November 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
GOALS AND MEANS Goals and means of attaining them are interdependent, like a destination on a map and the routes leading to it. Goals at work may include such things as quotas, sales goals, or performance improvement plans. They give purpose to the present and focus for the future. Even if you lose your job, you still need a goal and means to get there. Without a goal, “means” are meaningless. First establish your goals after fully considering the personal and financial cost to accomplish them. Means to get there may involve hard work, continuing education, interpersonal skills, communication, complaints or even lawsuits. Some employees set lofty goals only to be frustrated when they don’t achieve them. Others may choose inappropriate means to accomplish them and end up even further away from their goals as a result. Realistically assessing your goals and means must be done constantly. So identify your goals, plan your route, and follow your map!	PLANT CLOSURES Effective January 1, 2003, the new California version of the federal “WARN” Act provides broader coverage for California employees than its federal cousin. The federal “WARN” Act makes employers with a hundred or more employees give 60 days’ notice of layoff when a layoff will include a third or more of the work force. The California version (“Cal/WARN”) will apply to employers of 75 or more workers within the past 12 months, and will require 60 days’ written notice of layoff if a mass layoff of 50 or more employees occurs within any 30-day period or there is a plant closing or relocation affecting all or substantially all workers at the plant. While there are some exceptions to the new law, employers who violate the law can incur civil penalties of $500 per day plus attorney fees. Employees could collect up to 60 days back pay, benefits and medical expenses that were not covered because of lack of benefits. Peter W. Taylor, Attorney
Update on our attorneys – Western State University College of Law, invited Don Sessions to teach a law school course on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in early 2003.
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 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.