Our clients frequently face questions about how immigration laws and policies apply to their employees, candidates, and students. The world of immigration law can be a bewildering jumble of acronyms, statutes, regulations, and policy directives that leave many employers or school administrators exasperated and with whiplash. As practitioners in labor, employment, and education for our
Origins and Applications of the Home Rule Doctrine
This post was authored by Lisa S. Charbonneau.
Under Article XI, Sections 4 and 5 of the California Constitution, charter cities and counties have exclusive authority to regulate and determine their own municipal affairs, free from intrusion by the state. These provisions of the Constitution are collectively referred to as the municipal affairs clause
Balancing Conflicts Between Work And Religion
This post was authored by Elizabeth T. Arce.
In December 2011, a Macy’s employee was fired because she refused to allow a teenage transgender customer use of the women’s dressing area. Natalie Johnson, who worked at a Macy’s in San Antonio, Texas, watched the teenager shop in the women’s department. When Johnson saw the
Performance Evaluations: Why It’s A Good Thing For Public Employers
In the corporate world, the practice of giving annual performance reviews to employees has come under attack in recent years. Leading business magazines and newspapers have printed articles advocating for the elimination of performance evaluations. There are even books in the marketplace that teach companies how to get rid of performance reviews. Among the reasons
Sexual Harassment Training Under Scrutiny: It’s Not Just What You Say, But What You Do That Matters
In the wake of recent attention to sexual harassment in the workplace, employers and members of the public are asking: what about all of those sexual harassment trainings we required? Are they helping? How do we know? And, if they’re not achieving our goals (public policy and agency-specific), what can we do better?
Just What
The Annual Look at the Weird, Wacky and Just Plain Strange Employment Lawsuits
It is that time again. These are actual employment cases. Really, they are.
Mad at your co-workers? Tell a friend, not Facebook
Jayne Brill sued her former employer and the Virginia Employment Commission because she was terminated and denied unemployment benefits. Brill was alleged to have violated the company’s social media policy when she made
Don’t Wait for a Scandal: Now is the Time to Update Your Agency’s Harassment Policies and Procedures
The allegations of sexual harassment and assault levied against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein have been front page news for the last week. The board of directors of his company swiftly voted to terminate his employment, but only time will tell what impact Mr. Weinstein’s transgressions (and alleged criminal activity) will have on his former company.
An Employee Has Raised a Disability for the First Time During a Skelly. What Now?
This post was authored by Kristin D. Lindgren
Intro
Employers are well aware that employee disabilities can create mine fields due to the technical nature of disability discrimination laws. Even the most well-intentioned employers can run into trouble. But, what happens when the employer has recommended discipline of an employee, and the employee informs the
Prevention, Prevention, Prevention! It’s Time to Audit Your Agency’s Personnel Rules
Prevention of liability starts with auditing your agency’s personnel rules. Indeed, in an employment-related lawsuit, the applicable personnel rule is often “Exhibit A.” Each year, public agencies face changes to employment laws and regulations, best management practices, and internal changes to procedures. Thus, the outcome of a lawsuit may just depend on whether the agency
PERB Expands Right to Union Representation to Interactive Process Meetings
The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) recently held in Sonoma County Superior Court (Sonoma) that employees are entitled to union representation at interactive process meetings. With this ruling, PERB expressly overturned prior precedent on this issue.
Before the Sonoma ruling, PERB recognized a right to union representation in individual meetings with the employer primarily only