Best Practices For California Employers

As we move through 2026, it remains the perfect time for California employers to return to the fundamentals. With evolving employment laws, local ordinances, aggressive enforcement, and high volumes of wage-and-hour and PAGA claims, getting the basics right continues to separate smooth operations from costly litigation and penalty exposure.

The 2024 PAGA reforms remain central:…

Businesses getting ready to re-open need to consider yet another item on the re-opening checklist: an Injury, Illness and Prevention Plan (IIPP) to address COVID-19. Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations section 3203 requires every employer to develop a written IIPP that protects employees from workplace hazards. Most California workplaces now must consider…

A California appellate opinion issued yesterday offers a fact pattern and jury verdict familiar to employment counsel: A longtime employee resists a proposed change pushed by his new boss, citing an anxiety disorder; the new boss finds the claimed anxiety a dubious excuse; the boss learns the employee has been moonlighting and potentially using company…

I bet your lawyer has never uttered those words to you (unless, of course, I am your lawyer).  For today’s Friday’s Five, I wanted to remind readers about five free resources I offer.  That’s right – they are absolutely free.  Happy Friday.Employers Survival Guide

1.  Download the termination checklist

I’m a big proponent of checklists.  Even if…

Are you tired of employmSacramentoent lawyers’ obnoxious headlines asking if you are sick over California’s paid sick leave law yet?  I’ll spare you the play on words and get to some of the major amendments to California’s paid sick leave law, which took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature of AB 304 on July…

I’ll be posting some short clips of a recent presentation I conducted on complying with California’s paid sick leave law.  In this first video, I discuss some general rules California employers need to consider to comply with the July 1, 2015 deadline to offer paid sick leave to employees.  Topics include:

  • how to calculate pay

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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…

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…