The employment laws in California specifically prohibit workplace harassment and require employers to support the rights of employees. Nevertheless, there are reported cases of employees experiencing some form of harassment at their workplace at some point. Such harassment can get out of hand and turn the workplace into an unpleasant, hostile environment. If you have experienced harassment in your workplace, you may want to search online for “workplace harassment lawyer near me” and get legal counsel. A competent lawyer can advise you on whether your situation fits into the legal definition of workplace harassment and the steps you can take.

What is workplace harassment?

Workplace harassment is a form of employment discrimination. It may comprise abusive speech, rude conduct, and discriminatory behavior based on age, gender, race, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, or health condition. It can include insults, put-downs, name-calling, slurs, offensive jokes, ridicule, mockery, intimidation, threats, and physical assault. Sending vulgar messages, pictures, and objects can also constitute workplace harassment. Deliberate interference with or sabotage of work performance is workplace harassment too.

From the legal perspective of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), workplace harassment becomes unlawful in the following circumstances:

• The victims must endure the offensive behavior if they want to keep their job. If they speak out or protest, they might get fired.

• The harassment is so severe and pervasive that it has led to an abusive, hostile and intimidating work environment.

What causes workplace harassment?

There can be various causes for workplace harassment. The principal one is that the perpetrators think they can get away with it and face no consequences. Often, the people engaging in harassing behaviors in the workplace are people in positions of authority or those aligned with authority figures. They may be supervisors, managers, senior executives, co-workers, or contract workers.

How to prevent workplace harassment?

Taking steps to prevent workplace harassment is the best measure for everyone concerned. The following may help to prevent workplace harassment:

On the part of the employees

It may make a difference if employees know their legal rights. In California, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits workplace harassment. Engaging in such behavior is also a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Since harassment often begins with minor incidents, it might be advisable to nip these in the bud. If anyone makes offensive comments, let them know at once and in no uncertain terms that you find their behavior unacceptable and that you will appreciate it if they do not repeat it. Many people will not bother you if they know you can stand up for yourself.

If the behavior persists, inform your supervisor and make a formal complaint to the HR department. You may also want to gather evidence of the harassment and search for a “workplace harassment lawyer near me” to be ready if the situation escalates. You may have to file a legal complaint with the EEOC if it does or sue your employer for harassment and take the matter to court.

On the part of the employers

By law, employers are automatically liable for workplace harassment by supervisors and employees that results in job termination, lack of promotion, or wage losses. They are also held responsible for harassment that leads to a hostile work environment. If they want to avoid liability, they must prove that they tried to stop the harassment. It may be by taking prompt action against the perpetrators or showing that the victim of the harassment did not inform them of the harassment and did not avail of the anti-harassment measures they had in place for their employees.

Rather than let things reach that stage, the employer needs to take proactive steps to prevent workplace harassment. They can inform new and existing employees that they will not permit offensive and harassing conduct in the workplace. They can also initiate anti-harassment training programs for all employees, tell them about the official procedures to follow in case of harassment, and take immediate corrective measures. Additionally, employers must foster a safe work environment where employees feel comfortable voicing their opinions and concerns.

U.S. federal law and the employment laws in California have several minimum hourly wage laws to protect non-exempt employees in the state. However, as these laws frequently change and are complicated, it can be difficult for employees to figure out the exact minimum hourly wage that their employers must pay them. Some employers may take advantage of this to underpay or avoid paying their employees for the work they have done.

By hiring a wage and hour attorney Los Angeles employees can figure out if their employer has violated a federal or state law and explore options to challenge the employer’s illegal conduct.

Minimum wage laws in California

As per the Federal Labor Standards Act, employees must receive $7.25 as a minimum hourly wage. The California Labor Code requires employers with 25 or fewer employees to pay their employees $12 as the minimum hourly wage. If an employer has 26 or more employees, they must pay them $13 as a minimum hourly wage. Then there is the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance, according to which employees in Los Angeles must receive $15 as minimum hourly wage from their employers.

