Don't be on the loosing end of a wage and hour (Labor Board) complaint.      

A simple mistake can cost you $1,000's!

Strategic Guidance: At your request, we will conduct a comprehensive review of your current pay practices, to identify potential issues, and to develop and implement a corrective plan to minimize or eliminate claims. Our office will provide you with guidance and support to help your Company maintain proper records required by both state and federal law, comply with overtime, meal and rest period requirements, identify and protect the status of those employees who should be exempt from the overtime requirements of state and federal law, and to make critical determinations as to whether a worker should be classified as an independent contractor or employee. To control your overtime, We can also assist you with preparations for secret-ballot elections for alternative workweeks. We will make certain that your Company complies with the requirements of the appropriate California IWC Wage Order for your industry.

What about Unemployment Claims?

Should Your Company Contest the Claim?

Your state's unemployment office -- not your company -- will ultimately decide whether a former employee can receive unemployment benefits. You do, however, have the option of contesting an employee's application for unemployment benefits, and that option gives your company a great deal of power. In California, for example, the unemployment board presumes that a terminated employee did not engage in misconduct that would disqualify the employee from getting unemployment benefits unless the employer contests the unemployment claim. Thus, in California, terminated employees who claim unemployment benefits receive them unless the former employer contests the claim.

Remember, there is no reason -- and there are no grounds -- to contest an unemployment claim if the employee was laid off. There are also no grounds to contest the claim if the employee did not engage in misconduct but was fired for lesser reasons -- for instance, for sloppy work, carelessness, poor judgment, or the inability to learn new skills.

Even if an employee engages in misconduct, your company might want to give up its right to contest an unemployment insurance claim as part of a severance package, especially if the fired employee seems likely to sue. In other words, your company would agree not to contest unemployment benefits and the employee would agree not to sue your company.

Your company should contest a claim only if it has grounds to do so -- meaning that the employee engaged in serious misconduct or quit without a compelling reason. And even then, your company should also have a good, practical reason to contest. Employers typically fight unemployment claims for one of two reasons:

• The employer is concerned that their unemployment insurance rates may increase. After all, the employer (not the employee) pays for unemployment insurance. The amount the employer pays toward unemployment insurance is based in part on the number of claims made against the employer by former employees.
• The employer is concerned that the employee plans to file a wrongful termination action. The unemployment application process can be valuable in discovering the employee's side of the story, and it can also provide an excellent opportunity for gathering evidence -- both from the employee and from witnesses.

If your company plans to contest an unemployment compensation claim, proceed with caution. These battles not only cost time and money, but they also ensure that the former employee will become an enemy. The employee might even file a wrongful termination lawsuit that otherwise could have been avoided. And if the fired worker has friends who remain on the job, they too may doubt and distrust your company's tactics.