The California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement has issued an opinion letter stating that California law does not prohibit employers from temporarily reducing exempt employee workweeks and corresponding salary by a comparable percentage.
Read the opinion here. A full analysis of this letter will follow shortly.
I was at the Western Association of Chamber Executives conference yesterday and it was mentioned that a number of chambers are going "virtual" because of real estate costs and other issues. So, there is no office and the employees work from their homes. From some perspectives, this is a growing trend and not just for chambers of commerce.
This raises important issues such as where do you hold meetings? How do you meet with a potential client/member? Are there wage and hour or other employment law compliance issues?
The latter question I can address through our telecommuting toolkit. The other issues may have already been handled by some of you so it would be great to hear how others have addressed them.
During these economic times, many companies are exploring ways to cut costs while still maintaining their workforce. Furlough days - or forced days off/office closure - is one option California employers are exploring. However, employment and labor law puts strict restriction on the ability of California employers to cut exempt employee pay.
If you attended our free Web seminar this morning, we talked about pay deductions from exempt salaries. If you are a CalChamber member, you will be able to listen to this Web seminar on demand soon (stay tuned).
If you did not, or you want more information, you should attend our Web seminar on August 20 for a more detailed analysis of exempt employee pay and benefit accruals.
The right to terminate belongs to at-will employers, but there are some things to consider before you bring down the ax.
Discrimination claims. Workers over age 40 are protected from discrimination. Terminating or reducing the salary of employees with higher salaries as a cost-cutting measure increases your liability for age discrimination if there is a disproportionate impact on employees over 40.
CalChamber members should keep an eye out for our multi-part series on cost cutting measures that could hurt you - by costing more in fines or lawsuits than you saved. This topic and others will be discussed in depth in this series.
Or, at least some flexibility. As part of the budget deal, Labor Code 511 is amended to allow employers to include in the proposed menus of work options a regular schedule of 8-hour days that are compensated outside the scope of the alternative week, or normally. Further, employees who adopt a menu of work schedule options may, with employer consent, move from one schedule option to another on a weekly basis.
The bill also defines "work unit" as a division, a department, a job classification, a shift, a separate physical location, or a recognized subdivision thereof. A work unit may consist of an individual employee as long as the criteria for an identifiable work unit in this section is met.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the budget deal this morning. These amendments will be effective 91 days from yesterday, or on May 22, 2009.
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