It may seem straightforward, but there are specific exceptions, exemptions, and requirements for each of these laws. Employers must generally follow the one that affords maximum wage benefits to their employees. If you have concerns that your employer is not abiding by these laws, it is advisable to get expert legal counsel. Search online for “wage and hour attorney Los Angeles” to find an experienced and competent lawyer.

How a wage and hour attorney can help you

With their experience in different facets of employment law, a wage and hour attorney understands that the minimum wage laws in California can vary in their application. It is essential to calculate the minimum hourly wage for each employee according to their particular work situation. For instance, the employer must take into account the statutory minimum wage and if there are any applicable sub-minimum wage provisions. They must also consider if there are any applicable credits or any split-shift premium due to the employee.

Before hiring a wage and hour attorney Los Angeles residents can approach them for a complimentary case evaluation. They will review your specific case and determine if:

The employer has not paid a minimum hourly wage

You have received less pay than the legally prescribed minimum hourly wage. For instance, your employer might pay you the federally mandated $7.25 per hour but ignore the higher hourly pay required by the California Labor Code or the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance.

The employer has not paid overtime work

You have not received compensation for overtime work. Any work that you do for your employer must be compensated for properly, whether it is on their premises or off their premises. So, you must be paid for the time you spend checking emails, being on-call, cleaning office equipment, preparing office equipment, taking a training class, undergoing security checks, and other work-related matters.

The employer has miscalculated weekly overtime pay

You have not received the correct amount of weekly overtime pay. For instance, if you work for 50 hours in one week and 60 hours in the next, you must be compensated for the hours you worked overtime. Instead, some employers calculate the average of the hours and try to cheat you out of the overtime pay you deserve.

The employer has misclassified your work status

Your worker status is misclassified as exempt or an independent contractor to avoid paying you the correct dues. By such misclassification, the employer can avoid paying you for all the hours you have worked overtime.

There are also other forms of wage theft that employers may engage in, and that is why you need a wage and hour attorney to look after your interests.

If there has been a wage and hour violation on the part of your employer, the wage and hour attorney will take on the case, collect the necessary evidence against your employer, and help you file a lawsuit. Depending on how the case goes in court, you may be able to collect compensation for unpaid wages for up to three years and additional damages.

As any overtime lawyer in Los Angeles will inform you, California has some of the most stringent employment laws in the United States. If you are legally allowed to work for a business, company, or organization in the state, you have various employee rights guaranteed by law. That includes the right to receive overtime wages from your employer.

What are overtime wages?

Overtime wages are the payment you are entitled to receive from your employer for working longer than the prescribed amount of time in a day or a week for your regular job. For instance, you might stay on after the end of the workday to put away equipment, or you might show up early at the workplace to set up equipment. As this constitutes work done for the employer, you need to be compensated for it.

Who is eligible for overtime wages?

You are eligible for overtime wages if you put in more than your normal hours during a workday or a workweek and are a non-exempt employee, aged 18 or above, and legally permitted to hold a job in California.

You won’t be eligible for overtime pay if you are an exempt employee, a unionized employee, an employee with an alternative workweek schedule (four weekdays of 10 working hours each), or an independent contractor. Also, if you hold a full-time white-collar administrative, executive, or professional position with a fixed salary and earn at least twice the minimum wage, you are not entitled to receive overtime pay.

When can you get overtime wages?

You are entitled to receive overtime wages if you work more than your regular work hours. For most people, who work full-time and receive hourly wages, a full-time workday constitutes working for eight hours in a single day and a full-time workweek is working for 40 hours for six consecutive days. If you work longer than eight hours in a single day or for longer than 40 hours in a single week, your employer must pay you overtime wages.

Please note that you only have an overtime wage claim if you work eight hours in a single day, not eight hours spread across two days. Also, 40 hours per week is for six consecutive days in the same week. For instance, from Monday to Saturday. Not for hours that spill over from one week to the other, such as from Wednesday to Tuesday.

