Sexual Harassment on the “Big Bang” Theory

WHAT EMPLOYERS NEED TO KNOWSexual Harassment and the big bang theory

“The whole universe is in a hot dense state . . .” well, in regard to sexual harassment in the work place, yes, it is.  Employers often find sexual harassment lawsuits as quite a surprise, or as the labor lawyers at Beck Law call it, a very expensive “Big Bang.”

Sexual Harassment In The Workplace Today

A recent episode of The Big Bang Theory on  CBS  shows us the realities and confusion of the human experience in conjunction with current laws regarding what is considered sexual harassment in the workplace today.

Take it from Sheldon Cooper, who tries to counsel an employee by showing her photos of venereal diseases and  telling her “Your ovaries are squirting so much goofy juice into your brain you don’t know which way is up.”

Sheldon believes he is being completely professional here.  Sheldon understands science, not social nuances.  Employers must take heed of Sheldon’s fumbling and carefully train supervisors with in depth role playing to ensure that they fully understand what actions are permissible in the workplace.

To make matters worse, because he is Sheldon, he tells his HR manager that she is “brown sugar . . . a slave to her biological urges” and called her “an egg salad sandwich.”

The episode demonstrates that although an employee’s intentions can be very innocent and honest, and meant to provide positive re-enforcement, it does not necessarily matter what the employee/ supervisor meant to say, or what their intentions were. What matters is how the receiver of the information perceived what was said. An employer must perform due diligence training of supervisors and employees to ensure that they deliver the correct message, in the correct tone and manner.

Employees, like Sheldon Cooper, may be totally unaware of what they are saying and how they are affecting those around them.

The difficulty here lies in social nuance. The skill is in the delivery of the message, rather than the intent, although one would never show web photos of venereal diseases under any circumstances to a fellow employee, this is just for TV.  Clearly, Sheldon’s intent is not malicious, the effect is.

Language training in the workplace, so that employees deliver the correct message is complex for an employer and a supervisor to grasp:  it is more about the meaning behind the words, and not always the words themselves (although with Sheldon the words were clearly wrong as well).

Employers need to keep abreast in knowing the current legalities of what to say and what not to say in the workplace. It is about what the law determines to be appropriate, yet not all persons understand how to behave, nor is it necessarily in their nature to grasp the meaning of what the laws dictate, even when they try to behave with well intentions to all employees.

Any time a harassment complaint is filed, the employer is legally obligated to investigate and reconcile the issue. Some situations require that the employee no longer works in close proximity to others until an independent outside investigation is performed, and sometimes employees must be terminated. There are many factors to consider when handling a sexual harassment complaint as an employer. Legal counsel and independent investigations are provided by the attorneys at Beck Law PC regarding sexual harassment in the workplace.

My Facebook is my Personal Life and no Business of my Employer

facebook iconCalifornia Assembly Bill AB 1844 (Employer Use of Social Media) prohibits employers from requesting employees or job applicants to provide user names or passwords for personal social media accounts, such as Facebook. California law limits exceptions, including an exception relating to employer investigations.

Employer Use of Social Media

California’s AB 1844 does not allow employers to require an applicant or employee to provide logon information to access their social media websites in the employer’s presence.  However, in addition, it may be a future requirement that employers may not be able to request that they be a “friend” to an employee or potential applicant, thereby giving the employer no access to information that is otherwise available through the interview process.

The current law does not prohibit employers from researching the background of potential applicants; however, should employers look into the history of an applicant, under no circumstances should that information be a deciding factor in not hiring an applicant, and online information cannot be used as a reason to not hire a potential employee.

Employer Should Be Cautious

What this means is:  employers should be cautious in conducting online searches of employees and potential applicants because such searches often uncover information that employers cannot lawfully use to make hiring decisions.  Employers still have the right to hire who they choose, but the decision making process  must be thoughtful and based upon the employee’s or applicant’s job experience, talent, attitude, willingness to do the job, etc., and not based upon information from Facebook such as:  beer pong pictures, fraternity comments, family dynamics, religious beliefs, etc.

Suggested at this point would be to conduct multiple interviews and thoroughly question applicants regarding their job experience and willingness to be a team member to your business.  Also recommended is calling all references and using intuition as a source of guidance.  Further recommended is having several key management persons take notes while conducting multiple interviews, providing insight that is cumulative to the decision making process.

Further, after the decision to hire a new applicant has been made, it’s suggested that letters be sent to all interviewees explaining why they were not chosen for the job:  for example:  the applicant did not meet the skill set that was required;  or, the applicant did not meet the current needs for the position at hand. [Read more…]

Why Does My Small Business Need an Employee Handbook?

Employee Handbook for a small businessToo small for an employee handbook?

One of the first questions we ask a new small business owner client is: Do you have an employee handbook?  More often than not, they say “NO” and on the rare occasion that they do have one, it was written years ago, has never been updated and sits in some storage room nearly forgotten.

It’s remarkable the number of small businesses that have no handbook at all!  There are many good reasons to create an employee handbook, and in fact, small businesses can do themselves great financial harm without one.

