The effects of COVID-19 are being felt in the courtroom. Aggrieved employees are increasingly filing lawsuits against employers demanding reimbursement for work-related expenses arising from remote work during the pandemic. Alleged expenses include, for instance, internet, computer, phone, printer, and electric bills. Businesses, both big and small, have been hit with these lawsuits.
As we previously wrote and expected, on April 21, 2022, the Cal/OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved the third readoption of the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”). It becomes effective May 6, 2022. Although it feels like we are nearing the end of COVID-19 impositions on our day-to-day life, this ETS is likely to be in effect through the rest of the year.
If you are an entrepreneur starting a business in California, you have a myriad of decisions to make, including the important choice of which type of entity to form. Choosing the proper entity for your particular business is vital for ensuring proper liability protection, tax structure, and management. This article is a brief overview of the differences between the various entities you can choose when organizing your business.
Cal/OSHA is at it again. A few days ago, Cal/OSHA published proposed revisions to its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) rules. (The proposals are available here.) Cal/OSHA will formally vote on whether to adopt the proposed rules on April 21, 2022. If, as expected, these new rules are adopted, employers should know about some of the key anticipated changes.
In this video, you’ll learn how to handle employees who voluntarily resign from their position, as well as ways to minimize the chance they will file a frivolous claim after the separation.
A bill proposed in the California State Legislature, AB-2932, would mandate a four-day workweek for employers with more than 500 employees in the state. If passed, the proposal would amend Section 510 of the Labor Code to redefine a “workweek” from 40 hours to 32 hours.
One of the most common types of lawsuits our clients face is wrongful termination from a prior employee. Should your business ever get sued for the same, one of the most useful pieces of evidence in defending such actions is the documentation related to that specific employee during their employment. Seems simple enough, right? But the key is what you include in such documentation.
California often makes the news headlines. That is no less so with respect to legal affairs. Just recently, the United States Supreme Court heard a matter that should be of utmost interest to employers in the Golden State. The case, known as Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana (“Viking River”), concerns a law that has beguiled and harassed California employers since its inception in 2004—a law known as the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”).
In this video, you’ll learn how to avoid some common traps that employers fall into when terminating an employee. You’ll learn how to minimize the chances that you’ll be entangled in a lawsuit with an unhappy employee.
Many businesses contract with Information Technology Service companies (“ITS”) to help manage their business internally and to also help manage the business with their external customers. ITS companies assist with the design, build, delivery, operation, and control of information technology. Unfortunately, we have found it is often the case that businesses will contract with an ITS company without carefully reviewing the terms and conditions of their service agreements. Further, businesses do not know what they should be looking for or how to redline (revise) such agreements before they execute them. And if these business relationships go sour, businesses are stuck with an agreement that makes it difficult and costly for them to terminate their ITS contract.
