As an association we strive to keep you up-to-date on relevant information for your business. Please review the following important information below from CALSAGA Network Partner Bradley & Gmelich.
ROUNDING HOURS WORKED IN CALIFORNIA
by Jaimee K. Wellerstein, Esp.
Arin Norijanian, Esq.
California employers are required to pay their non-exempt (hourly) employees for all hours worked. They must also keep accurate wage statements and time records that correctly state the total hours worked by the employee. To comply with California’s timekeeping laws, many employers round employees’ clock-in and clock-out times to the closest quarter hour, tenth of an hour, or other interval. In the past, these “rounding” policies invited numerous lawsuits where employees claimed, often successfully, that they were not paid for all time worked.
On June 25, 2018, California’s Second District Court of Appeal upheld an employer’s rounding policy and practice in AHMC Healthcare, Inc. v. Superior Court. In doing so, the Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ prior ruling, and expanded upon the criteria used to determine whether a rounding policy is neutral in practice, and thus lawful.
In AHMC Healthcare, the Court determined that the employer’s rounding policy was lawful. With regard to the policy, all employee time punches were rounded to the nearest quarter-hour, regardless of whether the employer benefited or not. The Court also noted that the rounding was neutral in practice, as evidenced by the results in a statistical study. Although some employees were undercompensated, most employees (approximately 52%) were overcompensated. The Court thus found that the rounding system “did not systematically undercompensate employees over time.”
Employer takeaway:
The good news for California employers is that rounding is lawful in California if the employer’s rounding policy is neutral on its face and in practice, not resulting in an overall loss of pay for the employees.
The bad news is that although rounding is lawful, rounding policies may always invite legal challenges in California. Without careful analysis of the company’s rounding policy and practice, and whether it results in overall undercompensation or overcompensation to employees, rounding policies could still result in liability to employers.
The safest thing to do is to pay based upon actual time worked by the employee. Employers will never be penalized or face a potential lawsuit for undercompensation claims for rounding.
Nevertheless, when utilizing a rounding policy, the best practice is to regularly review the Company’s policy and practice, and the impact on the employees to ensure the policy is neutral on its face, and the practice does not result in overall under compensation of employees.
Please contact Bradley & Gmelich LLP if you have any questions.
Jaimee K. Wellerstein is an experienced litigator with a broad spectrum of experience upon which to draw. As the head of the firm’s employment team, she concentrates her practice in representing employers in all aspects of employment law, including defense of wage and hour class actions, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful discharge lawsuits. She also provides employment counseling and training in all of these areas. Ms. Wellerstein routinely represents employers in federal and state courts and in arbitration proceedings throughout the state, as well as at administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement, the United States Department of Labor, and other federal and state agencies.
As a civil litigator, Ms. Wellerstein has represented clients from Fortune 500 companies to governmental agencies to small businesses throughout each stage of litigation. In addition to her employment law experience, she has honed her expertise in cases involving general tort litigation, premises and products liability, security guard litigation, public entity work, and contract disputes.
Arin Norijanian has successfully represented employers in lawsuits involving sexual and racial harassment, disability discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination in both California and federal courts and in private arbitration. His clients have benefited from his significant knowledge of the wage and hour laws in California, and his experience in defending these types of cases, including his excellent work on numerous and varied wage and hour class actions over the last several years.
Mr. Norijanian enjoys an excellent reputation as an employment litigator and a sound and prudent legal advisor in workplace labor matters. His experience in the employment arena includes conducting internal investigations, negotiating with labor bargaining units, and conducting training sessions for human resources personnel. Additionally, he provides advice and counsel to employers on various employment-related issues, including workplace investigations, disciplinary matters, leaves of absence, severance agreements, and review of policies.
As an association we strive to keep you up-to-date on relevant information for your business. Please review the following important information below from CALSAGA Network Partner Anne Laguzza of The Works Consulting.
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Be Prepared for the New Sexual Harassment Prevention Laws
It’s time to expand sexual harassment prevention training for all California employers. Effective January 1, 2019 SB1343 requires all employers with 5 or more employees to provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees. The deadline for compliance with the initial training requirement is January 1, 2020.
While providing some type of training to all employees has always been recommended as a “best practice” – it will now be a requirement. Prior to this change, only employers with 50 or more employees had a requirement to train supervisory employees.
Under the new law employers must provide:
Supervisory employees with 2 hours of training every 2 years
Nonsupervisory employees with 1 hour of training every 2 years
Both supervisory and nonsupervisory employees must be trained within 6 months of hire (or promotion in the case of a supervisor).
Beginning January 1, 2020, seasonal and temporary employees, or any employee that is hired to work for less than 6 months must receive sexual harassment prevention training within 30 days of hire or within 100 hours worked, whichever occurs first. If the temporary employee is employed by a temporary services employer, the temporary services employer is responsible for the training, not the client.
