News
Jonathan Judge of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Rudd & Romo (founded in 1979) gave the classification presentation today. Jonathan was born in Luxembourg, Europe. His family moved to Minnesota and then Utah. He is married to Elizabeth and they have a beautiful daughter Layla and a cute dog Avery. Jonathan worked in Human Resources before he decided to go to USC Law School. He passed the bar on his first try in 2003.
AALRR are the good guys only representing employers in labor law issues. There are 150 attorneys all over California and Nevada in seven offices. They represent their clients in court, arbitration, in front of government agencies and give advice and counsel to clients. They represent all size clients and any firm that has even a single employee is a potential client.
They advise clients every day regarding: employment applications, employee manuals, wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment claims, meal and rest period violations, suits on trade secret theft and overtime class action law suits, just to name a few vulnerable areas for employers.
Jonathan gave us an update on the new employment laws for 2016. Governor Brown waited until the last two days of the legislative session to sign or veto several bills affecting employers. Among the more significant measures Governor Brown signed into law are bills:
- Intending to close the gender wage gap;
- Expanding the power of the Labor Commissioner to prosecute wage and hour violations and collect upon judgements;
- Expanding anti-discrimination laws; amending California’s Private Attorneys General Act;
- imposing new obligations with respect to employees paid on a piece-rate basis.
Governor Brown vetoed
- Prohibiting arbitration agreements as a condition of employment;
- Prohibiting an employer from discriminating against unemployed applicants;
- Prohibiting an employer from seeking salary history information from an applicant;
- Expanding the Family Rights Act
If you are an employer in the state of California it is wise to have a labor attorney. Jonathan Judge recomends checking in with your labor attorney at least twice a year to make sure your employee manual is current with all the new laws.
