When a drug test may constitute disability discrimination “Under California law and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employee who is taking medication for a disability is protected from discrimination. Thus, if an employee’s drug test is positive for controlled substances but such substances are due to medication prescribed for a disability or medical…

“The California Fair Pay Act (aka the Equal Pay Act) prohibits an employer from paying any of its employees wage rates that are less than what it pays employees of the opposite sex, or of another race, or of another ethnicity, for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility,…

AMERICAN Income Life Insurance Co. sells insurance policies in California. It hires agents that it pays on commission. David Hamilton, Bridget Smith, and David Joh worked for American Income as agents. They each believed that they would be a salaried worker when they first applied, but later found that they would be paid in commission…

“The law does not require payment of overtime or other special premiums for work during holidays, unless such work goes beyond 8 hours per workday or 40 hours per workweek.” Q: I WORKED on Thanksgiving Day and the Day after Thanksgiving. Am I entitled to holiday pay? A: Around this time of year, we get…

EDGAR Orozco was an electrician working as an hourly employee for Ardent Companies, Inc., which provide services to drilling operations off the California coast, including on fixed off-shore oil platforms. Ardent Companies employees work on these oil platforms and travel between them. The workers are assigned to work in “hitches.” During their hitch, employees also…

Q: I WAS diagnosed with herniated disc and severe anxiety. I want to request leave but want to keep my privacy at work. Do I need to tell my employer about my medical or psychological condition? A: No. The employee is not required to disclose the nature of the employee’s medical condition or disability (i.e.,…

Independent contractor status harm most workers With nearly $200 million in funding from app-based companies like Uber and Lyft, California’s Proposition 22 was voted into law by Californians. It is now legal for these app-based companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors (ICs). This means that these drivers are no longer covered by the…

Commission-based employees owed for non-sales work STEVE Johnson and Scott Scollitt worked as mortgage loan originators for U.S. Bank National Association. These employees sued their employer for unpaid wages and for not being provided meal and rest periods. They alleged that the bank improperly averaged their commissions which resulted in them being paid less than…

The overtime compensation for ‘live-out’ employees is computed in the same way as that of a regular non-exempt employee who works in other occupations. This means ‘live-out’ household employees must be paid time and a half for all hours worked that are more than 8 hours in a day or more than 40 hours in…

Q: WHEN California’s Safer at Home Order took effect in March 2020, I and my co-workers were instructed to work from home. Since then, I have had to buy a new laptop (something basic), a new printer, ink cartridges, reams of copy paper, envelopes, scotch tape, and staples– all of which I need to do…

Q: I WAS off work for 2 months as a result of my COVID-19 infection. I was hospitalized and received treatments while under quarantine, Thank God I was eventually relieved of my symptoms and a couple of tests later showed negative findings. My doctors informed me that I can return to work without risk to…

Independent contractors are in business for themselves and generally work on a freelance basis, often with several clients. They either have specialized skills (e.g., actors, writers) or advanced degrees (e.g., lawyers, doctors) that allow them to decide when, where, and how they perform the work. True independent contractors are not employees and, therefore, do not…

Lauren Scricca worked as a Clinical Nurse for the University of California Irvine Medical Center (UCI) and was assigned to the Acute Rehab Unit. Throughout the 10 years she worked for UCI, she was commended for her performance and had several promotions. She was fired in 2018. The Daily Journal reports the following: Lauren has…

IN continuing efforts to protect workers and their families from COVID-19, California recently enacted the following legislation: Notice to employees of potential exposure and report of outbreaks Assembly Bill 685 requires employers who were notified of potential exposure to COVID-19 to notify all employees who were on the premises at the same worksite as the…

Q: My coworkers and I have had to work from home due to COVID-19. We are slowly returning to the office and I am concerned. I am an older worker with well-controlled diabetes and I have family members at home who are immuno-compromised. I don’t want to be infected and I certainly do not want…

Q: I read about severe cases of COVID-19 infections requiring several weeks of recovery. Can the employer fire me while being on leave due to this illness? Do I have remedies? A: The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) protects employees’ rights to take a leave of absence due to the serious health condition of the…

