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I am a resident of Alameda County, Northern California, working in the IT sector. Currently, I have 80 hours of accrued paid sick leave from my employer. Could you let me know if I can use all 80 hours of paid sick leave within one year, or if there is a cap on the maximum allowable paid sick leave... View More 
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answered on May 23, 2025
Hello. You can use as much vacation time as you have accrued in accordance with your company's policy, so long as that policy is at or greater than the California (or local) minimum. There are limits with California Paid Sick leave that an employer can impose and enforce; without them, you... View More
I work for a company driving veterans to and from appointments, and I'm required to do an on-call shift every week from 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM. During this on-call period, my activities are restricted as I must be able to leave within half an hour if called. We receive no compensation for being... View More
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answered on May 22, 2025
Hello. If your activities are restricted while on call, you're entitled to on call pay. Document every on call shift for which you were not paid. Same for the break between shifts, which also likely triggers split shift pay. You can file a complaint with the DLSE (but they're 2-3 years... View More
I left my job about 6 months ago after my employer manipulated my work environment and suggested I resign "of my own will." This included verbal abuse and being told to seek medical help for alleged mental health issues. My coworkers were also involved in this pressure, and I've... View More
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answered on May 22, 2025
Hello,
If you have no documentation, it's going to be difficult to prove your allegations. It's unlikely that you will have friendly witnesses as well. "Bullying" which is largely what you describe here isn't protected legally. You might have a claim, if you can... View More
My department was dissolved without notice, and I was given 26 hours to choose whether to accept a pay cut or leave. I chose the pay cut. The dissolution occurred mid-pay period; one week I worked under my previous pay rate and the next week under the new lower rate. I received no documents to sign... View More
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answered on May 21, 2025
Hello. If you're non-exempt, you're entitled to one pay period of notice for a pay change. If you're exempt, you're not legally entitled to any notice. If you were exempt, and told, told that week one would be at the old, higher rate, then that's what should have happened.... View More
I am a California resident and independent contractor entering into a contractor service agreement. The agreement includes a governing law clause stating that the agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of Virginia, and that the courts of Virginia shall have exclusive jurisdiction over... View More
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answered on May 19, 2025
Hello. 925 only references "employee". A 1099 contractor is not an employee, so 925 would not apply. There is a clause about a contract and having it negotiated or being represented by an attorney, but that still references the person as an "employee". Good luck.
I am in California and earn 80 hours of vacation time at my job. Starting in April 2025, my employer informed us in writing that the 5 required days of sick leave will be included as part of my 80 hours of vacation time. Previously, the sick leave and vacation time were separate. A notice was sent... View More
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answered on May 19, 2025
Hello. Probably not as it relates to the time you earned prior to the change. That time was a vested benefit that could not be taken away. From the point of the change, they were allowed to change their policy. If you used all five of the previously allocated sick hours, they may be ok going... View More
In June 2021, my employer implemented a 401k program and claimed they would match up to 4% of contributions. The employee handbooks from September 2022 onwards consistently state this matching policy. Recently, I was informed that the matching was never enabled, and there were no signed documents... View More
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answered on May 13, 2025
Hello. What do the plan documents say? That will govern what should happen here. It's very likely that a law named ERISA covers this plan. If the plan was supposed to have matches, and they didn't occur, there could be an ERISA violation (potentially for every affected employee, past or... View More
I am a facilities manager for a commercial building. The owner of the company verbally instructed me to design and renovate the VP’s personal home, which had been flooded, so the VP could focus on his job. This renovation was to be done during my working hours; however, none of my job... View More
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answered on May 13, 2025
Hello. I'm not sure there's an actual issue here. So long as you were paid for this work as a part of your job, there's nothing inherently wrong with it. If the funds used to do the renovation and/or to pay you to do the renovation as part of your job were contracted to the company... View More
I have been bartending at my current job since the bar opened a month ago. I was originally working five days a week as the only bartender, but my employer recently reduced my shifts to two days a week, giving them to a new, much younger bartender. Although I've received compliments on my... View More
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answered on May 10, 2025
Hello. It could, but only after a month, it would be hard to prove on these facts alone. Age discrimination is notoriously hard to prove. Your damages thus far are not likely to warrant legal action in that the economics of it don't make sense. Age discrimination only applies to people who are... View More
I worked for a company in California for 5 years and was laid off legally. The next day, I took a new job but only worked for 3 hours before leaving and quitting at lunch. I had only filled out a job application and some paperwork about pay and company rules but did not complete an I-9 or W-4. I... View More
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answered on May 9, 2025
Hello. They can't legally pay you without them. Complete them and send them back. Yes, you'll report the dollar value of the three hours of work for the week in which the work was performed on your EDD claim form. You might see a slight reduction in that week's benefit to offset the... View More