How much overtime pay can you get?

In California, as per the wage and hour law, if you work longer than your scheduled eight hours per day or your scheduled 40 hours per week, you can get overtime wages that are one and a half times your regular hourly pay rate. However, your employer must pay double that when you work longer than 12 hours on a workday or if you work for more than eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of the week.

What can you do if your employer refuses to pay you overtime wages?

According to the wage and hour employment law, employers must pay you the overtime premium if you have worked for long hours in a day or a week. They are legally prohibited from withholding your overtime wages. Some employers might, nevertheless, try to violate the law and cheat you out of your rightful earnings. This is known as wage theft.

The amounts may be small but could add up to something substantial over time. So, it isn’t something you should ignore. It may help to speak to your employer and ask them to pay what they legally owe you.

If that doesn’t work, you may need to consider hiring an overtime lawyer in Los Angeles and taking legal action. Many employees tend to shy away from that option, thinking it might be too expensive or that their employer might retaliate against them. However, you don’t have to worry about those issues.

Firstly, many lawyers take cases on a contingency basis. That means you only have to pay them after they win the case and you get awarded damages. As per California’s wage and hour law, if you win the case, your employee also must pay your attorney’s fees. Additionally, they cannot retaliate against you.

Having a job is the most vital financial security. And if anything bad happens to it then that situation can become extremely taxing and stressful. If you believe that you have been treated unlawfully or unfairly at the workplace, then the first thing you must do is to look for a Studio City employment lawyer. You must know that you have been protected under California and federal law if you have been a victim of harassment or unlawful termination or discrimination at the workplace.

Once you decide to hire a Studio City employment lawyer, you should know that the one whom you will hire will represent you in the court of law and should be liable enough who can settle your case fairly. Therefore, you must know what all questions you should ask before hiring an employment lawyer. But, don’t you worry as here are the top five questions that you can ask that will help you make the right decision.

#1  Do you specifically practice employment law?

You will find lawyers who take up every case that comes to them. But since your issue is only related to your employment, you should find a lawyer who specializes in employment law. The logic is simple if you are having a throat infection you prefer going to an Ear and Throat specialist and not to a heart surgeon. The same logic goes here. A specialized lawyer would know all the employment law in detail and has the experience in understanding and knowing all the nuances of the law.

#2  How are you going to charge?

We all know how expensive the court matter can get with time. Therefore, when you are hiring an employment lawyer, you should ask about the charges that the lawyer is going to take from you. Ask clearly if the lawyer is going to charge you hourly or by a flat fee and how much it is going to be. Make sure to get an itemized receipt of all the charges so that you will know where and how the money is being spent.

#3  How long will my case take?

When you shortlist a few lawyers, you talk to them over a phone call or have a physical one-on-one meeting to make some decisions. During that meeting, you give an outline of your case, and thus, you can ask the lawyer about how much time your case might take. Cases related to employment take months and sometimes years as well and if the allegations are serious then you should know what are going to be the repercussions. And in such a situation, the case might go to trial which means more money to be spent. An experienced employment lawyer should be able to tell you about the estimated time to be taken for your case.

#4  What is going to be the communication process?

Every employment lawyer has a different way of communication. Some will tell you to communicate via email and a line will always be open directly to the lawyer in case of emergencies. Many of the lawyers also charge for the communication that takes place apart from the scheduled ones. Therefore, do ask if your messages, emails, and calls are going to be charged or not. Also, ask about the timings when your lawyer will not be available for communication.

#5  What are the preferred options for my case?

Depending upon the severity of your case, an experienced employment lawyer should be able to tell you about the various options that you might opt for your case. Whether your case should go to trial or just the negotiation will do all the settlement, a lawyer should be able to tell you after analyzing the case. Also, if you feel that your case should go to trial, then talk clearly with the lawyer and know about the implications.

