In Mendoza v. Trans Valley Transport, the California Court of Appeal held that an arbitration agreement contained in an employee handbook was unenforceable by the employer because the parties did not enter into a binding agreement to arbitrate. The appellate court’s analysis in Mendoza illustrates some problems for employers who place arbitration agreements in employee
1. Classifying all employees as independent contractors
To qualify as an independent contractor, the employer has the burden of proof to establish that the worker is actually an independent contractor and not an employee. I’ve discussed the parameter of this “economic realities” test here. In addition to owing unpaid minimum wages and potential unpaid
Employers often ask me the question of what steps can they take to stop employment litigation. My response usually begins with a warning that there is nothing an employer can do that will prevent a frivolous lawsuit. Employers can only control their actions and decisions, and by thinking about and reviewing a few simple items
I
know, I’m the first one to admit things have been pretty dormant here at the California Employment Law Report. It is actually a good sign of my growing practice, but with the increasing list of employers I’ve been advising, the less time I’ve had to write articles and conduct webinars. This will be changing
I don’t have any personal knowledge of how Steve Jobs was as a manager, but every account I read of him was that he was demanding and in your face. While this can be an effective management style of some, it does come with some associated costs.
Increased litigation costs
Unless your start-up has a
The scenario is common: employers have policies in place to protect the employees and the company, but getting employees to comply with the policies is difficult. For example, a company has a policy that employees have to be on-the-clock for during all of the time they are working, but there is one or two employees
It is not often that the California Employment Law Report can opine outside of the boundaries of the state of California, but I am going out on a limb on this one. I came across what I would recommend to every employer as a way to reduce litigation. In the book, End Malaria, a
I recently had the opportunity to interview Guy Kawasaki about his New York Times best selling book Enchantment. I like to think of the interview as an extra chapter to Enchantment specifically for business owners and human resource managers about how to effectively manage employees. We spoke about the following topics:
I came across an article recently by Design by Gravity (via Lifehacker) – Methods of Work: It Didn’t Happen If You Didn’t Write It Down – reminding designers and programmers to record their thoughts in some manner, or else lose it forever. The lesson does not apply just to designers and programmers, but also