Courts, the Department of Labor, and the EEOC will automatically assume, if you have no employee handbook, that you have not informed your employees of the up to date information that you are legally bound to tell employees in writing, such as their right to vote, their earnings breakdown, their right to pregnancy leave and so forth. The list of what businesses must legally tell employees grows longer every year.  Not having an employee handbook may lead these agencies to dig more deeply into your business practices to determine your compliance with wall postings, payroll accounts and such, which could then lead to severe penalties if you are not in compliance and up to date.

Having an employee handbook, and updating it annually, can protect an employer from liability if an employee decides to sue.  The employee handbook is a document where important policies and procedures are outlined in detail and explained to the workforce.

Here are some guidelines as to what must be included in the company employee handbook:

  • Workplace rules (e.g., work schedules, length of breaks, days off, etc.).
  • Strong language that supports an “off clock” break policy and enforcement of such;
  • Description of the culture of your organization;
  • Employment at Will language written appropriately with the inclusion that the business owner has the only right to choose an employment agreement;
  • Anti-discrimination policies;
  • Sexual harassment policies;
  • Leave policies;
  • Open door policies;
  • Anti-retaliation policies;
  • Termination procedures;
  • Insurance and COBRA information;
  • Pregnancy and Postpartum policies;
  • Exempt vs. Non-Exempt language;
  • Clocking in to work policies;
  • No working off clock policy;
  • Overtime policies;
  • FTO/Vacation policies;
  • Right to Vote policy;
  • Non-discriminatory dress code policies;
  • Non-discriminatory smoking policies;
  • Disclaimer regarding technology ownership;
  • Technology Use policies;
  • Employee Fiduciary Duty to Employer language;
  • Employee Duty of Loyalty to Employer language.

All employees should be given time to review the employee manual and then be required to sign and date a letter of agreement or acknowledgement page that clearly states they’ve read the handbook and understand its contents.

Employee handbooks should be updated annually. The new employee handbook should then be , re-distributed and A new letter of agreement or acknowledgement page should be signed by all employees and saved in each employee’s file. [Read more…]

Current California Lunch Break and Rest Period Employee Labor Laws

The Santa Rosa Labor Law Attorneys at Beck Law P.C. work with both employees and employers in regard to all areas governing compliance with California Labor / Wage and Hour Laws.  So as not to violate current California lunch break and rest period employee labor laws, as of April 12, 2012 it is a California requirement that all non-exempt employees get uninterrupted meal breaks and rest periods according to a decision by the Supreme Court (Brinker vs. Superior Court) See Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004.  The Petaluma Employment Law Lawyers at Beck Law P.C. suggest to employers that all Employee Handbooks and Policies are updated by an experienced labor attorney to ensure compliance with these new laws so that overtime violations will be avoided.  In turn, we encourage employees to contact an experienced labor and employment lawyer, such as Beck Law P.C., if they feel their legal rights are being violated.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES

The employer must relieve the employee of all duty:  The Wage and Hour Labor Law Attorneys Beck Law P.C. interpret this to mean that literally ALL NON-EXEMPT EMPLOYEE DUTY must be relieved. We encourage employers to have built in contingencies to their policies to ensure that non-exempt employees do not eat at their desks or take any phone calls or instructions while they are “clocked out”.

The employer must relinquish control over all activities of the employee:  The Ukiah Labor Attorneys at Beck Law P.C. suggest all of our business clients provide a break area for employees and to encourage non-exempt employees to take a full break as well as leave the premises whenever necessary.

The employer must permit an uninterrupted 30-minute break:  The Lake County Labor and Employment Lawyers at Beck Law P.C. suggest our business clients provide a break schedule and appoint an Office Supervisor that monitors all non-exempt employees to make sure breaks are taken in a timely manner.  All non-exempt employees must “clock in” and “clock out” and are never permitted to work at home or “off clock.”

The employer must not impede or discourage the employee from taking their 30-minute meal break:  In order to demonstrate compliance with this law as well as avoid meal period violations, the attorneys at Beck Law P.C. suggests employers hire experienced employment law attorneys to prepare the appropriate legal language to be included in all Employer Handbooks and Policies that clearly outlines the break schedule stating that employees have a responsibility to take their breaks in a timely manner.  Additionally, we encourage fellow employees to never discuss work related matters with a non-exempt employee while they are taking a break.

All Non-Exempt Employee Lunch Breaks and Rest Periods Must be Provided and Taken in a Timely MannerCurrent California labor laws for rest breaks and meal periods require that the employer provide non-exempt employees with a 30 minute uninterrupted meal break after 5 hours of work (unless the employee’s workday is completed within 6 hours), and a 10 minute rest break time after each 3 ½ hours of work.

10 Minute Breaks Must Be Paid By Employer.  Not only must an employer require a non-exempt employee to take an un-interrupted lunch or Rest break, but the employer must pay for it, according to current labor laws.  rest break violations and meal break violations can occur if a non-exempt employee is interrupted during a break or meal period and said employee is entitled to additional compensation for working through a meal break.  In addition to the one hour of pay, the extra compensation can increase the amount of overtime that you are due.

