2012 Employment Law Update (2-15-12 Webinar Recording)

Our Employment Law Update program for 2012 was likely our most important legal update program in the last several years. Governor Brown had recently signed numerous new California employment laws on a wide variety of topics, some of which require employers to take specific proactive steps to ensure compliance. In addition, there were a wide variety of new federal initiatives and key court rulings that significantly affected the legal landscape in some important areas.

Watch this complimentary, on-demand webinar recording of our 2012 Employment Law Update for information about:

• New Hiring, Notice & Posting Requirements: California’s requirement for a mandatory written notice to new hires; limits on employer-related credit checks; requirement for written contracts for employees who receive commissions; and the NLRA’s new posting requirement for employers nationwide;

• Leaves of Absence: California law requiring payment for coverage of employees on pregnancy disability leave under group health plans; clarification of the organ/bone marrow donation leave law; court rulings where the employer’s mishandled investigation created legal exposure for terminating an employee who attended a colleague’s birthday gathering while on “intermittent leave,” and recommendations for preventing employee misuse of intermittent leave; and Verizon’s $20 million settlement in relation to counting ADA-protected absences (not covered by FMLA) under no-fault attendance policy;

• Wage and Hour: a California Supreme Court ruling regarding compliance with California overtime laws as to non-residents working in the state; Oracle’s agreement to pay $35 million to settle a class action regarding allegations of improper overtime classification of technical workers; a ruling requiring accrual and payment of unused “sabbatical” time; California court of appeal decision regarding salary arrangements for non-exempt employees; the federal “Plan/Prevent/Protect” initiative (which may lead to regulations requiring employers to conduct internal wage and hour compliance audits) and federal “misclassification” initiative; and update on meal and rest breaks;

• Independent Contractors: hefty new California penalties for misclassifying workers as independent contractors of up to $25,000 per misclassification; new federal initiatives aimed at catching contractor misclassifications; and the IRS’s Voluntary Classification Settlement Program;

• Online Employee Speech: NLRB’s recent enforcement actions against employers with respect to employer policies and employee terminations involving work-related employee postings on Facebook and other websites;

• Arbitration: rulings on class action waivers in arbitration agreements; and a California Supreme Court ruling that an employer cannot compel an employee to arbitrate and waive his right to a Labor Commissioner hearing for a wage law violation;

• Discrimination: OFCCP’s proposed rule to require federal contractors to set hiring target to have 7% of their workforces to be persons with disabilities; $10.6 million verdict in favor of an employee terminated following employer’s mishandling of the investigation of her sexual harassment complaint; and a California court ruling that expands definition of admission of evidence of discrimination to include “me too” testimony of co-workers.

This is a recording of a webinar presented by Ray Hixson, Brian Nagatani, and Mary Wang on February 15, 2012.  Please note that the webinar does not address changes in the law since the original program date.  Please also note that the webinar provides only general information about the law, and does not constitute legal advice.  Companies or individuals seeking legal advice should retain counsel.

Please note that HR and attorney continuing education credits are not available for watching this recorded program.

You may request an e-mail with links to the program materials and website where you may watch the program here:   Access Request Form