For businesses with more than 25 employees, the state’s minimum wage will increase from $10.00/hour to $10.50/hour starting on January 1, 2017. [Note: Employers in San Francisco and Oakland (and many other municipalities), however, this new state minimum wage is still lower than the local minimum wage required by municipal law. For example, the San Francisco… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Employment Law Advice & Counsel
California Court Rules that Pay Stub Need Not Include Vacation or PTO Balances
California Labor Code §226 itemizes the many pieces of information that must be contained on an employee’s wage statement. These include the gross wages earned, the total number of regular and overtime hours worked, the deductions, the net wages earned, and the legal name and address of the employing entity, among other things. Many California… Read More
Governor Brown Signs AB 2337 Adding Additional Notice Obligations on Employers
Earlier today, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2337, a bill that requires employers with 25 or more employees to provide notice to employees of their right to take protected time off, without threat of termination or retaliation, for domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. This notice must be provided to each employee “at the… Read More
EEOC Issues Enforcement Guidance on Workplace Retaliation
On August 25, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues. The EEOC’s new enforcement guidance is critical for all employers because it states clearly the EEOC’s intention to more vigorously enforce federal anti-retaliation laws. It also provides employers with some helpful guidance for avoiding liability for retaliation… Read More
EEOC Issues Long-Awaited Report on Harassment in the Workplace
In January 2015, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) established a special task force to study harassment in the workplace. That task force spent a year and a half studying the “myriad and complex issues” involved in workplace harassment. Last month, the EEOC task force published their formal findings and employer recommendations. By way… Read More
SF Minimum Wage Increases to $13.00/hr
Today, the minimum wage for workers in the City & County of San Francisco goes up to $13.00 per hour, up from the previous $12.25 per hour. This contrasts with the state’s current minimum wage, which is $10.00 per hour. In addition to San Francisco, several other California cities have local ordinances that set the… Read More
The Defend Trade Secrets Act Allows Trade Secrets Owners to Sue in Federal Court
A new federal law, called the “Defend Trade Secrets Act” (DTSA), was passed on May 11, 2016. Now, for the first time, trade secret owners can bring civil actions in federal courts for misappropriation of any trade secret that is “related to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or… Read More
California Court Issues First-Ever Ruling Recognizing Associational Disability Discrimination
The California Court of Appeals has, for the first time ever, held that healthy employees without any disability — but who are “associated” with a disabled person who needs their assistance — are protected under California’s disability discrimination law. Thus, as a result of this decision, California employers are now obligated to engage in the… Read More
U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Overtime Regulations
Determining when an employee gets overtime — and when an employee can be considered “exempt” from overtime — is tricky business in California. Penalties can be extraordinarily severe for an employer who improperly classifies a worker as “exempt.” In general, under current California law, every employee who works over 8 hours in a day or… Read More
Common Legal Mistakes Made by Startups
Inc.com published an article today entitled, “The Dumbest Legal Mistakes Early Startups Make.” The article, written by Alumnify CEO A.J. Agrawal, asserts that the “dumbest” legal mistakes made by startups include: 1. Not having written LLC operating agreements 2. Choosing the wrong corporate entity 3. Failing to keep proper records 4. Using someone else’s legally protected… Read More