by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Jan 19, 2012 | Employment Law News, Independent Contractors, New Case Law
During the past few decades, there has been a fair amount of litigation taking place in state courts regarding the issue of whether insurance agents are employees or independent contractors for purposes of wage-and-hour claims. A few weeks ago, in Arnold v. Mutual of...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Jan 10, 2012 | Employment Law News, Overtime, Wage and Hour
On December 29, 2011, a former employee of the San Francisco Nike Store, Webster Proctor, filed a nationwide wage-and-hour class action in the Federal District Court for Northern District of California. Mr. Proctor, who worked as a sales associate, seeks to recover...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Jan 7, 2012 | Employment Law News, New Case Law, Tips and Tip Pooling, Wage and Hour
Tip-pooling (or tip-sharing) is common practice in the food and beverage industry. Many restaurant owners and managers require waiters to share 10-30% of their tips with certain employees. California and federal courts have traditionally recognized that it is not...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Dec 28, 2011 | New Legislation, Wage and Hour
UPDATED MAY 7, 2012 In one of the previous posts, we reported how in October 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011 that requires all California private-sector employers to provide a written notice of specified...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Dec 26, 2011 | Employment Law News, New Case Law, Wage and Hour
In one of the previous posts, we discussed how California Law requires employers to compensate employees for all hours worked. It is well-settled that any work performed for the employer’s benefit must be compensated. But what about a situation where employees perform...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Dec 22, 2011 | Employment Law News, Minimum Wage, New Legislation, Wage and Hour
According to the San Francisco Minimum Wage Ordinance, starting January 1, 2012, all employees performing work in the county of San Francisco must be paid not less than $10.24 per hour. San Francisco is the first city in the United Stated with a minimum wage rate...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Dec 18, 2011 | Deductions, Minimum Wage, Overtime, Tips and Tip Pooling, Wage and Hour
The restaurant, bar and food service industry continues to be one of the most highly abused industries when it comes to complying with California Employment law. Restaurant employees are often cheated out of their hard-earned wages, and employers are constantly...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Dec 8, 2011 | Independent Contractors, Misclassification
In one of the previous posts, we discussed in detail a Borello test employed by California courts and administrative agencies in determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee for purposes of wage and hour disputes. We also pointed out that...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Nov 28, 2011 | Administrative Exemption, Employment Law News, Misclassification, New Case Law
According to the US Supreme Court’s website, on November 28, 2011, the nation’s higest court granted petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Plaintiffs, the pharmaceutical sales representative, in Christopher et al. v. SmithKline Beecham Corporation. During...
by Alexei Kuchinsky, Esq | Nov 27, 2011 | Employment Law News, Independent Contractors, New Legislation
In their latest efforts to crackdown on independent contractor misclassifications, California legislature passed and Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a new measure (SB 459) which imposes strict financial penalties on companies and individuals who “willfully”...