Lisa Guerin is the author or co-author of several Nolo books, including The Manager's Legal Handbook, Dealing with Problem Employees, The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws, The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave, Workplace Investigations, and Create Your Own Employee Handbook. Guerin has practiced employment law in government, public interest, and private practice, where she has represented clients at all levels of state and federal courts and in agency proceedings. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law.
Articles By Lisa Guerin
Dealing With a Negative Reference From an Employer
If you are looking for a job, you need all the help you can get, especially in these tough economic times. Positive references from former employers can go a long way towards getting your foot in the door of a new job. Negative references can have an equally strong effect, but the door is more likely to slam in your face.
On-Call Time: Are You Entitled to Be Paid?
On-call time is time when an employee is not actually performing job duties, but must be available to work if called upon. For example, a trauma nurse who must carry a pager and return to the hospital immediately if paged is on call, as is a computer technician who must respond to help calls over the weekend.
Can my employer require me to buy my own laptop for work?
Question: Recently my employer decided to "let" us use our own laptops for work. But I don't own a laptop, and I don't think I should have to buy one just to do my job. Can they require me to provide my own work computer?
Do I need an attorney to file a charge with the EEOC?
Question: I work for a big construction firm, and I'm often the only woman on a job site. A couple of the guys I work with have been making really gross sexual comments around me and calling me names. I joked with them about it for a while, but they kept getting worse. Finally, I told them they were bothering me and asked them to stop. Well, they didn't stop.
Religious Harassment in the Workplace
Employees and applicants are protected from discrimination and harassment based on their religions, their religious beliefs or practices, and even their lack of religious beliefs. Title VII, the federal law that prohibits employment discrimination, applies to private employers with at least 15 employees.
Do I have to reveal that I'm transgender during my job search?
Question: I am a transman. I transitioned from female to male several years ago, while working at my last job. My manager and coworkers were all very supportive of my transition. However, the company recently had to downsize dramatically, and I was one of many employees to be laid off. Now I’m looking
Can I Be Forced to Work on Religious Holidays or the Sabbath?
Question: I am Jewish, although my parents were not very religious. In the last year or so, I have begun attending services at the Temple again and studying the Torah. I recently decided to adopt a more religious lifestyle, including observing the Sabbath. I work a Tuesday through Saturday shift, so
How to Prove Retaliation in the Workplace
Employees who complain about discrimination or harassment are protected from retaliation. An employer may not punish employees for asserting their rights. However, retaliation still happens; in fact, more that a third of the discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the past few years include a retaliation claim.
California's Final Paycheck Law: Penalties for Late Final Paychecks
California law gives employers only a short time to give employees their final paychecks after they quit or are fired. If an employer misses the deadline, the employee is entitled to a waiting time penalty of one day's pay for each day the employer is late, up to 30 days.
Was Your Layoff Illegal?
Most employees work at will, which means their employers can lay them off or fire them at any time, for any reason that isn't illegal. An employer that's struggling financially is generally free to cut jobs as the circumstances dictate. But that doesn't mean every layoff is legal. Employees with contracts may be protected from certain kinds of layoffs.