A little over a year ago, I told you that the EEOC published new guidelines for how an employer should (1) handle inquiries into an applicant’s prior arrests and convictions, and (2) make employment decisions based on an applicant’s prior criminal record. You can find my blog post from May 1, 2012 here. Not surprisingly,… Read More
HR & Employment Law Blog
The Affordable Care Act — Good For Enterpreneurs?
In today’s New York Times, there was an interesting article entitled, “Affordable Care Act Could be Good for Entrepreneurship.” In the article, the author cited a new study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Urban Institute, and Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute that showed how the Affordable Care Act is expected to produce a… Read More
Store Manager Loses Exempt Status by Performing Nonexempt Duties
On May 23, 2013, the California Court of Appeal ruled in Heyen v. Safeway that a store manager lost her exempt status by simultaneously performing exempt and nonexempt duties. The plaintiff in this case, Linda Heyen, worked for Safeway as an Assistant Store Manager. Safeway classified Ms. Heyen as an “exempt” executive employee, which made… Read More
One Entrepreneur’s Favorite Startup Tools
In today’s New York Times business section, there is an article that discusses “favorite startup tools” of entrepreneurs. It discusses tools that assist entrepreneurs with (1) testing an idea, (2) getting user feedback, (3) idea iteration, (4) email marketing, (5) analytics, (6) project management, and (7) stakeholder communication. Interestingly, many of the tools discussed are… Read More
Does Your Company Use Smart Hiring Strategies?
I am often retained to recruit executive and professional-level employees for companies. I use a specific process that goes way beyond asking standard questions like, “What did you like about your last job?” or “Why do you want to work here?” Those questions aren’t all that helpful in determining whether a candidate “fits” well into… Read More
Granting Equity to Employees in LLCs
As you know from previous posts in this blog, the choice of entity is a big question for most startups. Whether to form an C Corp, S Corp, LLC, partnership, or something else is one of the earliest — and most important — decisions an entrepreneur confronts. There are pros and cons to each different… Read More
San Jose’s New Minimum Wage Ordinance Goes Into Effect
On March 11, 2013, San Jose’s Minimum Wage Ordinance went into effect. That law, which was passed by voters in the November 2012 election, requires employers to pay their employees a minimum wage of $10.00 per hour for work performed within the city limits and requires the minimum wage to increase annually by the cost… Read More
DHS Announces Release of New I-9 Form
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued a new federal I-9 form. This is the form that all employers must use in order to verify a new employee’s eligibility to work in the United States. Employers can continue to use the old I-9 form only until May 7, 2013. After that date, the new… Read More
Employee Who Exhausts Pregnancy Disability Leave May Be Entilted to More Leave
On February 21, 2013, the California Court of Appeal held in Sanchez v. Swissport, Inc. held that an employer may be required to provide additional leave as a “reasonable accommodation” beyond the 4 month maximum pregnancy disability leave (“PDL”) required by California law. The Facts of the Case Employee Sanchez was diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy that… Read More
CA Supreme Court Upholds Mixed Motive Defense in FEHA Actions
In Harris v. City of Santa Monica, the CA Supreme Court ruled that an employer could be liable under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) if that employer took “adverse employment action” against an employee and unlawful discrimination was a “substantial factor motivating” that action. However, the Court also ruled that an employer can escape… Read More