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
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
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
Five legally required items often overlooked by California employers
Welcome to Friday’s 5, a series of posts each Friday of lists of five items in various aspect of California employment law. I hope to keep it informative and interesting, and provide a checklist of sorts for California employers to review various practices and policies. Starting off, here is a list of five items not
Use of Ships To Skirt California Laws?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting about the plans of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who would 
like to anchor a ship 12 miles off the San Francisco coast in order to skirt U.S. Immigration laws. They project that the ships could hold 1,000 people at a cost for a room roughly equivalent (if not cheaper) to an
California Supreme Court Holds Nonresident Employees Entitled to California Overtime – Sullivan, et. al. v. Oracle Corporation.
In Sullivan, et. al. v. Oracle Corporation, the California Supreme Court ruled on whether California’s overtime laws apply to out-of-state residents who perform work in California. The Court held that California’s interests in protecting all workers who perform work within the state are sufficient enough to require that California based employers must pay all