I recently left my job at a tech company in California, where I signed an NDA as part of my employment agreement. HR and IT have requested that I submit my personal USB device for inspection and wiping, claiming I downloaded some work-related files before my departure. I've deleted most of the... View More
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answered on May 9, 2025
Hello. You've said here that there were work files on the device, so the company has a legitimate concern about what else you might have. I'd ask them if they'd take a Declaration from you that you have deleted everything you had (assuming that's true). You no longer work there,... View More
I was employed under a contract, and I recently received a letter notifying me of a change in my employment status to terminated, citing a lack of work as the reason. My employment is not covered by a union agreement. Am I eligible for severance pay or any other benefits, and is this termination... View More
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answered on May 7, 2025
Hello. Sorry to hear about your layoff. The terms of your contract will govern. If there's no severance provision, then there's no severance unless the organization wants to provide it. There's no legal right to severance, otherwise. If the contract discusses early termination by... View More
I was employed by a franchise for two years before corporate bought it back due to the previous owner’s misconduct. We were notified of the switch but not informed that our accumulated sick pay would be lost, nor were we told that we would not accumulate new sick pay for 90 days as "new... View More
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answered on May 2, 2025
Hello. No. You are now employed by a new employer, and you're a new employee. You accumulate sick pay from day one, but (at their option) can't use it for 90 days. Any vacation/PTO should've been paid out when employment ceased at the old company. Good luck to you.
I was fired from my supervisor position at a senior home during my 90-day probation period without any warning or clear reason. I was doing things right for the staff and residents there. My employer did not provide any performance reviews, feedback, or reasons for termination, nor was I given any... View More
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answered on May 1, 2025
As an at-will employee, you can be fired for any reason or not reason at all, provided that the reason is not illegal. No feedback is required by the employer to the employee, although it's a better general practice to give that, but it's not required. If you think that you've been... View More
I work 36 hours a week and am considered a full-time employee. I recently took two sick days, which are recorded as accrued sick leave days. I want to quit my job due to personal reasons, including dissatisfaction and a long commute. I haven’t informed my employer about my intention to quit yet.... View More
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answered on Apr 26, 2025
Hello. If these are California Paid Sick days, no note or other information can be requested. You can let your HR department know that you took two California Paid Sick days (assuming that's what you took) and that you are being asked to provide documentation, which isn't allowed. This... View More
I believe I'm facing discrimination due to my chronic health condition, syringomyelia. I was reprimanded for not coming into the office after traveling by plane for 8 hours, despite informing my boss two weeks prior that I would need to rest, to which she responded positively. However, she... View More
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answered on Apr 24, 2025
Hello. Appalling. Have you formally documented your health condition with your employer (for example, by providing them with a healthcare provider note)? If not, upon your telling them that you have a health condition that affects your ability to perform the essential functions of your job, they... View More
My employer has prohibited me from speaking Spanish to Spanish-speaking patients. Despite a traumatic brain injury (TBI) I sustained a year and a half ago, I am still fluent in the language and fully able to communicate, although I tend to speak more slowly. In the six months I’ve been with the... View More
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answered on Apr 20, 2025
Your employer can't prohibit you from speaking another language, absent some specific conditions, which don't appear to be here, based on what you wrote. https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/01/Workplace-Discrimination-Poster_ENG.pdf If your employer has... View More
I was fired from my job in California for using drugs on the job, which was a one-time incident. Although I was aware of the company's drug policy, I applied for unemployment benefits but was denied because my work did not meet the employer's standards. I had the opportunity to explain... View More
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answered on Apr 20, 2025
If you didn't meet your employer's standards with work performance, it's not clear what your drug use had to do with this. UI won't generally be denied for poor work alone, unless it's egregious. If you were fired for violating the drug use policy, that's likely... View More
I work for a small business with around 30 employees in the aircraft leasing industry. My company is undergoing an asset sale and winding down its operations. I was informed in March, via a group phone call, that there will be no annual bonuses this year. Our employment agreement includes an annual... View More
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answered on May 23, 2025
Hello. The short answer is "yes". By it's very nature, the bonus is discretionary, which means that the company can choose to pay or not pay it for no reason or any reason. Even though there are conditions attached for the employee, it doesn't change the discretionary nature of the bonus.
I am a security guard at a company and reported an individual who threatened another employee. Since then, the employee has been causing problems for me by lying about my job performance, staring at me at exits, and reporting me for actions within my job parameters. I have reported this behavior to... View More
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answered on May 21, 2025
Hello. HR is your best solution, even with your concerns. If HR doesn't handle it, then escalate it. There's really no legal issue at this time. Good luck.
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