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
Five best practices for hiring in California
1. CEOs and founders need to be involved in the hiring process.
This is simply something too important for a company to leave to other people. Sam Altman, of Y Combinator, wrote:
The vast majority of founders don’t spend nearly enough time hiring. After you figure out your vision and get product-market fit,
Five exempt employee classifications all California employers should understand
I apologize for the long post in advance, but I’ve been receiving many questions about exempt vs. non-exempt classification of employees lately. This article is the first in a series of articles to help employers tread through this technical area, hopefully in a manner that makes it at least somewhat easier for employers to understand.
Five New Year’s resolutions for California employers in 2015
Happy New Year. I started the Friday’s Five articles at the beginning of last summer, and 
the interest in the articles has been astounding, so I appreciate everyone who has read them and provided comments and feedback. If you have any topics you would like me to address, please let me know. With that
Friday’s Five: Five areas of liability facing California employers
1. Meal and rest breaks.
If you did not know of this exposure already existed in California, can I recommend some reading here, here and here? 
2. Exempt vs. non-exempt classification of employees.
The default under California law is that every employee is entitled to overtime pay at a rate of time and
Friday’s Five: Five California Labor Code provisions employees cannot waive
Here is a list of five rights provided to employees under the California Labor 
Code that the employee may not waive by agreement with an employer.
1. Minimum wage
Labor Code Section 1194 provides a private right of action to enforce violations of minimum wage and overtime laws. That statute clearly voids any agreement between
Complying With California’s Minimum Wage Increase
Here is a short video regarding some items California employers should consider about the minimum wage increase taking effect July 1, 2014.
//www.youtube.com/embed/fvwcOiltDHw
For more information about the minimum wage increase:
Five issues California employers should review before the minimum wage increases July 1, 2014
Friday’s Five: The World Cup and makeup time under California law. Five requirements for use of makeup time.
The World Cup is upon us. I have to admit I had yesterday’s opening game between Brazil and Croatia on in the background while I was working. Given that this year’s World Cup is being held in Brazil, there is not much of a difference in time zones for those of us on the west