February 2005

WIN AT WORK MONTHLY

 

A Community Service of

SESSIONS KIMBALL & TURNER LLP, Employee Rights Attorneys

 

 

Win at Work

 

Employee Rights Update

 

SAFETY FIRST

 

 

            A safe workplace is required by law.

            Federal and state statutes regulate the workplace in terms of equipment, air quality, temperature, cleaning agents, production requirements, violence, clothing, lighting, noise and even restroom facilities.

            It wasn’t always that way.  Historically, employers stressed production first, with employee safety second.  Profit was the primary goal with few laws to say otherwise.

            All that changed with more public awareness of inhumane workplace conditions.  Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, at the turn of the century, exposed horrible abuses in slaughterhouses in the East.

            Now more employers realized that a safe employee can often be a more productive one.  And since legal requirements apply to competitive businesses as well, no one is at a disadvantage.

            Employees, complain if you think your personal safety is being compromised.  Laws even protect you for complaining internally in the company or to the state or federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

            So, with confidence, insist on “safety first!”

 

VACATIONS ARE EARNED WAGES

 

            With some exceptions for union employees, employers may not impose a “use it or lose it” vacation policy on California employees.  Typically, a “use it or lose it” policy dictates that if a vacation is not taken by some date, the vacation is forever lost.  In California, because a vacation is considered an earned wage, once the vacation has vested, it cannot be taken away.

            However, employers are allowed to cap vacation accrual.  For example, an employer may suspend the accrual of additional vacation hours when an employee’s total accrued vacation reaches a certain level.  Note that this is different from a “use it or lose it” policy, since already vested vacation is not lost.  Finally, note that while vacation is considered an earned wage, sick days are not.  Therefore, an employer may establish a “use it or lose it” policy for sick days.

 

 

                             Michael S. Ahmad, Attorney

 

Update on our attorneys:  Pat Turner and Mike Ahmad resolved a six-figure case.  Steve Kimball and Jen Pearl won a court verdict after a hotly contested trial.

  

 Look for our answers to employees’ questions in the “Life and Work Q & A” column of the Orange County Register’s "Business Monday" magazine.  E-mail us at info@job-law.com to have your address added or removed from our monthly mailing list.  For more employee rights information or for past issues of Win at Work Monthly, 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, info@job-law.com.  The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column, which appears in the Los Angeles Times’ “Career Builder Magazine” 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.  ©2005 by Sessions Kimball & Turner LLP.