New Arbitration Protections for CA Employees

Nowadays, it has become conventional for most employers to incorporate employment arbitration protection agreements in their employees’ contracts. These employees, however, ought to be sure about the arbitration protection before they sign the agreement. The reason for this is that most employment arbitrations get prepared in favor of the employer’s side.

For example, if an employer signs an employment contract for a specified period of years, he or she loses the mandates to sue their employer if they get fired or discriminated at their workplace.

Business Practices

Most employers incorporate employment arbitration agreement regarding the contract. This means that employees who sign for such a deal cannot impose a legal action against their employers in a court of law. In such a case, disputes arising in the workplace get settled through arbitration, which is an alternative to filing a lawsuit in the court.

New Laws

As a way of mitigating employees’ oppression by the harsh arbitration agreements, the legislature in California has enacted two new statutes which have favored employee’s arbitration protection against workplace disputes. One of the laws, SB 1007, offers either of the arbitration parties with the right to hire a certified reporter whose role is to officially transcribe all the proceedings, depositions, or hearings, for record keeping.

Transcription of testimonies and hearing reports can get essential for employers because it could get more comfortable to refer or cite from a stored record of previous proceedings.

The second statute that the California legislature passed was referred to as SB 1241. This enactment held that provisions by the arbitration cannot allow employees in the state of California to arbitrate their complaints in foreign states or enable arbitrators to utilize laws from other states in the U.S.

Apparently, such provisions would have gotten regarded as unconscionable even in the previous law. This regard is because the courts primarily insist that employees ought not to be burdened with expenses or other consequences in arbitration, which surpass what a court action would require them to bear.

The Pros of Workplace Arbitration Protection

• Arbitration helps to keep off harsh and emotion-fueled verdict by the jury.
• Procedures of arbitration are quite straightforward.
• Arbitration offers more privacy with no media glare, as compared to a public court trial.
• Settling of a case is cheaper and quick in arbitration than in a court of law.
• There are limited chances of appeal by the loser.

     The Cons

• The law remains unsettled on the enforceability of arbitration agreements.
• The costs of an arbitrator and forum are high.
• It becomes difficult to do away with cases on summary judgment or dismissal.