California law requires employers to reimburse employees for all necessary work-related expenses. Courts broadly interpret this law to fully protect workers from being forced to cover their employers’ operating costs.

At a minimum, an expense reimbursement policy should specify that the company will repay its employees for all reasonable and necessary business-related expenses, such as:

• Purchase of office supplies, tools, or equipment;
• Travel, lodging, and meal expenses incurred on business trips; and
• The reasonable percentage of an employee’s personal cell phone and internet usage plans.

If an employer pays a standard or flat reimbursement rate for any expenses, the policy should instruct the employee how to request additional reimbursement if warranted.

An expense reimbursement policy should never absolve a company from reimbursing an employee who failed to obtain prior approval for payment of necessary job-related expenses. A company can require pre-approval for foreseeable requests, but the consequence for violation should be possible disciplinary action rather than non-payment of the cost incurred.

Take-Aways:

Implement and regularly review a comprehensive, clearly written handbook to include a business expense reimbursement policy.

We publish this series to educate employers on best practices for a well-written handbook that assists applicants, employees, and management alike. To purchase our template handbook – which contains the above policy and much more – and accompanying forms or for more information, please contact Office Manager Aimee Rosales at 626.583.6600 or email her at officemgr@tbowleslaw.com.

See also:

• Handbook Helper Episode 13: Company Devices: Hands On, Hands Off- An Electronic Systems Policy (October 14, 2022)

Cindy Bamforth
December 2, 2022

Assembly Bill (AB) 1949, effective January 1, 2023, requires private employers of five or more people and all public employers to provide five days of bereavement leave to employees upon the death of a child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law.

The leave days must be taken within three months of the death but need not be consecutive. Unless the employer has a policy to the contrary, the leave may be unpaid, but employees may use any paid sick leave, vacation, compensatory time off, or personal leave to which they are entitled.

An employer may request documentation of the death within 30 days of the first day of leave, but may not discriminate against the employee or take adverse employment actions either because the employee takes such leave or provides information or testimony about their own bereavement leave or that of another.

Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements (CBA) that provide equivalent bereavement leave are not covered by this law, so long as the CBA provides for overtime wages, a regular hourly rate of at least 130% of minimum wage and meets other standards for wages, hours of work, and working conditions.

If an employee requests bereavement leave, the employer must keep the request confidential other than from internal personnel or counsel if necessary or as required by law.

Take-Aways:

Employers should include bereavement leave as one of the items in their annual policy review and update as needed.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Helena Kobrin
December 1, 2022

Starting with well-drafted policy, employers should clearly define acceptable and unacceptable social media usage to ensure employees do not impermissibly disclose confidential company information, infringe third party intellectual property rights, or harass and discriminate against others.

To comply with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), such policies should avoid potentially discouraging employees from discussing terms and conditions of their employment with coworkers or others.

A social media policy should:

• Require adherence to relevant company policies concerning harassment, standards of conduct, confidentiality, trade secrets, and financial disclosures;
• Caution against using malicious, obscene, or defamatory content;
• Prohibit posting rumors or other knowingly false information;
• Forbid managers from accessing or requesting access to subordinates’ restricted social media pages without a valid business reason;
• Prohibit employees from representing themselves as company spokespersons without proper company consent;
• Instruct authorized employees on how to access and manage company-owned social media accounts; and
• Include an NLRA-related statement regarding protected activities.

Take-Aways:

Implement and regularly review a comprehensive, clearly written handbook to include an updated social media policy.

We publish this series to educate employers on best practices for a well-written handbook that assists applicants, employees, and management alike. To purchase our template handbook – which contains the above policy and much more – and accompanying forms or for more information, please contact Office Manager Aimee Rosales at 626.583.6600 or email her at officemgr@tbowleslaw.com.

See also:

• Handbook Helper Episode 13: Company Devices: Hand On, Hands Off- An Electronic Systems Policy (October 14, 2022)
• Handbook Helper Episode 12: Prying Eyes – Employee Privacy Policy (September 30, 2022)
• Handbook Helper Episode 5: Golden Rules – Workplace Conduct Policy (July 8, 2022)

Cindy Bamforth
November 25, 2022

Currently, Labor Code 432.3 requires employers to provide the pay scale, i.e., the range of hourly or salary rates, to an applicant if requested after an initial interview.

