As a reminder, all California employers must provide the newly issued Rights of Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking notice to new employees upon hire and to current employees on request.

You can find the new notice HERE in English, and HERE in Spanish.

The notice informs employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking of various rights and protections, including the right to: unpaid time off to obtain legal relief (e.g., a restraining order); freedom from employer retaliation or discrimination due to their victim status; and reasonable accommodations in the workplace.

Although not stated in the notice, employers need not provide an accommodation that constitutes an undue burden to the employer’s business operations.

Employers of at least 25 employees should be aware that in addition to the rights and protections mentioned above, they must provide unpaid leave to enable victims to seek medical attention, services from certain shelters or programs, psychological counseling, or safety planning services.

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.  It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked.  So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again.  This is commentary, people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing.  No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits).  But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you.  And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry).  Big news: Copyright 2017.  All rights reserved; yep, all of them. If you have any questions about this article, contact the writer directly, assuming he or she was brave enough to attach their name to it. 

If you have any questions regarding this blog or your life in general, contact Kelly O. Scott, Esq., commander in chief of this blog and Head Honcho (official legal title) of ECJ’s Employment Law Department.