Pasadena Employment Law Attorneys - FAQs
- What is "at will" employment? What are the protections afforded to an at-will employee under California law?
- What is employment discrimination?
- What types of discriminatory practices are prohibited by law?
- What protections are granted to employees under by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?
- What protections need to be given to employees with disabilities?
- What is sexual harassment and when will an employer be held liable for sexual harassment in the workplace?
- Are non-competition, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements enforceable in California?
- What is "at will" employment? What are the protections afforded to an at-will employee under California law?
California is an "employment at will" state. Unless the employer and employee have a contract committing them to work together for a definite length of time, either party may terminate the relationship without notice for no reason or any reason as long as illegal discrimination or violation of public policy is not a factor. California's "public policy" prohibits employee termination for refusal to obey an illegal directive or for doing an action that is required or permitted by law. An employee also cannot be dismissed for whistle-blowing for any alleged illegal acts committed by the employer.
- What is employment discrimination?
Discrimination is the intentional deprivation of an employment benefit (e.g., refusal to hire, refusal to train, imposition of discipline, termination) based on an employee's age (40 or over), gender, race, color, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, and host of other protected characteristics. In California, it is also illegal to discriminate against an employee based on his or her sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. Employment policies that encourage such differentiation are unlawful. California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides even greater protection for the employee than the federal law (nicknamed Title VII).
- What types of discriminatory practices are prohibited by law?
- What protections are granted to employees under by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?
The FMLA applies to private employers with 50 or more employees, and provides for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to qualified employees for one of five reasons: (1) the birth or adoption of a child; (2) to care for the serious health condition of a spouse, child, or parent; (3) the employee's own serious health condition which renders the employee unable to perform the essential functions of the job, (4) a qualifying exigency relating to a close family member’s military services; or (5) up to 26 weeks per 12-month period to care for an ill or injured service member. An employee that properly utilizes some or all of the permitted 12-week period cannot be discharged for having taken the leave. That employee is entitled to his or her job or an equivalent position at the end of the leave unless the company had compelling business reasons to replace the individual or eliminate the applicable posts.
- What protections need to be given to employees with disabilities?
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires employers with fifteen or more employees to make special provisions for the protection of physically and mentally disabled employees and job applicants. The counterpart California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) applies to employers with five or more workers on payroll. Covered employers are prohibited from any discrimination or differential treatment of a physically or mentally disabled employee, otherwise able to perform the essential functions of a job, in hiring, promotion, compensation, job training, discipline, discharge, tenure, leaves, and fringe benefits.
The ADA and FEHA each require employers to seek and make reasonable accommodations for the disabled employee if such accommodations would not impose a substantial hardship on the operation of the employer's business.
- What is sexual harassment and when will an employer be held liable for sexual harassment in the workplace?
Federal and state laws protect workers from sexual harassment in the workplace. A business can be liable to an employee who establishes that the company condoned a sexually hostile or offensive work environment or who establishes that a supervisor utilized job security or advancement as leverage to obtain sexual favors from that employee. In the latter case, the supervisor can be personally liable.
It is a paramount duty of the employer to take appropriate steps to prevent and to effectively deal with any occurrence of alleged sexual harassment in the workplace.
- Are non-competition, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements enforceable in California?
No and yes. California prohibits most agreements limiting an individual from carrying on a livelihood in competition with his or her former employer. On the other hand, a business can bar a former worker from disclosing or otherwise utilizing that company's private and propriety information. Thus a business has the right to prevent an ex-employee from soliciting those on the company's client or patient list, as so long as that list was created at company expense and is subject to reasonable confidentiality procedures.
Discrimination laws are designed to protect the employees from workplace discrimination based on age, race, gender, religion, color, national origin, physical or mental disability, and a host of other protected characteristics. Workplace discrimination is strictly prohibited by both state and federal statutes. Violation can create serious liability, even punitive damages.
Employers are further prohibited from hiring undocumented non-citizens and, on the other hand, from discriminating on the lack of formal citizenship status of aliens lawfully admitted to the U.S.
