News & Insights

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…

Some California business owners not aware of the detailed record keeping that is required of them. Under the FLSA, there are certain records every California employer must keep for non-exempt workers. Those include: Your employer needs to preserve payroll records, collective bargaining agreements, sales and purchase records for at least three years. Records on which…

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which affect many private and public companies; including those in California, prescribes standards for the basic minimum wage and overtime pay. The FSLA is administered by the Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division within the U.S. Department of Labor. The basic requirements of the FLSA include: While the…

In many cases, a potential employee’s family history is a great indicator of predispositions to certain hereditary diseases and illnesses. In a perfect world, this information could assist employers in making hiring, firing, and demoting decisions, potentially affecting a business’s bottom line for the better. However, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) prohibits…

Can employees in California smoke marijuana at their place of work? Or test positive for drug tests? While at least some states (including California) are allowing the use of medicinal marijuana and two more (Colorado and Washington) are allowing recreational marijuana use, federal law does not necessarily agree with its legality. In fact, courts consistently…

As many Orange County business owners should be aware, the National Labor Relations Board continues to focus on the issue of social media in the workplace. While the NLRB routinely gives employees some leeway for what some might consider “unprofessional” social networking etiquette, a recent pro-employer decision indicates that there is in fact a line…