California passed a new law in October 2015 that provides employers some potential 
protection against penalties imposed by the Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (PAGA). Employers need to understand the intricacies of PAGA, and the importance of seeking legal counsel immediately upon receiving a copy of the letter a plaintiff must send to the
Five ways companies can best utilize employment attorneys
It may not be a topic on the minds of many business owners, human resource managers, or in-house counsel, but developing an effective relationship and engaging employment law counsel is essential in saving the company money and avoiding litigation. This Friday’s Five is a video in which I discuss five ways companies should be engaging
Five essential aspects to understand about defamation claims
Employers usually face defamation claims in connection with wrongful termination allegations. Defamation claims can arise in two
forms: libel (written) and slander (spoken). Defamation can result from a variety of different scenarios, such as: statements made to others during a workplace investigation, explaining to colleagues the reasons why an employee was terminated, the employee’s claim
Uber class action certified, five takeaways for California employers
This week, a federal court in northern California certified portions of a class action 
brought by Uber drivers who worked in California since 2009 (click here for the decision [PDF]). Over 160,000 drivers have worked for Uber in California during this time period, and while the case is making a lot of news,
Five items that should be on every employer’s end of employment checklists
Many employers have new hire packets and hiring procedures, but just as important, and often overlooked by employers, is to have a process for departing employees. It is important to ensure an employee departing the company provides all items back to the company and is provided any legally required documentation, and is a good opportunity
Five employment related bills California employers must monitor
With summer upon us, the California legislature is busy working on bills that could impact employers. Here are five employment bills being considered by the state legislature that California employers should keep an eye on:
1. SB 3 – Increase in minimum wage and indexing to inflation
Currently, California minimum wage is set to increase
Five most targeted industries for government wage and hour audits
Is your company in an industry that is likely to be targeted by the Department of Labor (DOL) for FLSA violations, or by the California Labor Commissioner for California Labor Code violations? A review of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour statistics for fiscal year 2014, in connection with California’s Division of Labor Standards
Five strategies to make sure you are getting the best service from your lawyer
Today’s Friday’s Five article is a bit different in that it focuses on the attorney –
client relationship. Here are five recommendations to get the most out of your relationship with your lawyer:
1. Ask a lot of questions.
No question should be off limits with your lawyer. Ask questions about litigation issues, billing issues,
Five reminders about conducting background checks under federal and California law
Based on last week’s post about the lawsuit filed against LinkedIn alleging that it violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), I thought it would be good to point out a few issues the arise when employers conduct background checks. This article is not comprehensive, and this area of the law is very
Five things employers must understand about LinkedIn’s job reference lawsuit
Recently, the issue raised in Sweet v. LinkedIn is whether the Reference Searches functionality offered by LinkedIn is governed by the 
regulations set forth in the FCRA. The Reference Search feature allows users who pay a fee to search for references that have worked with any other LinkedIn member. The results list common employers and