Kevin Michael Schwin’s Answers

There is no rule requiring the employer to re-hire any of you at the new location, nor are they obligated to hire anybody upon the same terms and conditions as employees at your current location. From the situation you describe I see a potential age discrimination disparate impact claim. If they are hiring only younger people who they can get to work for less wages and commissions, and if they are not hiring older workers who have been with the company for a while and who are earning more,...

As you may have gathered from prior answers, there is no right answer to your question. The law is not clear either way, and there are some good arguments to be made either way. On the one hand, you must authorize direct deposit payment in writing. And, assuming you were advised that a $1.25 fee would be charged to set up direct deposit, your employer has a good argument that it should be allowed to deduct the fee from your wages. On the other hand, Labor Code section 212 requires that...

There is no way to answer your questions. There is no law that prohibits employers from counting misdemeanor convictions against job applicants. Some employers will disfavor applicants with criminal records. Other employers may overlook a criminal conviction. It usually depends on how old the conviction is, what the conviction was for, how old you were when it happened, and what you have accomplished since then.

If you are out on leave for medical reasons, your employer has the right under the Family and Medical Leave Act and the California Family Rights Act to require a fitness for duty examination before allowing you to return to work. There generally is no requirement that an employer provide paid leave. Employers typically only provide paid leave to salaried employees. You should know whether it is paid leave because they will be paying you if it is paid leave.

Whether you have a case depends on why you and your co-workers were not getting along and what you complained about. If, for example, it was just a personality conflict, the termination was probably legal. If, on the other hand, your co-workers did not like you because of your race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, age, national origin and/or any disability you may have, and if you complained about how they were calling you discriminatory names or using slurs or epithets, you may have a case.

This sounds like something you should just talk to HR or Personnel about. Politely ask and see what they say. I would imagine you will still be able to negotiate, as most public employees receive annual pay raises (although this is because most public employees are in a union).

If you have the complaints you do not need to get the documents from them. You can offer the documents into evidence and let the arbitrator decide whether they are admissible. You should definitely retain an attorney if you do not already have one.

Protective orders are very common in modern litigation. Businesses typically will be required to provide confidential documents to the opposing side, including trade secrets and other proprietary information. Individuals likewise are often required to provide confidential documents to the opposing side such as medical and financial records. A protective order is a court order that requires the opposing side to use such confidential and private documents only for the purpose of litigation,...

Employers are allowed to provide other employers with truthful information about employees, even if that information is damaging. Employers typically do not provide others with such information, even if it is truthful, because they do not want to get sued. In your situation it appears what was said is not true because you did call your 2nd employer; you were not a no call, no show. Of course, you should gather phone records to prove that you did call your 2nd employer. However, in your...

Please call me to discuss this. I currently have a case which challenges this very pay practice. It is a common way for auto mechanics to get paid. In my professional opinion, this pay practice is illegal under California law. It violates both the minimum wage and reporting time pay requirements. As far as getting $16 per hour, you should be entitled to at least $8 per hour (which is the minimum wage) for all hours that are not flagged. Under the minimum wage laws, you can get up to 2...