February 2000

WIN AT WORK MONTHLY

A Community Service of DON D. SESSIONS, A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP., Employee Rights Attorneys
	Win At Work FINAL PAYCHECK Losing a job is tough enough without worrying about the final paycheck. Legislators across the country seem to agree; almost every state has laws on final pay. In California, for example, it must be paid on the date of termination if the employer terminates the employee, or within 72 hours of the date of termination if the employee quits without giving written 72 hours notice. If it is not paid as required, the employee’s wages continue for thirty workdays or whenever it is paid, whichever occurs first. These payment laws may include not only fixed wages but also expenses, vacation pay, bonuses and commissions. Don’t consider receiving your final paycheck as the end of your rights. Evaluate all wrongs you endured during your work tenure and when it ended. Every paycheck is important, but none so much as the final one. For it’s the one that has to last from losing a job to gaining another.		Employee Rights Update AGE DISCRIMINATION UPDATE The California State Legislature passed a bill which states that the use of salary as the basis for terminating employment may to constitute age discrimination. For years, the Fair Employment and Housing Act has prohibited age discrimination in the workplace. Yet in 1997, the California Supreme Court held that in a reduction-in-force case, an employer may select higher paid employees for layoff over lower paid employees, even if it impacts older workers more. In effect, employers who show an economic savings could discriminate against older workers. They could reward tenure and loyalty with a pink slip, even without offering the older worker a cut in pay to retain employment. This new bill will apply to California courts. There is a split in authority as to whether federal courts even recognize “disparate impact” age discrimination claims. Now there will be no doubt as to the law and choice of judicial forums to use in enforcing it.
		Update on our attorneys - Don Sessions discussed the new overtime laws and other workplace laws on OCN (TV)’s Prime Story. He also spoke to the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Orange County Bar Association on the need for employee rights advice in every workers’ compensation case. Patrick Turner resolved a stock options case for $237,500. Stephen Kimball concluded the course he taught on Employment Law at Western State University College of Law.
Look for answers by Don D. Sessions, employee rights attorney, to employees’ questions in the "Shop Talk" column of the Sunday Business Section of The Los Angeles Times and the "Business Monday" Section of The Orange County Register. Click here to add (or here to delete ) your E-mail address to or from our monthly mailing list. For more employee rights information, click here for our website, job-law.com; here to order our book, Employee Rights in California; or contact our office directly at 23456 Madero, Suite 170, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, (949) 380-0900, (800) 774-7494, mailto:attorneys@job-law.com. The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column appearing in Times/Mirror Publications (including LA Jobs and Orange County Jobs) and elsewhere. Win at Work Monthly is intended for general information and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Readers in need of legal advice should promptly retain the services of an attorney. ©2000 by Don D. Sessions.