News & Insights

California has greatly revised the way it views independent contractors in the workplace. The easiest way to understand the difference between an employee and an independent contractor in California is by establishing an understanding of one in contrast to the other. As an independent contractor, you are a self-employed individual under contract that provides a…

Discrimination in the workplace is a pervasive issue. In California, under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), there are broad spectrum laws set to protect victims of employment discrimination. Perhaps there has been a time at work when you felt as though you were experiencing unfair treatment from a supervisor and the path to…

2020 has been a year filled with uncertainty caused by COVID-19. If you are employed in California, it is important that you know all of your rights. While the crisis of the pandemic continues to grow, both the federal government as well as the California government have put new protections into place that protect the…

Suing your boss? Keep these four things in mind! 1. Don’t Just Say It People think it’s enough to complain, request or report things orally to their employer. But what are you going to do when the supervisors denies you ever talked with them Avoid the “he said, she said” by communicating with your employer…

Trends predict that by 2017, half of all employers are expected to require their employees to supply their own devices for work. While a well-implemented and maintained bring-your-own-device (BYOD) workplace has its benefits (such as driving innovation, reducing, or completely eliminating, the expense of constantly replacing outdated devices, and potential wage and hours claims for…

When an employee leaves a company, the employer often wants to try to ensure that the employee does not offer his or her services to competing or similar businesses. The most common (preemptive) step an employer will try to take is to include a non-compete clause in an employee’s contract, or attempt to have an…

FMLA, or the Family Medical Leave Act, was created with the intention of balancing the needs of California employers with the needs of their employees when the employees had to take extended medical leaves for serious medical conditions or to care for family members. FMLA applies to any employer in the private sector who engages…

Is your Orange County employer complying with the various federal and state laws that govern the amount of time off certain employees must be allowed? For example, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is one such set of guidelines and can be tricky to navigate, especially when it appears that an employee does not actually…

Have you been treated unfairly at work because of your age? Sex? Race? Both federal and California law clearly prohibit your employer from discriminating against you (such as by dismissing you or demoting you) for a number of reasons, including your race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and age. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)…

With the holidays quickly approaching, many California employees may be wondering if their employers have to pay them for the time they are given off of work. Not surprisingly, the answer is: it depends. Like many other states, California employers are not required to pay their workers holiday pay when they close for business on…