Employers May Not Pressure or Coerce the Non-Exempt Employee to Forgo a Lunch or Rest BreakOnly if ALL of the above are met will an employee be deemed to have taken a break. In particular, the California Supreme Court noted that the “wage order and the governing statute do not countenance an employer’s exerting coercion against the taking of, creating incentives to forego, or otherwise encouraging the skipping of legally protected breaks.”

What this means, in simple terms is:  A written company policy stating that you permit meal breaks and rest periods will not be legal if you do not enforce your employees to take timely breaks, that are monitored with accurate time keeping records that demonstrate that non-exempt employees “clocked in” and “clocked out” on time, every work day.  Even on extremely busy days, managers must not pressure non-exempt employees to work through breaks and must ensure rest and meal breaks are taken on time and un-interrupted, or compensate the employee in the amount of one hour’s wage for each interruption or violation.

Missed Meal Breaks and Rest Periods are considered a Wage and Not a PenaltyIn Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. the courts decided that missed meal breaks are considered a wage and not a penalty. What this means is under California labor law code meal break rule violations can be collected by employees for 3 years and sometimes 4 years under the California unfair competition statute, whereas a penalty is only collectable for 1 year.

What are the Timing Requirements that Comply with First or Second Meal Periods during the Workday?

Train your management to keep in mind the 5-hour mark.  When an employee works more than five hours, a meal period must be provided no later than the end of the employee’s fifth hour of work (simply stated:  no later than the start of the employee’s sixth hour of work).  When an employee works of a period of more than 10 hours, a second meal period must be provided no later than the end of the employee’s tenth hours of work (no later than the start of the employee’s eleventh hour of work).

Santa Rosa Employer Employee Data Privacy Protection

internet securityNew Nightmare for Santa Rosa Employer Employee Data Privacy Protection & Employer Responsibilities

Scenario:  A key employee resigns and you find that they have shared private and personal information about your customers on Facebook.

Nowadays, employers collect a great deal of personal information about their employees, customers, patients, clients, and others along the course of the work day. Companies use employees’ personal information for many reasons such as administration of payroll, employee benefit plans, and evaluation of employment applications, the handling of independent contractors, terminated employees, retired employees and so forth.  In this computer dependent age, personal data is being shared and transferred between organizations online; and thus, maintaining compliance with applicable data privacy laws is an ever increasing responsibility of employers.

Companies need to be aware of their obligations under the profusion of data protection laws and regulations that govern the collection, use and transfer of personal information. Additionally, data privacy laws include not only active employee information, but extend to any non-employee groups whose personal data they may acquire.

Minimizing Employer Risk

The Petaluma employment law attorneys at Beck Law P.C. suggest the following to attempt to minimize employer risk.

Companies should seek counsel annually with an experienced employment law attorney, to acquire the appropriate legal interpretive guidance on compliance matters so as to avoid legal violations and security breaches involving employee personal data.

Policies should include legal language specifically directed to employee procedures in regard to data privacy to ensure the best practices that aim to limit the amount of personal data they collect, process, transfer and store.

Companies should limit access to personal data and provide training to staff that handles personal data.

Companies should include legal language in their policies stating that business computers will be monitored and reviewed periodically to ensure employees are applying appropriate security measures regarding personal data.

Even Still:   All the precautionary measures in the world will not stop a dishonest employee from selling your business’s personal information, such as your customer social security numbers online and you, as the business owner will be held accountable for their actions.

There is absolutely nothing an employer can to do to prevent an employee from texting information from their personal phone or simpler still, writing down the information and throwing it in their purse or pocket before walking out the door.

Therefore, the labor and employment attorneys at Beck Law P.C. offer these further tips:

Perform all due diligence during the interview process when hiring a new employee.  Take your time, and have multiple interviews so that you begin to trust the person you are about to hire, before you hire them.  Call all references and carefully listen to not only what they say, but more importantly, what they don’t say.  Ask lots of questions to cull out information that may give you more clues to this person’s integrity.  Use your intuition, and perform all interviews with other trusted staff members to get their feedback,  and if any one of you feel something is not quite right with this person’s integrity, move on until you feel very comfortable with who you are going to hire.

For current employees:  Know your employees, be attentive and listen to them, use good communication and eye contact.  Always honor and praise good work.  Be on the look- out for suspicious behavior such as when an employee uses negative body language or challenges you in ways that you find inappropriate to the situation, as this may an indication of guilt that they may be doing something behind your back.  Listen to other employees who report that they do not feel comfortable about another employee’s actions.  If you feel a negative feeling about an employee, trust your feeling, as you are most likely correct.  If you suspect and employee of dishonesty, begin your due diligence research and contact an experienced employment attorney, such as Beck Law P.C. to handle the appropriate legal remedy and counseling process to remove said employee from your work place.

Disclaimer

The information on this website should not be considered to be legal advice, nor construed to be the formation of any manner of attorney client relationship. Prior to taking any form of legal action, please consult with an attorney experienced in the appropriate area of law germane to your situation. Case results and testimonials presented on www.californialaborandemploymentlaw.net or any of its related websites are germane to the facts present for each individual case and is not a promise of similar outcomes for any other cases. This website is not intended to solicit clients for matters outside of the State of California.