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What I've Been Reading This Week: Holiday Edition


Only a few days away from Christmas, so this seems like the perfect time to point out a few holiday themed articles that I read recently.  We have got a good mix here...everything from (paid) time off for holidays for California employees, to OSHA crowd management safety guidelines, all the way to a possible increase in pay for California employees who have to work on Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week.


How California Deals With (Paid) Time Off for Holidays

This is a good article from Anthony Zaller that has five notes on how (paid) time off is handled in California.  The article gets right to the point and addresses the fact that California employers are not required to provide employees time off for holidays (not with standing for religious accommodations).  There is also a good follow up at the end of the article on when employees are required to be paid when payday falls on a holiday when the business is closed. 



What better time to remind employers of OSHA's crowd management safety guidelines than the OSHA fact sheet which has suggestions for employers to follow to minimize workplace injuries?  OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration), which oversees workplace injuries, put out a pretty comprehensive list of how employers can be proactive and take steps to minimize workplace injuries with the increased crowds at retail establishments this time of year.  



Late last month, San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez announced she would introduce a bill that guarantees double pay to California employees who worked on holidays (at this point, only Thanksgiving and Christmas have been identified as holidays that would "qualify").  Although many employers offer employees time and a half for working on holidays, Gonzalez has argued that there are currently no laws that prevent employers in California from requiring employees to work on holidays for standard pay.  This is one to keep an eye on.  If it does pass, it will not affect Thanksgiving or Christmas until 2015.

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