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Glossary

Glossary of personal injury terms

For an excellent glossary of personal injury terms, please click here.

 

 

Glossary of employment law terms

Age Discrimination In Employment Act (ADEA)

Federal law protecting older employees from employment discrimination on the basis of their age.

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

Federal law protecting employees from discrimination on the basis of disability. It also makes employers responsible to make reasonable accommodations for their employees' disabilities.

At-Will Employment

The law in California on employment relationships. There is no contractual agreement and either party may end the employment relationship at any time, for any lawful reason or for no reason at all, without incurring a penalty.

Back Pay

The amount of money the employee would have earned if the employee was not fired or denied a promotion illegally. A measure of damages.

Cafeteria Plan

A type of employment benefits plan in which the employee selects benefits from a menu, up to a specified dollar amount.

Cash Shortage & Breakage

An employer cannot deduct from an employee's wages, or require an employee to reimburse the employer, for any cash shortage, breakage, or loss of equipment. So if you're a bartender, and your drawer is $50.00 short, the employer cannot require you to make up for the missing $50.00. Similarly, if you work at a grocery store, and you accidently break a case of olives, the employer cannot demand that you reimburse the company for the cost to replace the case of olives.

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

Federal law requiring employers to allow employees to continue their health insurance coverage after termination, in the same insurance group, at the group rate, and providing the same benefits.

Constructive Discharge or Constructive Termination

Forcing an employee to resign due to intolerable working conditions, including being asked to break the law or refrain from reporting a violation of the law.

Equal Pay Act

Federal law requiring employers to pay the same to all employees who do the same work, regardless of their gender.

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Federal law requiring certain employers to give time off to employees to take care of their own or a family member's illness, or to care for a newborn or adopted child.

Front Pay

The amount of money the employee would have earned if the employee was reinstated or hired into the higher-paying position from which he or she was illegally rejected. A measure of damages.

Hostile Working Environment

A work environment that is so charged with harassment or similar unwanted behavior that it interferes with the ability to do one's job and is said to violate anti-discrimination laws.

Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

A tax-deferred savings account in which the employee contributes no more than a set maximum amount annually.

Implied Contract

A type of enforceable contract that is not made explicitly, but is implied from the circumstances or the parties' conduct.

Meal Breaks

An employer must provide an employee with a meal period of at least 30 minutes for every 5 hours worked. Employers are required to keep written records of meal breaks taken by employees. The employee must be relieved of all duty during their meal period. Sometimes, an employee does not receive a true meal break when he or she is required to perform light work tasks while eating. For instance, a delivery driver who eats fast food while driving to the next job site is not taking a true meal period, and a waiter or waitress who does paperwork while eating is also not taking a true meal period.

Minimum Wage

The set minimum hourly rate that employers in certain industries are required by law to pay their employees.

National Origin Discrimination

Discrimination on the basis of an employee's ethnicity.

Non-Competition Agreement

A contract (or part of a contract) in which an employee promises not to work for a competing employer (or to set up a competing business) during, or for a certain length of time after, the employment with the employer. These are often unenforceable in California.

Overtime Compensation

A higher rate of pay (usually 1.5 or 2 times the regular hourly rate) an employer is obligated to pay employees who work more than a certain number of hours in a day or week.

Prevailing Wages

California and federal law requires that construction workers on public works projects receive fair wages and benefits for the work they perform. Please see our additional page dedicated to prevailing wages.

Reporting Time

Whenever an employer requires its employees to report to work, but does not provide them with at least half their usual day's work, the employer may owe its employees for reporting time pay. If you have an on-call or standby shift at a restaurant, or if you have to show up at a construction site without being put to work, you may be owed for reporting time.

Rest Breaks

An employer must provide an employee with a rest period of at least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked. A good example of a typical rest break is a smoke break where someone leaves his desk and goes outside to have a cigarette.

Reporting Time

Each workday an employee is required to report for work, but is not given at least half the employee’s usual scheduled work, the employer is required to pay the employee for at least half the employee’s usual scheduled work, but in no event less than 2 hours or more than 4 hours. So if you work in a restaurant or at a construction site, and your employer sends you home because there is no work available, you could have a claim for unpaid reporting time.

Sexual Harassment

Quid pro quo harassment is unwelcome sexual advances by an employer or supervisor that becomes a condition of the employee's employment or represents a threat to the employee's continued employment. A hostile work environment harassment claim can arise when the presence of demeaning or sexual photographs, jokes, threats, or overall atmosphere is so pervasive as to create an intimidating and offensive work environment.

Tip Pooling

Although an employer can require employees to share or pool tips, the employer cannot take a portion of the tips for itself or its managers. The employer also cannot require the tips be shared with other employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips. If managers or assistant managers are receiving a portion of the tips, the employer is probably breaking the law. Or, if you’re a server or bartender, and some of your tips are shared with cooks or dishwashers, then the employer is probably violating the law.

Travel Time

Travel time is compensable when the employer requires its employees to meet at a designated place and use the employer's designated transportation to and from the worksite.

Unpaid Overtime

Most people already know that when you work more than 40 hours per week OR 8 hours per day, you are entitled to time and a half. But many employers miscalculate the employee’s true overtime rate of pay by failing to include commissions in their calculations, and some employers require their employees to work off the clock for an extra 20-30 minutes at the beginning or end of each shift so they won’t have to pay overtime. Sometimes an employer will intentionally misclassify an employee as exempt to avoid paying ANY overtime.

You may be entitled to overtime pay under the following conditions:

  • If you arrive at work earlier than your starting time and do light work at the request of the employer
  • If you typically work through lunch breaks at the employer's request
  • If you take work home with the knowledge and permission of the employer
  • When at home you are required to be on call and ready to report to work within an hour
  • If you work several hours of overtime on a Friday and the employer states that you can leave work several hours earlier the following week
  • If the job requires you to stay overnight for out-of-state assignments or travel extensively while on company business (but not for normal commuting travel to and from your home)
Unreimbursed Expenses

An employer is required to reimburse an employee whenever the employee pays an expense that is for the employer's benefit. If you have to drive your own car as part of your job, then your employer is required to reimburse you for the cost of gas and maintenance. If you have to use a cell phone to report to a central office, the employer is required to reimburse you for the cost of using your cell phone.

Whistleblower

An employee who blows the whistle on an employer, i.e., who reports to the authorities an employer's illegal action or practice. Whistleblowers are entitled to a number of protections under state and federal law.