Wrongful Termination/Whistleblower
In the absence of a written employment agreement for a specified period of time, employment in California is presumed to be at-will.  However, this does not mean that an employer can simply terminate an employee for ANY reason it desires. In addition to the laws preventing terminations and other adverse employment actions based on discrimination, employers also cannot terminate a “whistleblower” – that is, an individual who makes a valid complaint about an illegal activity taking place within the company.

Both federal law and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act forbid an employer to take any adverse employment action against an employee for asserting a claim of discrimination or harassment, participating in an investigation into such misconduct, or otherwise opposing such unlawful practices at work.

Essentially, if an employee is discharged or otherwise disciplined because of or in retaliation for voicing complaints concerning illegal activities, the employee may have a claim against the employer for wrongful termination in violation of public policy. 
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Wage & Hour and Leave Laws
California’s wage and hour and leave laws are too extensive to describe in full.  However, below are a few common topics relevant to most employees and employers.

Exempt Status
Generally, with some limited exceptions, exempt employees are executive, administrative, professional, or certain computer professional employees who meet certain substantive requirements for exemption from the overtime pay provisions of federal and state law and thus are not eligible for overtime pay.  In addition to the detailed, substantive requirements described below, an exempt employee typically must earn a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two (2) times the state minimum wage for full-time employment to qualify as exempt.

Executive Exemption: A person employed in an executive capacity is defined by the IWC Wage Orders as any employee: (a) whose duties and responsibilities involve the management of the enterprise in which he/she is employed or of a customarily recognized department or subdivision thereof; and (b) who customarily and regularly directs the work of two or more other employees therein; and (c) who has the authority to hire or fire other employees or whose suggestions and recommendations as to the hiring or firing and as to the advancement and promotion or any other change of status of other employees will be given particular weight; and (d) who customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment; and (e) who is primarily engaged in duties which meet the test of the exemption.

Administrative Exemption:  A person employed in an administrative capacity is defined by the IWC Wage Orders as any employee: (a) whose duties and responsibilities involve either: (i) the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to management policies or general business operations of his/her employer or his/her employer’s customers; or (ii) The performance of functions in the administration of a school system, or educational establishment or institution, or of a department or subdivision thereof, in work directly related to the academic instruction or training carried on therein; and (b) who customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment; and (c) who regularly and directly assists a proprietor, or an employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity (as such terms are defined for purposes of this section); or (d) who performs under only general supervision work along specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience, or knowledge; or (e) who executes under only general supervision special assignments and tasks; and (f) who is primarily engaged in duties that meet the test of the exemption.

Professional Exemption: A person employed in a professional capacity means any employee who meets all of the following requirements: (a) who is licensed or certified by the State of California and is primarily engaged in the practice of one of the following recognized professions: law, medicine, dentistry, optometry, architecture, engineering, teaching, or accounting; or (b) who is primarily engaged in an occupation commonly recognized as a learned or artistic profession; and (c) who customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment in the performance of duties set forth in subparagraphs (a) and (b).  “Learned or artistic profession” means an employee who is primarily engaged in the performance of: (i) Work requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field or science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study, as distinguished from a general academic education and from an apprenticeship, and from training in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical processes, or work that is an essential part of or necessarily incident to any of the above work; or (ii) Work that is original and creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor (as opposed to work which can be produced by a person endowed with general manual or intellectual ability and training), and the result of which depends primarily on the invention, imagination, or talent of the employee or work that is an essential part of or necessarily incident to any of the above work; and (iii) whose work is predominantly intellectual and varied in character (as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work) and is of such character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time.

Payment of Overtime: Employees who are not exempt must be paid overtime in accordance with state or federal wage and hour laws. In California, this generally means that non-exempt employees must be paid at the rate of time and a half their regular hourly rate of pay for hours worked over 8 and up to and including 12 hours in a workday, for hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek, and for the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day of work in a workweek.  Non-exempt employees must also be paid 2 times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 12 hours in one workday and for hours worked over 8 hours on the 7th consecutive workday in a workweek. 

Rest Breaks and Meal Periods: For every four hours worked, non-exempt employees are entitled to a 10-minute break period. Employees are paid for these breaks despite the fact that they are not to be performing any job duties during the break.  Non-exempt employees are also entitled to a 30-minute, uninterrupted meal period during a workday in excess of five hours.  Employees who work over 10 hours in a workday are entitled to two 30-minute, uninterrupted meal periods.  Employees do not need to be paid during their meal period(s), but in most cases, they must be relieved of all duty and allowed to leave the premises.  Further, employees who work less than six hours in a day may waive the meal period. Employees who are not "provided" a rest break and/or an uninterrupted meal period must be paid one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of compensation for each work day that the meal or rest period is not provided.

Expense Reimbursements: Pursuant to California Labor Code Section 2802, employers must indemnify employees for necessary expenditures or losses incurred in direct consequence of the discharge of their duties. This includes all reasonable expenses incurred as a result of an employee’s employment, such as mileage, supplies, and cell phone usage.

Family Medical Leave Laws: California and federal laws provide numerous leaves for employees.  Below are just a few of the main medical leave laws that affect today’s employees.

California Family Rights Act: The Fair Employment and Housing Act contains family care and medical leave provisions for California employees.  These leave provisions, known as the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”), cover employers who do business in California and employ 50 or more part-time or full time employees.  All such employers must provide information about the CFRA provisions to their employees and post this information in a conspicuous place where employees tend to gather.  Employers who provide employee handbooks must include information about CFRA leave in the handbook.

To be eligible for CFRA leave, an employee must have more than 12 months of service with the employer and have worked at least 1,250 hours for that employer in the 12-month period before the leave begins.

An eligible employee may take an unpaid leave for several reasons, including: to bond with an adopted or foster child or to bond with a newborn; to care for a parent, spouse, or child with a serious health condition; or for the employee’s own serious health condition.  Full-time employees may take leave of up to 12 work weeks in a 12-month period. Part-time employees may take leave on a proportional basis. The leave does not need to be taken in one continuous period of time.

Employers are not required to pay employees during a CFRA leave.  An employer may require an employee to use accrued vacation time or other accumulated paid leave other than sick time.  If the CFRA leave is for the employee’s own serious health condition, the use of sick time can be required.  If the employer provides health benefits under a group plan, the employer must continue to make these benefits available during the leave.  The employee is also entitled to accrual of seniority and participation in other benefit plans.

After CFRA leave, employees are guaranteed a return to the same or comparable position and can request the guarantee in writing.  If the same position is no longer available, such as in a layoff or closure, the employer must offer a position that is comparable in terms of pay, location, job content, and promotional opportunities, unless the employer can prove that no comparable position exists.  An employee is not entitled to reinstatement if the employee would have been otherwise laid off or terminated.

Pregnancy Disability Leave: California law makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers with five (5) or more employees to refuse to allow a female employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions to take a leave for a reasonable period of time not to exceed four months and thereafter return to work, as set forth in the commission's regulations.  Further, the employee shall be entitled to utilize any accrued vacation leave during this period of time.  Reasonable period of time means that period during which the female employee is disabled on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. 
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