You may recall from your college business law class of the “American rule” regarding attorney’s 
fees: generally in the United States each side is responsible to their own attorney’s fees, and unlike other countries, the loser does not have to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees. Employers can basically ignore this general rule
Five legal concepts every California employer needs to understand
You’ve set up a successful company and begin hiring employees. To be a successful operator in California, a company’s management needs to be familiar with the critical legal concepts in order to successfully navigate California’s complex employment laws. You never wanted to go to law school, but time to hit the, ahem, books (or the
Five things every employer with IT workers must understand about the computer professional exemption under California law
Recently I published a list of common exemptions under California law. This list of exemptions did not 
delve into the details of each exemption in detail, so I will be returning to a few of the exemptions to add more explanation about each exempt classification. I’m currently reading Paul Graham’s Hackers and Painters, Big
5 common questions about class actions every employer should understand
1. What is a class action?
To understand what a class action is, it is better to start with the basic individual litigation concept. Normally, parties bring their own disputes to court and litigate the case against the other parties who have been officially designated a parties and served with process and understand that they
Top five employment law class action claims for California employers in 2014
Let me start with the lawyer’s disclaimer up-front: this Friday’s Five list has no scientific or statistical backing whatsoever, I generated it based on the cases I’ve been litigating in 2014. My experience may be (and probably is) skewed a bit, but nevertheless California employers should pay attention to the following areas of potential litigation.
Areas employers should review as part of their yearly audit – part two
In my last post, I wrote about what steps employers should talk to comply with the new employment laws for 2015. This post discusses more generally what employers should audit on a yearly basis. And with the year coming to a close, now is a great time to review these five items:
1. Expense reimbursement
Understanding immigration and labor reform laws on the federal and state level: President Obama’s immigration proposal and California’s change to immigration related laws in 2015
President Obama’s announcement of his controversial plan to provide amnesty for illegal 
immigrants to remain in the country who meet certain requirements raises a few employment and immigration issues for employers. Putting the politics aside, it is a good time for employers to review their obligations under the law to confirm a worker’s eligibility to
Five issues employers must understand about California’s harassment and discrimination laws
1. Automatic liability for a company when harassing or discriminatory conduct is taken by supervisors.
A company is automatically liable for any harassment or discriminatory actions taken by its supervisors. Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), a supervisor is defined as anyone who has the authority to hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall, promote
Friday’s Five: Five new laws for 2015 that employers should review
Below are five new laws going into effect in 2015 that California employers should know about 
before the start of 2015. Employers should also take time and review their current policies to ensure compliance for the new year.
1. Mandatory paid sick leave.
You’ve probably been beaten over the head from emails from your employment lawyer
Friday’s Five: Five points to understand about California’s new requirements for sexual harassment training
AB 2053 was signed into law by Governor Brown, and as of January 1, 2015, employers have to 
comply with new obligations regarding the sexual harassment training already required for some employers under California law. Here are five issues employers should understand about AB 2053.
1. What are employer’s current obligations to have supervisors attend