California Court of Appeal Upholds Company's Rounding Practices
Many California employers round employees' clock-in and clock-out times to the closest quarter hour, tenth of an hour, or five-minute interval. This practice is commonly referred to as "rounding." On June 25, 2018, California's Second District Court of Appeal upheld an employer's rounding system in
AHMC Healthcare, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, No. B285655 (June 25, 2018). The decision reaffirms the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' 2016 ruling on the subject and expands on the criteria used to evaluate whether a rounding policy is neutral in practice, and thus lawful.
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California Companies Can Be Fined for Hiring the Wrong Janitorial Service
Beyond price and service, should companies care about the janitorial service they hire? With provisions of the California Property Service Workers Protection Act taking effect on July 1, 2018, and the Labor Commissioner recently fining Cheesecake Factory and its janitorial service $4.5 million for wage theft, it's time to revisit how janitorial services are hired.
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More news from the NLRB on work rules The Obama-era NLRB sometimes gave employers fits with decisions and guidance concerning employer work rules. It was common for the Obama-era Board to strike down fairly common, neutral work rules, often based on the idea that employees might interpret the rules to restrict employee rights. It did not take long for Trump-era NLRB appointees, however, to put their stamp on National Labor Relations Act law (see
article about some early actions by Trump NLRB appointees). The current members of the NLRB and the NLRB General Counsel are clearly inclined to give employers more latitude when drafting work rules. Following are some examples of the NLRB's change in direction.
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NLRB ALLOWS ANTI-UNION INTERVENERS: "NLRB general counsel Peter Robb directed agency lawyers not to object when a worker who petitions to disband the workplace union wants to intervene in a related unfair labor practice case," Hassan Kanu reports for Bloomberg Law. "That gives union opponents more power to fight against a union's efforts to stop or slow down the process of giving a labor organization the boot."
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August is the final month of this two-year legislative session and several bad bills remain:
AB 1654 (
Rubio D-Baldwin Park) would exempt unionized workers in the construction industry from the ability to pursue a civil action for an alleged violation of Labor Law protections if the worker is covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Sponsored by the Carpenters union - 1654 will undoubtedly be used as an inducement to contractors to sign up. (
Oppose)
AB 3018 (
Low D-Campbell) would Impose a $5,000 civil penalty per month of work performed in violation on a contractor or subcontractor if the Labor Commissioner determines after an investigation that that entity failed to use a skilled and trained workforce in accordance with this bill. A contractor or subcontractor that commits a second or subsequent violation within a three-year period would be subject to a $10,000 fine per month and debarment for up to three years. (
Oppose)
AB 3030 (
Caballero D-Salinas) Exempts from CEQA a project that is financed by a qualified opportunity fund and that meets certain requirements. It requires the payment of prevailing wages and use of a Skilled and Trained Workforce (unless there is a PLA) and penalizes contractors similar to AB 3018. (
Oppose)
A message from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Trade works. Tariffs don't. Tariffs raise costs and reduce exports. All of which means fewer jobs. See how hard your state will be hit
here.