As required under existing law, the training must be interactive, include information on state and federal laws, provide practical examples for supervisory and nonsupervisory employees, provide clear guidance on reporting concerns and prohibited retaliation and it must include a component on the prevention of abusive conduct in the workplace as well as information on harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. The training must be provided by facilitators who have knowledge and expertise in harassment, discrimination and retaliation.
Employers should create their training plan now to meet the 2020 deadline. Employers can choose the method of training that best suits their workplace such as large workshops, small round table sessions or webinars. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is required to provide training materials as part of this new law and employers may want to evaluate those resources, including online training courses available to employers in English and several other languages. An updated poster and fact sheet will also be available from the DFEH to all employers.
Beyond the training, find ways to reinforce the laws in your workplace through well-written policies, ongoing communication with your teams and taking action when a complaint is received.
Anne L. Laguzza, M.A.
Chief Executive Officer
The Works Consulting
www.theworksconsulting.com
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Read more from The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing: Sexual Harassment and Abusive Conduct Prevention Training Information for Employers
It has been a tough week in California. Our thoughts are with those affected by the shooting in Thousand Oaks and the fires that are raging across the state. We appreciate the many ways that security officers provide protection across the state each day often putting Themselves in harm’s way.
In a world with such perilous potential it is recommended that companies have emergency protocols in place before disaster strikes. CALSAGA Preferred Broker Shaun Kelly of Tolman & Wiker Insurance Services outlined Emergency Action Plans in an edition of The Californian earlier this year. Click here to read more from Shaun and download a sample Emergency Action Plan.
Click here to read past editions of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA.
We wish you and your family a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. For those affected by the recent tragic events in the state, our thoughts are with you.
The fourth edition of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA is now available!
Click here to read The Californian.
The 2018 CALSAGA Annual Conference was a success! The Agua Caliente Casino Resort and Spa team were great hosts and the food was delicious. Thank you to everyone who attended, our speakers and to our vendors and sponsors who made the conference possible.
CALSAGA Preferred Broker Tolman & Wiker sponsored our opening night President’s Reception on the West Lawn. As always, this event provided an opportunity for attendees, sponsors and vendors to network.
The general session kicked off with a legal update from CALSAGA Legal Advisor Barry Bradley. Anne Laguzza and Gary Bradley presented the session that attendees always enjoy: California’s Human Resource Challenges. For the first time, the event included a session tackling cannabis in California.
Conference attendees had the opportunity to hear from new BSIS Chief Darrel Wooand BSIS Deputy Chief Samuel Stodolski. CALSAGA looks forward to a great working relationship with the new chief.
As it is an election year, the program included the election of the 2019-2020 Board of Directors.
President: David Chandler
Northern California Vice President: Mark Tsuji
Southern California Vice President: Aleda Sebenick
Treasurer: Mark Miller
Secretary: Mike Smidt
Northern California Directors: Ashlee Cervantes and Chris de Guzman
Southern California Directors: Gary Bradley and Hugo Rodriguez
Our Vendor Hall sold out again this year. We appreciate the support of all of our vendors and sponsors!
Sponsoring Vendors:Tolman & Wiker, Silvertrac, TSIB, El Dorado Insurance Agency, Inc., TrackTik, Destiny Software, On Guard Apparel, Kwantek, UniPro International
Participating Sponsors: A.G. Spanos Companies, Agua Caliente Casino Resort and Spa, Allied Universal, Bradley & Gmelich, Custom Protective Services, E. & J. Gallo, First Security, G4S Secure Solutions, The Works Consulting
Vendors:American Bike Patrol, Aptonomy, BLine Security Training, Brookhurst Insurance Services, Certifix Livescan, Class VIII Research, DiBuduo & DeFendis Insurance Brokers, HUB International, Philadelphia Insurance Companies, Pre-Banc Business Credit, Robotic Assistance Devices, Symbol Arts, Team Software, Trackforce, Trikke
The Annual Awards dinner typically takes place on the last night of the conference; this year it was held on Wednesday allowing more to attend. Emceed by CBS Local Meteoroligist Patrick Evans, Officer of the Year, Medal of Valor, Lifesaving and Howenstein Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented. Thank you to Kwantek for presenting financial gifts to award winners. We were fortunate to have Al Howenstein in attendance to present the Howenstein Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
Lifesaving Award Recipients: George Oliver Carter, Sterling Simeon, Arleen Vargas, Michael Moise, Nichole Richter and Frankie Arroyo-Acevedo
Officer of the Year Recipient: Deantoine Dwanyne Washington
Medal of Valor Recipient: Jason Medford
Howenstein Lifetime Achievement Award: L. Earle Graham
At the event $1250 was raised for the CALSAGA Charitable Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to assist severely injured officers as well as the families of officers killed in the line of duty throughout California. In addition, the Charitable Foundation honors and recognizes those who exemplify the best of our industry. Thank you to everyone who contributed!
