July 2002
WIN AT WORK MONTHLY
A Community Service of DON D. SESSIONS, A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORP., Employee Rights Attorneys
Win at Work	Employee Rights Update
BECKER’S LAW OF FINDING OR KEEPING A JOB Many informal “laws” apply to the workplace. One attributed to Jules Becker states, “It is much harder to find a job than to keep one.” Assuming this is often true, here are some suggestions. Do your homework. Figure out if your current job is still better than others despite less than ideal conditions, a demotion or a pay cut. This might affect your level of complaints, production or decision to leave. Know where you stand at work with your boss. Don’t wait for an annual review. Constantly evaluate whether you’re on track for your goals. Do what it takes to keep your job. Find a new job before you quit one. Put yourself in a position to make finding a new job easier. Build your resume. Get the education or job training necessary to qualify for new positions. Be aware of your industry. Change Becker’s law to, “Finding a good job is as easy as keeping one.”	HIGHER CLASS ACTION STANDARDS We have all read about class action settlements in the millions of dollars for supervisors who were not paid overtime. When the truth came out, these “supervisors” actually spent over 50% of their time doing regular work. Under California law, they are entitled to overtime like regular workers. For most workers, class actions are the best road to justice, but a California appeals court just made it harder to “certify” a class of workers. To be a “class”, workers must show that their duties, jobs and claims are generally similar in enough ways to pool them into one trial. The new decision is much more rigid. Plaintiffs must now show that their claims are almost identical – a tough proposition. This is bad news for the 1,400 supervisors who brought the case, and for the 100 other wage and hour class actions pending in California. - Mark J. Keough, Attorney
Update on our attorneys – Stephen Kimball spoke on employee rights at an Orange County Bar Association seminar for new attorneys. Patrick Turner completed the law school course he taught on wrongful termination law.
Look for our answers to employees’ questions in the "Shop Talk" column of the Los Angeles Times’ Monday Business Section or the “Life and Work Q & A” column of the Orange County Register’s "Business Monday" magazine. E-mail us at dds@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, mailto:info@job-law.com. The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column which has appeared 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. ©2002 by Don D. Sessions.