The year in review: New employment laws in 2014

THE year 2014 has been an interesting time for employment law with the legislature and the courts defining additional protections to employees. The following are some of the laws that may interest our readers:
New minimum wage laws took effect in July 1, 2014
Effective July 1, 2014, California’s minimum wage was raised from $8 an hour to $9 an hour. Effective January 1, 2016, the minimum wage will be $10 an hour. California’s minimum wage has not been raised in 6 years. Lawmakers noted that inflation has eroded the purchasing power of California’s minimum wage over the past four decades and that California’s minimum wage is less than the minimum wage workers earned in 1979.
The domestic worker bill of rights
Effective January 1, 2014, “personal attendants” must be paid overtime for all hours worked over nine hours in any workday and for all hours worked more than 45 hours in the workweek. The overtime rate is one and one-half times the employee’s regular hourly rate of pay. Personal attendants include caregivers and baby sitters or any person employed by a private householder or by any third party employer recognized in the health care industry to work in a private household, to supervise, feed, or dress a child or person who by reason of advanced age, physical disability, or mental deficiency needs supervision.
Discriminated undocumented employee entitled to back wages 
Should an undocumented worker recover back pay for an employer’s violation of California’s anti-discrimination laws? Yes, according to the California Supreme Court. California law expressly makes the worker protection in state employment and labor laws available to all workers “regardless of immigration status.” This means that an undocumented immigrant had the same rights and remedies as legal residents.  The undocumented worker who was discriminated should be allowed to recover his lost pay up to the time it was discovered that he may have been an unauthorized undocumented worker (the “pre-discovery” period). Allowing lost wages for that period does not directly conflict with federal immigration law.
Employer must provide training on discrimination, harassment and abusive conduct
Existing law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide, once every two years, at least 2 hours of training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees. The new law requires that such a training and education include the prevention of “abusive conduct.” “Abusive conduct” means conduct of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to an employer’s legitimate business interests. Abusive conduct may include repeated infliction of verbal abuse, such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets, verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating, or the gratuitous sabotage or undermining of a person’s work performance. A single act may be abusive conduct if it is especially severe and egregious.
Employee not liable for attorneys’ fees unless lawsuit in bad faith 
In a wage claim lawsuit, existing law generally requires that reasonable attorney’s fees and costs be awarded to the prevailing party if such damages were requested. The new law revises the existing law by providing that if the employee lost his or her case for back wages, the employee does not have to pay the employer’s attorney fees or costs unless the court finds that the employee brought the lawsuit in bad faith.
A final reminder for employees who are leaving their employment: The employer must immediately pay all compensation due, including wages for regular and overtime hours, pay for missed meal and rest breaks, and unused vacation time (if any). Employers must not hold their employee’s final paycheck “hostage” until the employee signs a release. Discharged employees with potential claims, who are asked to sign a release in exchange for additional money, may want to consult with a knowledgeable employment attorney before signing any such document.

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The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost.  Atty. Sayas’ Law Office is located at 500 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 980, Glendale, CA 91203. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit  www.joesayaslaw.com. 

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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is trial attorney who has obtained several million dollar recoveries for his clients against employers and insurance companies. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.