Palo Alto Employment Law Blog

If a person works a certain amount of hours per week, their employer may be required to provide them and their family with health benefits. These benefits should be included in the employment agreements, and each employee has the opportunity to accept them or decline them, based on their current situation. Laws are in place to determine when an employee should be given health benefits, when they must terminate their plan, and how their plan is protected from being terminated by their employers.

An employee of Walmart claims she will be forced to choose between feeding her family and providing them with health insurance because of a new policy enacted by the company. Protestors are gathering outside company locations around the state to protest the changes that the company is accused of making.

An employer cannot simply fire an employee based on their age, sex, or any other factors that are discriminatory in an unfair way against the employee. When an employee in California feels they have been the victims of a wrongful termination, they have the option to file a lawsuit against the former employer in order to receive money for lost and future wages. If these cases are not settled in a way that is acceptable to both parties, they may end up being decided by a jury. 

A California corporation and five former employees are waiting for a jury to decide their case after weeks of arguments. After being laid off from their jobs, many of the people laid off realized that the average age for those laid off was over fifty, and felt that they were terminated because they were older and their salaries were higher. They have since sued the company for breach of contract over their terminations.

Employment laws are set up in order to protect employees of any company from being taken advantage of in any situation involving certain terms of the employment contract. Laws are in place to ensure that employees are guaranteed a certain salary, and to limit the hours some people can work during a week or pay period. When these laws are not followed and workers are treated unfairly, employees may choose to go on strike until the wages are paid and the rights of the employees are being met.

With a claim that they are owed more than 1 million dollars in overtime and regular hours pay, writers of a popular television show on the E! Network are refusing to work until they are paid what they feel they are due. The strike may have been further complicated by the fact that network executives would not sign a contract with a labor union that is said to focus on the rights of the writers.

When a person is given a job in California, many times they will sign a contract with their employer before starting the job. This employment contract outlines the responsibilities of both parties, and states clearly what both parties are required to give during the time the person is employed with the employer. If the person is fired in a way that they feel is unfair, they may choose to sue the employer for a breach of contract.

After she reported that she was sexually harassed by her training officer, a female police officer felt she was fired unfairly. Documents show that the woman made repeated legal attempts to discourage the man, and that he was eventually fired by the department, although it is not known if the harassment charges were the cause of his firing. According to the woman, she was then terminated from her job because the male officer had been popular within the department.