When you are looking for a Studio City employment lawyer, you should be searching for an experienced and qualified lawyer who can represent you efficiently in the case and should be able to tell you all the rights and wrongs of the case. Hiring an attorney might seem easy but look for an attorney whom your can trust and believe.

Recruiting top talents for your organization without using technical skills screening tools is hard. But you are not alone. According to a survey, around 9 out of 10 HR professionals find it challenging to recruit technical talent, with over a third find it “extremely challenging”.Recruiting top talents for your organization without using technical skills screening tools is hard. But you are not alone. According to a survey, around 9 out of 10 HR professionals find it challenging to recruit technical talent, with over a third find it “extremely challenging”.

Now the question is why hiring technical candidates is so difficult?

Well, that is because the inability to quantify a candidate’s on-the-job potential.

On average, a typical corporate job gets around 250 resumes. Add to that, a combination of intense competition and talent shortage, as recruiters often quickly poach the best talent.

Time plays a key role here. Hene, to instantly scour the best from a vast pool, recruiters often skim through cover letters. And that’s the biggest mistake they make.

This is because recruiters review resumes matching the closest candidate-job description to the needed qualification, connected with a selected few for the interview, go with their instincts and recruit someone. And as a result they often end up hiring a wrong or genetic candidate.

The inability to and instantaneously and holistically evaluate a candidate’s skills  prohibit businesses from recruiting the most talented candidates.

To minimize such difficulties, speed up the time-to-hire and improve decision-making, you must eliminate the pre-interview inefficiencies.

You have to zero in on the right candidate before you even start the interview process. You have to identify if the candidate is the right fit to fulfill the r requirements, by charting a precise filtration process at the very beginning stage.

By having a good talent evaluation process in the initial stage you can ensure successful hiring.

For example, implementing a coding test. You should also optimize recruitment by garnering deep insights to make sure there are no additional biases in the process. This would help you save significant time and cost and also promote integrity.

And you can do all these by opting for the right technical skills screening tools. Let’s understand in detail how such tools can help and why you should start using them.

Bolsters the Quality of Hiring

Technical skills screening tools can help evaluate candidates quickly. The process is short and such tools offer foolproof performance overview and potential based analysis to help evaluate what the applicants know – not who they are.

This allows to identify and find the technical talents right fit for an organization faster, thereby improving the quality of hire.

Cut Down Bias

Recruitment managers often do not have in-depth knowledge of development. So, with limited technical knowledge, often they end up selecting candidates based on their favorable interaction or peer approval. This prohibits companies from identifying and recruiting the best candidate for the job.

But, technical skills assessment tool shortlists and assess candidates fairly and without any unconscious prejudice.

Evidence-based Hiring

Technical skills screening tools help make data-driven recruitment decisions. Such tools assess or observe and grade candidates on various factors. These observations backed by real evidence prove to be more effective at determining success.

Such tools strongly assess the hiring manager’s decision and reduce assumption or intuition based selection.

Saves Resources

It’s a no-brainer that screening, interviewing, and decision making are critically important to hire the right talent. But the problem is they are long and tedious processes. Add to that the resources wasted if you end up hiring wrong candidates.

Technical skills screening tools diminishes the strain on various resources by expediting the filtering and recruiting process.

Such tools can assess candidates at scale and eliminate unfit candidates easily. And the recruiting managers will eventually be left with the bet from which to choose.

Improves Retention Rate

Hiring the top talents is a challenge. But the biggest challenge is even retaining them. They will always have a host of opportunities at their disposal. Many times recruiters miss out recognizing this or take it too lightly and this leads to high attrition rates.

Technical skills screening tools help access a candidate’s comprehensive profile. With detailed insights and scores, recruiting managers hire not only the best but also those worth training. This makes the retention rate shoot up.So have you ever used any technical skills screening tools? Do you have any questions? Please feel free to leave your comments below.