California Employment Law Myths, Every Employer Should Know

The state of California has a ton of rules that aim to protect and uphold the rights of employees within the state. In fact, California is considered as a haven for employees as the state has the most employee-friendly laws. This does not mean that these laws undermine the rights of employers. That is why as an employer, you should arm yourself with the right information about these laws to better protect yourself and your business from abuse. Here are some of the myths about employment laws for employers and the clarifications debunking the same.

Myth: No need to give overtime pay for employees since they may be exempt

Truth: While salaried, executive, administrative, or professional employees are exempted from receiving overtime pay. However, there are some of your employees that deserve the payment for the overtime work they have rendered. Know the exemptions by checking out the Wage and Hour Law of the state. This way, you will not be confused as to which employees should or should not get overtime pays.

Myth: Do you have to give a terminated employee a severance pay?

Truth: Severance pay is not something that the law requires on all employers. In fact, it is up to the goodness of companies if they would really want to give a severance package to employees leaving the organization. So employee can’t file claims due to an employer’s failure to pay severance pay unless it was stipulated in the employment contract.

Myth: Employers can only terminate employees because of unsatisfactory performance or other justifiable cause

Truth: California is one of those “at will” employment states that allows employers to terminate employees for any reason. The only time when these terminations are going to be questioned is when there is a standing agreement between the employer and employee. Also, an employer cannot terminate an employee if there are acts of discrimination due to age, sex, race, religion, or as retaliation for being a part of a union or organization, or because of whistle-blowing, committed against the concerned employee.

Myth: Employers can’t ask employees to sign a release after he or she is terminated from his or her post.

Whenever an employer pays an employee severance or any other payment to make the release binding on the employee, he or she must make the worker sign release papers. These papers completely clear you from any more responsibility about the person you are terminating.

California just has a lot of employment laws that can confuse bosses. However, these laws give equal protection both on employees and employers. So if you are still quite confused about this, it is best that you hire los angeles employment lawyers to help enlighten you and guide you through everything.