Employment

TESTIMONIALS

“Five stars all the way for Elizabeth Zareh! As you will find out, Elizabeth is the model professional attorney.

First off, I loved her communication style. She listened incredibly well and was very patient with my concerns and questions and quickly grasped my situation/case. Her kind and warm nature helped ease my stress through one of the more difficult times in my life. She always responded promptly to emails and phone messages; even when she was out of the office she sent an email letting me know my message was received and she would follow up soon.

Next, Elizabeth always treated me like I was her most important client. This kind of respect in treatment meant the world to me and I always knew I had her support. She always shared her ideas and always made sure I was comfortable with the approach we were taking in the case.

Third, she was very aggressive in getting what was just and right for me. During negotiations (against a large corporation) Elizabeth always made sure I understood the conditions, asked for my feedback, and made sure I was comfortable with the terms before moving forward. When I had concerns with certain conditions, she came up with the perfect solution that met my needs and also satisfied the corporation's demands. She has a fabulous analytical mind! In the end her strategy, fearless negotiations, and unparalleled expertise paid huge dividends and I was able to regain my career and live my life the way I wanted to.

Finally, she is a wonderful person with a warm personality and a heart of gold. Plus I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her about current events -- real estate, investments, the economy.

All-in-all, I am truly blessed to have met Elizabeth and to have her represent me during a very, very difficult time. I would highly recommend her to anyone needing an attorney. I wish all attorneys were like Elizabeth-- she is one in a million!"

Kristine W.

Discrimination

Sexual Harassment At Workplace

Wage and Hour

Employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, national origin, religion, and other protected characteristics. Discrimination in the workplace can take many forms, such as disparate treatment, harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, the need for maternity leave, time off for other medical reasons, or time off for family leave.

Minimum Wage: California minimum wage law as of 2020 requires employees to be paid a minimum of $13 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees, and $12 per hour for employers with fewer than 26 employees. The minimum wage in California is set to increase yearly and will reach $15 for all employees by 2023.

Unpaid Overtime: Under California law, employers are required to pay overtime to non-exempt employees who work more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. The rate of pay for overtime work is 1.5 times the employee’s regular hourly rate. The employer must also pay the overtime rate for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek and double the employee’s wages for all hours of work after the eighth hour. If an employee works more than 12 hours in a day, the employer must pay double the employee’s wages for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours.

Off-the-Clock Work: Employers are required to pay employees for all hours worked. Therefore, an employer cannot allow workers to do off-the-clock work without pay, including pre-shift duties, post-shift duties, and time spent waiting for work.

Missed Meals and Breaks: California break laws require employers to provide non-exempt employees with a 30-minute lunch break if they work five or more hours in a workday, and a 10-minute break for every four hours worked. If an employee works more than 10 hours, he or she must be given two 30-minute meal breaks. During these breaks, the employee should be relieved of all job duties. There are limited exceptions to the break requirement.

California Employee Misclassification. Some employers misclassify employees as independent contractors, a class of workers with fewer protections than employees. Unlike employees, independent contractors are not subject to California overtime and minimum wage protection laws. Employers are prohibited under California labor laws from willfully misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor.

Donning and Doffing: For most jobs, employees are able to dress at home before coming to work. Other jobs require employees to wear certain work gear that can take time to put on and take off, adding extra time to their workday. Whether an employer is required to pay for donning and doffing depends on a number of factors, including cases in which the employee must put on work gear while on the premises.

If an employee is fired for one of the following reasons, they may be able to claim wrongful termination: Breach of contract, Constructive discharge, Discrimination, Employee asked to commit an illegal act, Company policy is violated, Public policy is violated, Whistleblowing.

Wrongul Termination

It is unlawful to harass a person because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.

Both victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex.

Although the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.