Wage discrimination based on the gender of employees is illegal in California. People whose jobs require similar work must be paid equal amounts as those of the opposite gender unless an exception applies. Under the Fair Pay Act, both private and public employers are prohibited from discriminating against workers in their pay on the basis of their genders.
A couple of years ago, a new law went into effect that was meant to ensure that women were being paid equally compared to their male counterparts. But is it working, and what exactly is the pay differential between men and women? A recent article in the Los Angeles Times shows that, despite advances, female employees with the state of California have salaries that trail their male colleagues by just over 20 percent.
Typically, people think of new mothers when they consider a company’s parental leave benefits. However, fathers are also affected by the event of a new child, and are entitled to parental leave. Fathers do not require the physical rest that new mothers do, but they have a right to bonding time with their baby. In fact, the same is true for new adopted children or children born through surrogate mothers.
From wildfire evacuations in California to hurricane devastation in coastal regions, natural disasters and other crises impact employees and employers in many ways. Serious disruptions like these, however, do not exempt employers from following wage and hour laws or honoring employees’ rights to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
California workers may be interested to learn that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a revised whistleblower complaint form online. According to the announcement made by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, the online form allows whistleblowers to file their complaints quickly and safely.
Employers in California seeking to classify employees as independent contractors should take note of a recent lawsuit filed by the Labor Commissioner’s Office. Companies that intentionally misclassify employees as independent contractors may subject themselves to substantial back payments and heavy fines.