Look out for the announcement about the 2019 Annual Conference coming soon!
The refreshed CALSAGA catalog of training materials are now available for purchase!
AB2880 Compliant and BSIS Approved
Mandatory
II.A Public Relations (Community & Customer)
II.B Observation & Documentation
II.C Communication and its Significance
II.D Liability/Legal Aspects
Elective Courses
III.A Post Orders & Assignments
III.B Company Policies/ Orientation
III.C Evacuation Procedures
III.D Officer Survival
III.E Arrest, Search & Seizure
III.F Access Control
III.G Trespass
III.H Criminal Laws
III.J Handling Difficult People
III.K Work Place Violence
III.L Chemical Agents
III.M Preserving the Incident Scene
III.N Crowd Control
III.O Driver Safety
III.P Supervision
III.Q Courtroom Demeanor
III.R Parking & Traffic Control
III.S Radio Procedures
You talked and we listened.
In July, we announced proposed pricing for the updated training materials. Thank you to the members who provided us with valuable feedback. Our Training Committee and Board of Directors took your input into consideration; please see the revised pricing structure below.
Initial One-Year Access:
$500 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 1-20 officers)
$600 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 21-50 officers)
$750 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 51 to 150 officers
$1500 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 151-250 officers)
$2000 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 251- 500 officers)
$2500 (500 to 1000 officers)
$3000 (PPO’s/PSE’s with over 1000 officers)
ASSOC / PSTF – $1500 Initial Payment
Renewal Fees for Year Two and Beyond:
$100 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 1-50 officers)
$150 (51 to 150 officers)
$250 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 151-250 officers)
$300 (PPO’s/PSE’s with 251-500 officers)
$400 (500 to 1000 officers)
$500 (PPO’s/PSE’s with over 1000 officers)
$300 Subscription Rate ASSOC / PSTF
All modules include course handbook, test, answer key and instructor’s presentation.
CALSAGA Training Materials are only available to purchase by CALSAGA members.
To purchase training materials, log in to your CALSAGA account at calsaga.org/login and click on the Training tab.
If you need assistance with logging in, contact Kate at KWallace@calsaga.org.
As a reminder, access to the CALSAGA Security Officer Training Database – a compliment to the CALSAGA Training Modules – is included with your membership dues! Once you have trained your officers, the database allows you to track their training and to generate BSIS-compliant certificates. Click here to learn more or contact Kate at KWallace@calsaga.org.
Have questions about membership? Contact Kris at Kris@calsaga.org.
Time is running out to register for the 2018 CALSAGA Annual Conference!
Registration closes on Friday, October 12th at 6pm.
Register NOW for the 2018 CALSAGA Annual Conference
Just what will you be missing if you don’t register for the conference?
A solid speaker lineup with brand new programming, an opportunity to hear directly from the new BSIS Chief, a sold out Exhibitor Hall full of vendors relevant to your business (many of whom offer discounts to CALSAGA members!), opportunities to network with your peers, and much more!
Your ticket includes all meals and events including the opening night President’s Receiption on the West Lawn and the Awards Dinner in The Show on Wednesday.
Please note that advance RSVP is required for the Awards Dinner. If you have not already submitted your RSVP for the dinner but would like to attend, please email Kate at KWallace@calsaga.org.
Today is the last day to submit nominations for CALSAGA’s Board of Directors.
The deadline for nomination submissions is close of business on Friday, September 28th.
Read more about nomination criteria, voting and election timeline.
The Agua Caliente Casino Hotel & Spa hotel room discount for CALSAGA Annual Conference attendees has been extended to Monday, October 1st.
To book your room call group reservations: 800-854-1279. Group name: CALSAGA or code: 1810CALSAGA
Have travel questions? We’ve got you covered!
Don’t forget, the Annual Conference will take place October 16th – 18th! Registration closes Friday, October 12th at 6:00pm.
Annual Conference Schedule and Registration Information
A note from CALSAGA Legal Advisor Barry Bradley
Dear CALSAGA Members and Security Industry Professionals:
This is your last chance to register for Wednesday’s LEAPS Conference in downtown Los Angeles at the Historic Orpheum Theater. Now in its 18th year, LEAPS is dedicated to bridging the gap between Private Security and the Public Sector. Our three speakers for this half-day symposium will be the new LAPD Chief, Michel Moore, Department of Homeland Security’s Protective Security Advisor, Richard Mitchem, and CIA Operative (Antiterrorism) Darrell Blocker.
Please register for yourself and others. There are seats available. Please check out the LEAPS website at www.leapsla.org for more information about the program and to register on-line. The cost is only $50 and it will be a great chance to not only meet the new chief, but to network with our colleagues. (There will be no walk-in registration.)
I hope to see you Wednesday morning, bright and early!
Barry A. Bradley, Esq.
Legal Advisor
CALSAGA
