender Employees Under Title VII Dark Day For Hollywood – Law Prohibiting Online Publication Of Actors’ Ages Is Struck Down … Continue Reading

Airline Employees Whose Base of Work Is In California Must Receive Legally Compliant Wage Statements

By Tony Oncidi on July 31, 2020 Posted in California Labor Code, Wage Statements

Ward v. United Airlines, Inc., 2020 WL 3495310 (Cal. S. Ct. 2020) Plaintiffs are pilots and flight attendants for United Airlines, which is based outside California. Although they reside in California, they perform most of their work in airspace outside of California’s jurisdiction. The employees are not paid according to California wage law, but pursuant … Continue Reading

March 2019 California Employment Law Notes

By Tony Oncidi on March 22, 2019 Posted in Background Investigations, California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, Class Actions, EEOC, Employment Law Notes, FEHA, Independent Contractors, On-call, Overtime, PAGA, Tax, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

We invite you to review our newly-posted March 2019 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Eddie Money Beats Discrimination Lawsuit Based On Free Speech Right; Former Accountant Could Proceed With Whistleblower Lawsuit; Employer Violated FCRA With Improper Background Check Notice; Fruit Growers May … Continue Reading

$300 Unpaid Wage Claim Results In Additional $57,000 Award To Employee

By Tony Oncidi on March 19, 2019 Posted in Wage Statements

Stratton v. Beck, 30 Cal. App. 5th 901 (2018) Anthony Stratton filed a claim against Thomas Beck with the labor commissioner for unpaid wages in the amount of $303.55. After conducting an administrative hearing, the labor commissioner awarded Stratton $303.50 plus an additional $5,757.46 in liquidated damages, interest and statutory penalties for a total award … Continue Reading

Employer’s Rounding Policy Complied With California Law

By Tony Oncidi on January 7, 2019 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Employment Law Notes, PAGA, Unfair Competition, Wage Statements

Donohue v. AMN Servs., LLC, 2018 WL 6445360 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018) AMN used a computer-based timekeeping system for all nonexempt employees, including plaintiffs/nurse recruiters. The timekeeping system rounded recruiters’ punch times (both punch in and punch out) to the nearest 10-minute increment. To establish the proper hourly compensation, AMN converted each 10-minute increment to … Continue Reading

Payments Made To Union Trust Fund Are Not Subject To California Wage Statement Law

By Tony Oncidi on March 19, 2018 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Class Actions, PAGA, Unfair Competition, Union Issues, Vacation or PTO, Wage Statements, Workplace Safety

Mora v. Webcor Constr., L.P., 20 Cal. App. 5th 211 (2018) Steven Mora filed this putative class action/PAGA claim against his former employer, Webcor Construction, for violation of the California wage statement statute (Cal. Lab. Code § 226(a)) based upon payments made to a union vacation trust fund authorized by the Labor Management Relations Act … Continue Reading

Employer’s Violation Of PAGA Need Not Be Knowing And Intentional

By Tony Oncidi on November 9, 2017 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, PAGA, Wage Statements

Lopez v. Friant & Assocs., LLC, 15 Cal. App. 5th 773 (2017) Eduardo Lopez filed this action seeking recovery of civil penalties under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) for his employer’s failure to include the last four digits of its employees’ Social Security numbers or employee identification numbers on itemized … Continue Reading

PAGA Employee Can Obtain Contact Information For All Employees Statewide

By Tony Oncidi on September 11, 2017 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Class Actions, Expense Reimbursement, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, PAGA, Payroll, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

Williams v. Superior Court, 3 Cal. 5th 531 (2017) Michael Williams was an employee of Marshalls of CA in Costa Mesa, California. After slightly more than a year of employment, Williams brought a representative action against Marshalls under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”), alleging Marshalls had failed to provide its … Continue Reading

Foreign National Who Worked For Travel Tour Company Was An Employee, Not An Intern Or Exempt Manager

By Tony Oncidi on July 10, 2017 Posted in Breach of Contract, California Labor & Employment Law, Exempt Employees, Immigration, Overtime, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

Kao v. Joy Holiday, 2017 WL 2590653 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017) Ming-Hsiang Kao was employed by Joy Holiday (a travel tour company) initially performing IT-related duties and then eventually as its office manager. While he was still in Taiwan, Kao worked with Jessy Lin (one of the owners of Joy Holiday) as a tour organizer. … Continue Reading

The Monetary Value Of Vacation Accrual Need Not Be Included In Wage Statement

By Tony Oncidi on January 9, 2017 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, PAGA, Wage Statements

Soto v. Motel 6 Operating, L.P., 4 Cal. App. 5th 385 (2016) Lidia Soto sued her former employer, Motel 6 Operating, L.P., for violation of Labor Code § 226(a) for failing to include the monetary value of accrued vacation pay in its employees’ wage statements. Soto sued in her individual capacity and also on behalf … Continue Reading

Pay Stub Reform For Exempt Employees

By Tony Oncidi on October 26, 2016 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Exempt Employees, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

Employees who are exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements are not required to have the number of total hours worked tracked and logged on an itemized wage statement. (AB 2535.)… Continue Reading

California Enacts a Raft of New Employment Legislation

By Tony Oncidi, Bali Kumar and Kenneth Sulzer on October 20, 2015 Posted in Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, Class Actions, Discrimination, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks, PAGA, Retaliation, Vacation or PTO, Wage and Hour, Wage Statements

The latest legislative session has just ended, and, true to form, the California Legislature has added more than a dozen new laws affecting employers doing business in the nation’s largest state. These statutes are in addition to the other six new laws that we reported on in September: Signed legislation: Sick Leave: Accrual And Limitations Language … Continue Reading

Employer’s Failure To Provide Itemized Wage Statements Was Not “Inadvertent”

By Tony Oncidi on March 1, 2011 Posted in Employment Law Notes, Wage Statements

Heritage Residential Care, Inc. v. Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, 192 Cal. App. 4th 75 (2011) Heritage Residential, a company that operates seven residential care facilities, employed 24 workers, 16 of whom lacked social security numbers. Heritage treated the 16 employees who did not have social security numbers as independent contractors and issued them 1099 … Continue Reading

This website uses third party cookies, over which we have no control. To deactivate the use of third party advertising cookies, you should alter the settings in your browser.