CA Employee Handbooks

Maintaining adequate employee personnel files is crucial for several reasons. Personnel files, along with the employee handbook, are usually the first things plaintiffs’ attorneys will request in any employment related lawsuit, and the documents contained therein are often central to the employer’s defense of the case. For example, they may contain a documented history of performance issues and documents laying the foundation for termination. California Labor Code section 1198.5 provides that every current and former employee has the right to inspect and receive a copy of the personnel records that the employer maintains “relating to the employee’s performance or to any grievance concerning the employee.” Employers are also required to give employees, upon their request, a copy of any document that the employee has signed relating to the obtaining or holding of employment, which are usually stored in the personnel file.

So what should go into an employee’s personnel file? …

Uber Technologies, Inc. recently made big headlines after it hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate sexual harassment allegations by a former employee at the ride-hailing service. The employee claims that during her year working as an engineer at Uber, she and other female staffers reported multiple instances of sexual harassment to the company’s human resources department, to no avail. Uber’s response to the allegations provides some valuable lessons for employers …

On December 22, 2016, the California Supreme Court addressed two related issues: (i) whether California law requires employers to permit off-duty rest breaks – that is, time during which an employee is relieved from all work-related duties and free from employer control, and (ii) does an employer satisfy its obligation to relieve employees from work-related duties and employer control if the employer requires its employees to remain on-call during rest breaks.