San Francisco Employment Law Blog

Bay Area residents may consider themselves fortunate to have found employment. In such uncertain economic times, finding a job can be a task in and of itself. When employees are so thankful to have a job, they may be afraid to speak up if they feel an employer has violated their rights. Fortunately, there are laws in place to protect employees, meant to prevent injustices such as wage and hour violations.

Recently, it was discovered that employees at a hotel were being mistreated. Though they worked long hours, they were not paid for overtime, and the paychecks of the employees in question did not even add up to the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The hotel employers tried to claim that the workers were paid a fair salary, rather than an hourly wage. 

Bay Area employees are back on the job after ringing in the new year. While most people find a way to celebrate new beginnings with family or friends, the new year is not just a reason to party. Now that the calendar has moved on to 2019, employees should be made aware that any new laws that passed are now in effect, and several states have passed legislation to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Notably, California has new laws that further protect victims. Previously, a party accused of sexual harassment had the option to settle the case without having the identity of the person or party accused revealed. The new law changes this, and such things will no longer be allowed. A party that wants to settle a sexual harassment case levied against him or her is subject to having the identity of the accused party revealed, so that other employees and the public can be made aware of the danger. Employers are no longer allowed to make employees sign a liability release pertaining to such matters either. 

Bay Area families are aware of the important role educators and school district employees can play in the lives of local children. Not everything taught in schools can be found in a book, and one former school principal is fighting to show children the importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of pressure from superiors. The woman, who by all accounts truly cared for the children she was responsible for, has gone public with her story of her own wrongful termination. 

The woman says the trouble began when a new library was under construction, set to be a resource for the children in the school. There was confusion over whether the school or the district was responsible for funding the construction, and for months, the bill went unpaid and became delinquent. She made the decision to use donation monies available for discretionary use to pay the bill and get the library project back on track. 

Pregnancy can be an exciting time, but it can also be stressful. Not only are women worried about their health and their baby, they may also worry about how their employer is going to treat them regarding their pregnancy.

Unfortunately, many women still face discrimination in the workplace. It can even happen at workplaces you might think would understand a health condition, like a healthcare network. The California-based Family HealthCare Network is settling a disability and pregnancy-discrimination suit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $1.75 million.