California HR issues

FT

Is anyone out there familiar with California specific HR issues? I have had the question asked of me if I was familiar with California HR issues. I interpret that to mean employment law, etc. Can you direct me to a site or advise me on the issues (FMLA?) that are different in California? Many thanks in advance for your time.

Parabeagle

I'm sure HRsage or some of the other California HR types will chime in and, frankly, it's been awhile since I've had to worry about California issues. In a nutshell, California has many different and/or additional labor laws that are not always in sync with the rest of the country. For example, I believe San Francisco prohibits discrimination against obese individuals (not just morbidly obese individuals who might otherwise be covered under ADA). They also have a state law prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation (not all do), ancestry, medical condition, etc. Their laws regarding sexual harassment require employers to distribute sexual harassment information sheets from the Dept. of Fair Employment and Housing and distribute them to employees and require employers to have a program to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace.

In short, I think your best bet would be to latch onto some California-specific resources (like the California Employment Law Letter or equivalent) and just start studying. Good luck.

Hatchetman

In addition to California Employment Law Letter as a regualr source of information, the California Cjhamber of Commerce puts out a very good annual Californai labor law digest that serves a sa good basis for understanding and coordinating all HR issues (it puts federal emplyment law in the context of California's emplyment laws) and then use the Emplyment Law Letter to keep you updated during the year.

Particular websites or the Department of Insdutrial Relations (Califrnials DOL) that constains the Indsutrial Welfare Commission Wage ORders and the enforcment policy of DIR.

[url]www.dir.ca.gov[/url]

and the California Labor Code which contains the specifics of most provisions of Calfiornia wage and hour law and other requirements.

But non-discrimination, FMLA/CFRA, California's ADA, pregnancy are all dealt with by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

[url]www.dfeh.ca.gov[/url]

Provisions on CFRA, non-discrimination, pregnancy and California's ADA are in the Calfiornia Government Code.

[url]http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html[/url]

HRsage

Hatchetman gives some great info and some very useful websites that I use all the time. I also use the Labor Law Digest that he mentioned as well. The Chamber of Commerce also has a website that is for HR in CA.
Here's the link:
[url]http://www.hrcalifornia.com/[/url]

This website and the newsletter are great resources too.

Good luck!