Employers with a California presence already know that they need to monitor their wage and hour practices carefully. Now that many employers have reached compliance in areas such as meal- and rest-period laws, plaintiff attorneys are on the prowl for new battlegrounds for litigation. For example, two recent California appellate decisions added yet another hurdle for California employers to leap and additional fuel for employees (and their lawyers) looking to file class actions. Bright v. 99¢ Only Stores; and Home Depot USA, Inc. v. Superior Court.
Relaxing At Work
Nearly all of the California wage orders include a requirement that employees be provided with "suitable seats" when the nature of the work reasonably permits sitting while working. For employees whose work requires standing, the wage orders state that employees must be provided with "an adequate number of suitable seats … in reasonable proximity to the work area." (The only exceptions are most employees in the agricultural industry and some employees in the construction, drilling, logging, and mining industries.)
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