Sacramento Employment Law Blog

Employers and employees in California and across the United States know the importance of paying people fairly, according to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Despite the laws that are in place to protect employees and ensure they are paid a fair wage, receive breaks and get paid overtime, a number of employers continue to violate these standards. When employers do not follow the laws that are put in place, they may end up paying a hefty fine as a result of their noncompliance.

This is what happened to a man who owns several food businesses scattered throughout the bay area. Workers at the food shops complained that they were not receiving the tips that they earned on a daily basis, but rather as a lump sum at the end of the year. This clear violation of California state law was only one of the complaints filed by employees. They also complained of not receiving overtime pay. The employer negotiated with employers and attorneys and came to an agreement to pay employees a $690,000 settlement.

As a resident of California who makes your living working in a hospital, doctor’s office or similar health care or medical setting, you may have firsthand knowledge of just how common sexual harassment has become in your industry. At the Law Office of Jeffrey D. Fulton, we understand that doctors, nurses and other health care workers often experience unwanted sexual attention in health care settings, and we have helped many victims of such behavior pursue appropriate recourse in the aftermath.

According to the Harvard Business Review, the sexual harassment problem is so widespread in the health care field that it has affected somewhere between 30 and 70 percent of all female physicians. The problem also permeates health care educational settings, with about half of all female medical students reporting that they, too, experienced sexual harassment in the classroom or during their training.

As more and more women enter the workforce and hold high-ranking positions within a company, more attention has been placed on the topic of sexual harassment. Women and men alike have been victimized by sexual harassment in the workplace, but with the #metoo movement in full force, California and other states in the nation are implementing new laws regarding this form of workplace bullying.

Eight bills were signed with the goal of ensuring gender diversity on company boards and preventing sexual harassment at work. One bill is designed to minimize worker harassment by prohibiting employers from making employees sign certain documents, including one that bans employees from releasing information about unlawful acts that occur in the workplace. Another bill is aimed at allowing certain information involved in sexual harassment cases to be released to the public. Previously, the only information available to the public was the name of the person who filed the claim, as well as the amount of money paid to settle the claim.

Here at the Law Office of Jeffrey D. Fulton in California, we represent numerous workers whose employers have committed wage and/or hour violations against them, depriving them of money they rightfully earned. Some of the protections we like to advise our clients of are those provided by the California Fair Pay Act.

California's Department of Industrial Relations explains that the CFPA prevents your employer from discriminating against you on the basis of gender, race or ethnicity when it comes to your salary or wages. Furthermore, you employer cannot retaliate against you if and when you ask other employees questions about the salary or wage they receive.