FMLA CALIFORNIA

These days employees are spending a lot of time searching for information about the Family Medical Leave Act in California. Even before the California version of the FMLA changed in 2021 to begin covering employers with 5 or more employees there was quite a bit of interest in what the FMLA was in California. The FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) is a federal law that applies to California employees. However, there is typically no reason to use the federal law because it requires a larger workforce of 50 employees and it does not provide for emotional distress damages which are often damages awarded if a case is won due to an employee being fired due to a leave of absence that should have been covered by the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), the California version.

Call (818) 783-7300 to start your case for being fired due to a medical leave of absence

The California version of the FMLA requires:

• the employee to have been employed for one year with the employer
• the employer to have 5 or more employees in a 75 mile radius
• the employee or a covered family member to have suffered a serious medical condition
  (serious medical conditions require ongoing treatment or at least 2 doctor’s visits)

Employees make take FMLA or CFRA (California Family Rights Act) on an intermittent or planned basis. Randomly calling out due to a serious medical condition may involve questions whether reasonable notice was given of the need to miss work, or the situation creates an undue hardship. In situations like this the employee needs to consult with an experienced FMLA/CFRA lawyer for legal advice.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT DEFINITION

In recent months employees have made an intense number of inquiries about the definition of sexual harassment. We are not sure if this is because there is a certain reluctance or disbelief a victim could in fact be experiencing sexual harassment, or the public is generally unsure what constitutes sexual harassment. After all, California law did clarify the motivation for the harassment does not have to be in order to obtain sex.

Sexual harassment involves quite a few different types of conduct. At the end of the day the conduct needs to be offensive to a reasonable person of the makeup of the victim. This means the conduct would offend somebody of the age, educational background, gender identification, and potentially the socio-economic status of the victim. What might be offensive to an 18 year old woman might not be offensive to a woman with a 47 year-old woman with a master’s degree working as a psychotherapist.

Sexual harassment involves:

• Offensive Comments
• Unwanted Touching
• Offensive Text Messages
• Visual Displays of Pornography
• Quid Pro Requests for Sex or a Sexual Relationship in Exchange for Better Job Conditions
• Poor Treatment Due to Objections to Sexual Harassment
• Job Terminations Due to Sexual Harassment

Call (818) 783-7300 to have a discrete conversation with an experienced sexual harassment lawyer. Sexual harassment lawsuits can be filed by one person or many.

Although not a guarantee nor prediction of your case, it is our goal to obtain more than $100,000 on sexual harassment lawsuits.

SUE FOR OVERTIME

The number of employees interested in suing for overtime is amongst the top concerns of California employees these days. The right to be paid overtime is pretty simple. Understanding a nonexempt employee has to be paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for overtime is easy math. We cannot help but wonder if some of the increased interest in suing for overtime is because employers are not paying overtime at the right rate of pay. One might ask, how can that be if all you have to do is multiply the regular rate of pay by 1.5 times? The unclear issue might be determining the employee’s hourly rate.

Many nonexempt employees are paid a fixed hourly wage and have the prospect of earning fixed rate bonuses. We have succeeded when these are tool bonuses, fixed rates for showing up to work, and rent credits. If there is a pre-determined daily, weekly, or monthly bonus not tied to the employee’s job performance the number of regular hours the employee worked in a week needs to be divided into the fixed rate bonus sum.

Piece rate pay also lead to questions whether overtime has been paid at the right rate of pay. In order for an experienced overtime lawyer to determine if overtime is being paid at the right rate of pay they need to review at least one pay stub.

Overtime lawsuits involving whether the employee has been paid the right rate of pay require an experienced overtime lawyer. Call (818) 783-7300 to speak to one of the top lawyers in this field in California, Karl Gerber.

Our Recent cases involving overtime paid at the wrong rate include:

• $4,000,000 class action for overtime that did not include fixed rate bonus pay
• $750,000 class action settlement when overtime did not include piece rate pay
• $350,000 due to fixed rate bonuses not being in the overtime rate for an oil field worker