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Bereavement leave feels like one of those areas where employers should be able to rely on instinct. An employee loses someone close to them, and the response seems obvious: be supportive, give them time, and move forward. But in California, that approach, while...

California employers often assume that if an employee’s complaint is legally incorrect, it falls outside the scope of protected activity. That assumption is not only flawed—it is increasingly risky. A recent decision from the California Court of Appeal, Contreras v....

Most employers already collect emergency contact information during onboarding. It is one of those routine HR forms that gets completed on day one and then quietly sits in a personnel file. Until now. A new California requirement means that emergency contact forms are...

Five employee complaints triggered an investigation by the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) that ultimately resulted in more than $215,000 in wage liability—an outcome that illustrates why employers should periodically conduct wage-and-hour...

Military leave protections are among the strongest employee protections in employment law. Yet many employers still misunderstand how the rules work—especially when federal protections under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)...

The U.S. Department of Labor just proposed rescinding the 2024 federal independent contractor rule and moving back toward a framework that puts heavier emphasis on two factors: Control Opportunity for profit or loss At the federal level, the test would again center on...

California lawmakers recently introduced AB 1940 (Calderon), a bill that would explicitly add perimenopause, menopause, post-menopause, and related medical conditions to the definition of “sex” under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Although FEHA...

There is a renewed push to bring employees back into the office. Leaders want collaboration, mentorship, culture, and innovation. All legitimate business objectives. But here is the part that cannot get lost in the momentum: a return-to-office mandate does not cancel...

From time to time, HR hears a familiar complaint: “Employees are speaking another language, and it’s making others uncomfortable.” The impulse to step in is understandable. But in California, restricting language use at work is one of the quickest ways to create legal...