THE U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced the settlement of an age discrimination lawsuit against Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a NASA field center located in Pasadena, CA. JPL is NASA’s primary planetary spacecraft center. It designs and makes planetary robotic spacecraft and operates NASA’s Deep Space Network. In the lawsuit, the EEOC accused…

DR. Jan Weber worked for 5 years as a psychiatrist for the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, a public hospital in Santa Clara County. He was assigned at the hospital’s child and adolescent psychiatry department. During his employment, Dr. Weber complained to his supervisors about substandard patient care and unsafe work conditions, including the following:…

Protecting consumers against sellers ANGELA Bolger bought a replacement laptop computer battery on Amazon.com, which was being sold by “E-Life,” a fictitious name used on Amazon by Lenoge Technology (HK) Ltd., a foreign corporation. Amazon charged Bolger for the purchase, retrieved the laptop battery from its location in an Amazon warehouse, prepared the battery for…

Your right to expression in the workplace Q: I SAW your article about employee protections for political activities like attending rallies. What about posting political messages on Facebook or other social media sites? Can my employer legally fire me for postings like these? Do they have the right to ask me to take my posts…

Your work and your right to political expression Q: I CARE about today’s issues of social justice – from racial inequality to voting rights suppression to fighting for decent wages. I want to participate in peaceful demonstrations, but wanted to know its effect on my job. Can I be terminated from work if I join…

PATRICIA Samson worked as a portfolio manager for Wells Fargo Bank. On October 28, 2014, Patricia informed her supervisors that she would take a medical leave of absence to recover from chronic endometriosis. The next day, Gwin, her supervisor, sent a meeting invitation entitled “Patricia Displacement Conversation” to his boss, Stender Sweeney. In the message,…

KAREN Martinez worked as a Case Manager for John Muir Health, a health care service corporation operating primarily in Contra Costa County, CA. Martinez was an hourly non-exempt employee who was regularly scheduled to work from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with supposedly a 30-minute unpaid off-duty meal period. When the employer instituted cost cutting…

The right to privacy and intimate association JANELLE Perez was hired as a police officer in the Roseville Police Department. A few months into her probationary term, Janelle and a fellow officer, Shad Begley, began a romantic relationship. Both Janelle and Shad were separated from their respective spouses but remained married. Shad’s wife, Leah, filed…

How a sick leave policy fell short of disability discrimination law Mykyn Woods worked as a Senior Community Manager for Greystar Management Services, a property management company with offices all over the United States. Less than a year after she started working for Greystar, Woods was injured in a vehicle accident. She sustained herniated discs,…

When reporting for work does not mean showing up ALEXIA Herrera worked as a Sales Associate at Zumiez, Inc., a retail store in Chico, California. Zumiez scheduled Herrera and other employees for work according to two scheduling policies. First, Zumiez scheduled employees for “Show-Up” shifts, requiring the employees to physically report for scheduled work at…

Protecting employees from retaliation for whistleblowing SHUJUN Qiu was hired by Three Rivers Provider Network Inc. as its controller. Throughout her employment, Qui excelled at her job and her employer had no complaints about her performance. She was eventually promoted to corporate treasurer. On the fifth month of her employment, Qui was informed by another…

ELIZABETH Carter worked at Dunn-Edwards, the paint store, when her medical condition prevented her from lifting more than 20 pounds. She could, however, still continue to perform most of her essential duties. Her employer thus provided modified work duty by allowing her to ask co-workers for help whenever she needed to lift anything heavier than…

Interactive process in the COVID-19 era Q: MY work required me to interact with a lot of people. I became infected with COVID-19. I was hospitalized and went on disability leave. After 8 weeks of quarantine and after being relieved of symptoms, my doctor ordered another test, which came back negative. I was then cleared…

“However, the Order goes on to say that all persons living within the County of Los Angeles should remain in their residences whenever practicable.” Q: SINCE the shelter-in-place order, I have been working from home. Now that we are re-opening, I heard from HR that we will be going back to the office soon. My…