Los Angeles Employment Law Blog

California law does not require that personal attendants be paid overtime wages if they are employed as an in-home caretaker to feed, dress and otherwise supervise an elderly person. Nurses, however, who are employed to perform nursing duties in an elderly person's home are entitled to overtime pay.

The gray area, recently addressed by the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District, is whether a caretaker who is not a nurse but performs nurse-like functions is entitled to overtime pay.

Joy Cash was hired as an in-home caretaker for Iola Winn, then 94-years-old, in 2005 and paid $10/hour. Cash reported working an average of 18 hours a day, every day, from 11:30 am to 6am the following day. She was not paid overtime for the hours worked in excess of 8/day and 40/week and filed an overtime lawsuit against Winn claiming a violation of California wage and hour laws.

Cindy Guillen, a public relations officer to Burbank's Spanish-speaking community, is now in court rather than at work. She did not want to pursue legal action against her employer, but after complaints of sexual harassment and harassment based on her ethnic background were not investigated, she decided to file a lawsuit against her employer.

Guillen began working for the Burbank police department in 2000 and was the first Latina to work for the department. She was described by her attorney as an "outstanding police officer."

During her time at the Burbank PD, Guillen was threatened with sexual assault by a Sergeant if she did not shut up. She was stalked by another Sergeant who repeatedly asked her out. Neither Sergeant was disciplined by the department despite the acts creating an atmosphere of harassment, a hostile work environment and affecting how other coworkers viewed her.

California employers are required to establish regular paydays so that workers know when and where they can expect to be paid for work completed. Wages earned during the beginning of the month, from the 1^st to the 15^th, must be paid by the 26^th of the same month; wages earned from the 16^th through the end of the month must be paid by the 10^th of the following month. If wages are earned over a different period of time, they must be paid within seven days.

Specific payment rules exist for employees who leave their position or are laid off from a current employer. An employee who is discharged, terminated or fired must be paid all wages that he or she has earned plus the monetary value of any accrued vacation time immediately. An employee who does not receive a final paycheck immediately may have a wage and hour claim against the former employer for failing to pay what is owed.

While visiting former coworkers, Debbie Stevens learned that her former supervisor at Atlantic Automotive Group, Jackie Brucia, was in need of a kidney transplant. Stevens offered to donate one of hers. After another kidney donor for Brucia fell through, Stevens believes Brucia began grooming her to be the back-up donor.

Brucia helped her get a job as an administrative assistant with Atlantic and soon after they agreed that Stevens would donate a kidney to another person awaiting transplant so that Brucia would be moved up on the donor list. After undergoing surgery to remove a healthy kidney for donation, Stevens began having medical problems. She took three extra days off because of the pain she was in despite being pressured by Brucia to return to work. Stevens lost her office space, was demoted and eventually fired by the woman whose life she'd helped save.

"Don't expect to be treated special because of what you did for me," Brucia was reported as telling Stevens.