Personnel Files

State and federal law requires California employers to provide various notices, pamphlets and forms to their employees at the time of hire.

I was recently retained by a new client to defend the company against wage and hour charges brought by a former employee that were filed with the California Labor Commissioner’s office. As I do whenever I get a new client, I asked if they had an employee handbook or other written personnel policies. Unfortunately, they did not. This makes it much more difficult to defend against employment claims brought by employees. The failure to have written policies may be taken as evidence that you do not comply with your legal obligations.

A performance improvement plan (PIP) is a good way to give struggling employees the opportunity to succeed while still holding them accountable for past performance. PIPs may be used to address failures to meet specific job performance-related issues or behavior-related concerns. PIPs may lead to several different outcomes, including improvement in overall performance, the recognition of a skills or training gap, or remedial actions such as demotion or termination.