Advocates for Justice

Usually for executives or managers, and unlike an at-will employment arrangement, most employers offer an initial employment severance agreement defining the terms for leaving a company after termination. While most companies offer severance, they are not required to do so; state laws vary, and it is not required under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Executives generally have negotiation leverage because of their financial and personal contributions made over the employment period. There also will often be bargaining room because employers want to maintain a positive ...

As a result of the recent case, Williams v. Superior Court (July 13, 2017, No. S227228) ___Cal.4th___ [2017 Cal. LEXIS 5124], employees received a big win on PAGA (Private Attorney General Act) class action claims. 

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects the right to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination because of race, religion, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation, among other characteristics.  Under the FEHA, the definition of “employee” in Section 12926 of the Government Code previously excluded individuals with disabilities granted special licenses to work at nonprofit sheltered workshops, day programs, or rehabilitation facilities.  Employers are still permitted to pay these individuals less than the minimum wage, but before January 1, 2017, there was no recourse under FEHA if these individuals were being discriminated against or harassed.  Now, they are afforded the same FEHA protections, thanks to Assembly Bill No. 488.

The Legislature has enacted several changes to the California Labor Code designed to protect employee-whistleblower activity. Many of these changes relate directly to areas in which CPM practices. The Legislature’s changes are beginning to pay real dividends to whistleblowers who expose the corporate wrongdoing of their employers.

In a recent op/ed in Salon, labor and consumer organizations teamed up to criticize the vast impact of “forced arbitration” clauses in consumer and employment contracts, and to call on Congress to act on behalf of the great majority of its constituents and ban the practice.