Richard J. Simmons

Richard J. Simmons is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Simmons represents employers in various labor relations matters involving state and federal wage and hour laws, wrongful discharge, employment discrimination, employee discipline and termination, employee benefits, affirmative action, union representation proceedings, and contract arbitrations.

Education

• J.D., University of California, Boalt Hall, 1976, Editor-in-Chief of the Industrial Relations Law Journal
• B.A., University of Massachusetts, 1973

Honors

• Southern California Super Lawyer, 2008
• Best of the Bar, Labor and Employment, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2007
• One of the country's top leading labor and employment lawyers, Chambers & Partners', 2006
• Appointed by the California Industrial Welfare Commission as a member of the 1987, 1984 and 1982 Minimum Wage Boards for the State of California

Memberships

• Member, Western Pension and Benefits Conference
• Member, California Society for Health Care Attorneys
• Member, American Society for Health Care Attorneys
• Member, Labor Law and Tax Sections, American and Los Angeles Bar Associations
• Member, National Advisory Board, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, published by Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California in Berkeley

Articles

• Steeped in Employment Law, January 23, 2006
• WCAB Adopts Stunning Reversal of Position Regarding Health Insurance Obligations To Employees on Workers' Compensation Leave, March 8, 2002
• Interview with Richard J. Simmons, February 23, 2002
• IWC Seeks to Clarify Uncertainty Regarding Salary Basis Rules, November 10, 2001
• Labor Commission Issues New Exemption Standards, June 13, 2001

• California's "Sue Your Boss" Law - Compliance Audits Under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004
• California Employer's Guide To The Federal Overtime Exemptions
• California's Anti-Business Employment Laws -- Monuments To Inefficiency
• Wage and Hour Manual For California Hotels, Motels, and Restaurants
• Hospital Wage-Hour Manual
• Guide to EEO Practices and Employment Discrimination Laws for Hotels, Motels, and Restaurants
• Management Guide to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action, Institute of Industrial Relations, UCLA
• The Hospital Equal Employment Opportunity Manual
• Employer Obligations Under the Federal Plant Closing Law
• "Coping with COBRA--The New Federal Health Insurance Law, "Labor and Employment Law News of the State Bar of California (Fall 1986)
• "Employer Rights: An Endangered Species," The 28th Annual Personnel and Industrial Relations Association Conference (Winter 1985)
• "Wrongful Discharge," California Society for Health Care Attorneys Journal (1984)
• "Wage Setoffs: The Do's and Don'ts of Deductions," Los Angeles Lawyer (February 1983)
• "Comparable Worth: An Emerging Doctrine," Rural Telecommunications Journal (Summer 1982)
• "Labor and Employment in the Theatre Industry," ShoWest Intro by Boxoffice Magazine (1988)
• "The New California Fair Employment and Housing Regulations: A Case of Administrative overreaching," Employee Relations Law Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2
• "Sexual Harassment in the Work Place," Rural Telecommunications Journal (Winter 1982)
• "A Lawyer's Guide to U.S. Wage and Price Standards," Los Angeles Lawyer (April 1979)
• "Application of WARN Rules to Hospitals," Healthcare Human Resources Management Association of California News (Fall 1989)
• "First Amendment Protection of Shopping Center Picketing," Industrial Relations Law Journal, Boalt Hall School of Law

Books

• Employee Handbook and Personnel Policies Manual - 10th Edition
• Wage and Hour Manual For California Employers - 12th Edition
• Wrongful Discharge, Staff Reduction And Employment Practices Manual - 4th Edition
• Employment Discrimination And EEO Practice Manual For California Employers - 8th Edition
• Book of Human Resources Forms
• California's Meal and Rest Period Rules: Proactive Strategies For Compliance - 2nd Edition
• California Employer's Guide to the Federal Overtime Exemptions
• California's "Sue Your Boss" Law
• California's Anti-Business Employment Laws
• Sexual Harassment Training Manual and Prevention Kit
• Family and Medical Leave Manual for California Employers - 8th Edition
• Leaves of Absence And Time Off From Work Manual - 5th Edition
• Employer's Guide To Workplace Security And Violence Prevention
• The Federal Polygraph Law
• Employer's Guide to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act
• California's Paid Family Leave Law: SB 1661
• The Federal Immigration Law
• Employer's Guide to Mass Layoff and Plant Closing Notification Rules
• Employer's Guide to SB 198 Injury and Illness Prevention Programs and the California Corporate Criminal Liability Act
• Employer's Guide to the Americans With Disabilities Act
• AB 60-The Reform of California's Wage And Hour Laws
• COBRA-Employer's Guide to the Federal Health Insurance Rules

Speeches

• Mr. Simmons has lectured nationally on wage and hour, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, and other labor relations matters.
• He has also been a lecturer at graduate labor law courses presented by the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, and has appeared as an authority on labor law and employee benefit issues on the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News.

Events

• 2008 Employee Handbook And Personnel Policies - Los Angeles, August 7, 2008
• 2008 Employee Handbook And Personnel Policies - Orange County, August 5, 2008
• 2008 Employment Discrimination And Personnel Relations Laws - Los Angeles, July 31, 2008
• 2008 Wage and Hour Laws - Los Angeles, July 30, 2008
• 2008 Employee Handbook And Personnel Policies - Pasadena, July 24, 2008
• 2008 Employment Discrimination And Personnel Relations Laws - Pasadena, July 23, 2008
• 2008 Wage and Hour Laws - Pasadena, July 22, 2008
• 2008 Employment Discrimination And Personnel Relations Laws - Orange County, July 15, 2008
• 2008 Wage and Hour Laws - Orange County, July 14, 2008
• 2008 Employee Handbook And Personnel Policies - Orange County, March 25, 2008
• 2008 Employee Handbook And Personnel Policies - Los Angeles, March 11, 2008
• 2008 Employment Discrimination And Personnel Relations Laws - Los Angeles, March 5, 2008
• 2008 Wage and Hour Laws - Los Angeles, March 4, 2008
• 2008 Employee Handbook And Personnel Policies - Pasadena, February 28, 2008
• 2008 Employment Discrimination And Personnel Relations Laws - Pasadena, February 27, 2008
• 2008 Wage and Hour Laws - Pasadena, February 26, 2008
• 2008 Employment Discrimination And Personnel Relations Laws - Orange County, February 14, 2008
• 2008 Wage and Hour Laws - Orange County, February 13, 2008
• 2008 Employee Handbook And Personnel Policies - San Francisco, February 6, 2008
• 2008 Employment Discrimination And Personnel Relations Laws - San Francisco, February 5, 2008
• 2008 Wage and Hour Laws - San Francisco, February 4, 2008
• California Hospital Association: Labor and Employment Law Seminar, December 2007