On January 1, 2014, the current LLC law in California (known as “the Beverly-Killea Limited Liability Company Act”) will be repealed and superseded by a new LLC law (known as the “Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act,” or “RULLCA”). Although the new RULLCA law does not require existing…
Yesterday, the California Chamber of Commerce published its annual comprehensive list of new employment laws that will impact California businesses on January 1, 2014 (if not earlier). I’ve written about many of these new laws here in this blog as they were passed by the Legislature and signed…
On October 17, 2013, the CA Supreme Court overturned its February 2011 decision in Sonic Calabasas v. Moreno (“Sonic I”). Unfortunately, however, the dense, scholarly, 73-page opinion — known as Sonic Calabasas v. Moreno II (“Sonic II”) — gives little clarity to California employers trying to craft defensible,…
This should get the attention of every entrepreneur and small business owner in California — Last week, the California Labor Commissioner Julie Su issued citations totaling $481,813 against the owners of Toomie’s Thai Cuisine in Alameda. The citations consisted mostly of civil fines, penalties, and wages owed to…
In the October 14, 2013 edition of The New Yorker, author James Surowiecki argues that the Affordable Care Act, which is often referred to as “Obamacare,” will have “enormous” benefits for entrepreneurs and small businesses. You can find the article here. One benefit, according to Mr. Surowiecki, is…
Yesterday, Governor Brown signed several more bills that further expand employee rights in California: AB 218 — Existing California law prohibits both public and private employers from asking an applicant to disclose, either verbally or in writing, any information about a prior arrest or detention that did not…
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a “Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance.” This new ordinance, which would apply to San Francisco businesses with 20 or more employees, grants employees with 6 or more months’ of employment who work at least 8 hours a week the right to request…
Governor Jerry Brown recently signed AB 241, also known as the “Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.” Under this new law, California workers in many household occupations will be entitled to overtime pay (at the rate of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay) for all hours worked in…
Yesterday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 10 (AB 10) which raises the state’s minimum wage to $9.00/hour on July 1, 2014 and then to $10.00/hour on January 1, 2016. Unless some other state raises its minimum wage in the interim, the Governor’s signing of AB 10…
Yesterday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 770 which expands California’s temporary family disability insurance program. Under the new law, employees who take time off to care for a seriously ill sibling, parent-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild are also eligible for up to 6 weeks of family disability leave…