SB 1162, effective January 1, 2023, mandates a greater level of disclosures:

• All California employers must provide pay rate information to applicants upon request even before an interview and to employees at any time.
• California employers with 15 or more employees must include pay scales in their own job listings or provide pay scale rates to third parties who post job listings for the employer and are required to include those pay rates.
• All California employers must maintain records of job titles and wage rate histories for all employees while employed and for three years after, subject to inspection by the Labor Commissioner. Failing to do so creates a rebuttable presumption in favor of an employee’s claim.

Penalties for violations of this section range from $100 to $10,000 depending on circumstances, but first-time offenders that can prove they have fixed their job postings get a pass on any penalties.

If an employer has 100 or more employees, it must submit a pay data report by the second Wednesday of every May starting in 2023 (moved from the prior annual reporting date of March). This report must include:

• the number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex in 10 job categories;
• how many employees by those same categories fall into various “pay bands” used by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Occupational Employment Statistics survey;
• the mean and median hourly rate for each job category broken down by race, ethnicity, and sex; and
• other, related data.

For non-compliance with these latter requirements, first time offenders can be penalized $100 per employee and subsequent offenses at $200 per employee.

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement is expected to issue FAQs, which hopefully will answer many unanswered questions before the January 1 implementation date.

Take-Aways:

Employers need to prepare for the implementation of this statute in less than two months. Covered employers should review job listings and update or replace them to include pay scales in those listings. All employers should review the various pay rates they have for a particular job against the race, ethnicity, sex, and other protected categories to see if there are unwarranted disparities in pay that should be addressed.

Employers should look to a knowledgeable employment attorney for assistance in implementing these new laws.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• What’s New In 2023 – Computer Software Professionals Overtime Exemption Rates (November 4, 2022)

Helena Kobrin
November 11, 2022

For the fourth year running, Law Offices of Timothy Bowles is Best of Pasadena's best law firm. Thanks to everyone who voted and supported us. We are pleased to continue to provide experienced and trustworthy guidance to business navigating the difficulties of California employment law.

Please be sure to contact us as your need arises.

Tim, Cindy, Helena and staff
November 10, 2022

California Labor Code section 515.5 exempts certain computer software professionals from overtime compensation upon receipt of specified minimum compensation.

California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has announced its rate increase for this minimum, effective January 1, 2023, to $53.80, up from $50.00. Alternatively, an otherwise qualified salaried employee is eligible on minimum annual compensation of $112,065.20, up from $104,149.81, payable at least once monthly at no less than $9,338.78.

An exempt computer professional must also meet each of the Labor Code section 515.5 high-level skills and duties criteria. Among these, the employee must be “primarily engaged” (more than 50% of the time) in intellectual or creative work requiring the exercise of discretion and independent judgment such as:

• applying systems analysis to determine “functional specifications” of hardware, software or systems
• designing computer systems or programs; and/or
• documenting, testing, creating or modifying computer programs related to computer systems software or hardware design

Although these workers need not be paid overtime premium under California law, employers should further ensure they meet the comparable federal law exemption, which includes a less restrictive definition of “primary” duty, a lower hourly/salaried threshold, and similar skills and duties tests.

Such computer professionals may also qualify for the administrative, executive or “learned profession” exemptions from overtime. Each category possesses its own distinct qualifications.

For more information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Cindy Bamforth
November 4, 2022

The car wash industry is a frequent target of the Labor Commissioner. A 2017 enforcement action against Classic Castle Car Wash, Inc. (Classic Castle), owner of two car washes in Long Beach, ultimately resulted in a judgment of $282,000 for unpaid overtime, minimum wage, reporting time, liquidated damages and waiting time penalties in 2020.

Classic Castle paid more than a fifth of the assessed amount between 2017 and 2020, but then paid no more.

Unfortunately for Classic Castle, Labor Code 90.8 went into effect on January 1, 2022. This law permitted the Labor Commissioner to file a lien on real property owned by employers for amounts they owe under citations, findings, or decisions.

Following entry of a judgment in 2021, Classic Castle employees informed the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, which passed on to the Labor Commissioner, that Classic Castle was selling its business. The Labor Commissioner then filed a lien against Classic Castle’s real property, resulting in payment of the remaining fines a month later.

Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower stated: “The new lien authority provides a practical tool to recover owed wages. It has simplified and expedited the process to get into the pockets of workers and their families the money that is rightfully theirs. These courageous workers reported the wage theft and kept us informed of actions by the car wash owners, which ensured we could ultimately hold the employer accountable and ensure they received their stolen wages.”

For further assistance, please contact one of our attorneys Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Take-Aways:

Employers must pay their employees correctly. They need to pay minimum wage and overtime and not have employees waiting around for work without paying them for their time.

See also:

• Cautionary Tale Episode 57 Car Wash Dusted – Employer Hit with $800,000 “Wage Theft” Citation (May 18, 2022)
• Cautionary Tale Episode 36 Is Gig Up for Car Wash Company? First AB 5 Suit Challenging Independent Contractor Classification (July 31, 2020)
• Cautionary Tales Episode 26 – Playa Vista Car Wash Takes a Dunking for $2.36 Million “Wage Theft” (May 2, 2019)

Helena Kobrin
October 28, 2022

Particularly in a hotly contested election cycle, California employers should take care not to discriminate against workers for political activities, affiliations or speech. Management should be familiar with and apply these laws:

• Labor Code section 1101 prohibits employers from any rule or policy to: (i) prevent an employee from engaging in political activities or seeking public office; or (ii) control or direct such activities or affiliations.

• Labor Code section 1102 bars employers from coercing or influencing workers into a specific course or line of political activity. For example, an employer may not threaten to fire a worker who campaigns or votes for a particular candidate or talks about doing so.

• California’s Ralph Civil Rights Act prohibits actual or threatened violence because of someone’s political affiliation.

Employers have the right to ensure workers are productive and not using paid work time to engage in unrelated activities. Policy and practice should respect employee political activity that does not interfere with work while permitting discussion of employment issues such as benefits and wages.

Management should adequately document actions to resolve any alleged abuse of these rules.

As long as an employer abides by these limitations, management may communicate their political beliefs and positions to workers. See, the California Chamber of Commerce’s Guidelines for Political Communications to Employees.

Take-Aways:

Management must respect employee political speech that does not interfere with production. Employers should also know the limitations of communicating political views to workers.

For further assistance, please contact one of our attorneys Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Handbook Helper Episode 5: Golden Rules – Workplace Conduct Policy (July 8, 2022)
• Handbook Helper Episode 3: Name Your Passion – Employee and Workplace Political Activities Policy (June 29, 2022)
• Can’t We All Just Get Along? - Political Speech and the Workplace (October 16, 2018);

Helena Kobrin
October 21, 2022

Many businesses install on-premises closed-circuit camera systems to monitor shared or common areas.

Video surveillance can deter, prevent, or help resolve theft, physically threatening incidents, or other dangerous conditions or situations.

California’s state constitution grants all persons a reasonable expectation of privacy from government and commercial intrusion. Thus, businesses must not use unduly invasive electronic surveillance systems.

A video surveillance policy should:

• Reserve the company’s right to install video-only cameras in non-private areas of the workplace, i.e., steer clear of private offices, changing rooms, or bathrooms (indiscriminate sound recordings are barred by Penal Code section 632);
• Inform employees that video feeds may be monitored, recorded, and viewed periodically;
• Caution workers that recordings can also occur outside of business hours;
• Clarify the company reserves the option of retaining or securely discarding such recordings at its discretion; and
• Confirm that employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy in any areas under video surveillance.

Take-Aways:

Implement and regularly review a comprehensive, clearly written handbook with an updated and compliant workplace video surveillance policy.

We publish this series to educate employers on best practices for a well-written handbook that assists applicants, employees, and management alike. To purchase our template handbook – which contains the above policy and much more – and accompanying forms or for more information, please contact Office Manager Aimee Rosales at 626.583.6600 or email her at officemgr@tbowleslaw.com.

See also:

• Handbook Helper Episode 13: Company Devices: Hand On, Hands Off- An Electronic Systems Policy (October 14, 2022)
• Handbook Helper Episode 12: Prying Eyes – Employee Privacy Policy (September 30, 2022)
• Handbook Helper Episode 5: Golden Rules – Workplace Conduct Policy (July 8, 2022)

Cindy Bamforth
October 21, 2022