Blogs By: Scott Shibayama, Esq.

If you own an apartment or hotel/motel and provide free lodging to your employee(s), pay attention. Otherwise, the rest of you California employers can take a breather. A common practice in the apartment/hotel/motel industry is to allow the manager to live in one of your…Read More

More Good News For California Employers On The Employment Arbitration Front. Within one month, we have two California courts of appeal ensuring employment arbitration agreements are enforced according to their terms, as they should be. The cases are Tiri v. Lucky Chances, Inc. (5/14/2014) and Malone v.…Read More

The California Supreme Court has ruled California employers may avoid employee class action lawsuits through binding arbitration. (Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 6/23/2014). This is clearly a big win for all employers, large and small. California Employment Arbitration Agreements For California employers, arbitration…Read More

That’s what the California anti-discrimination statute says.  But California courts have interpreted “prevailing” employer to mean “but only if” the employee’s discrimination lawsuit was “unreasonable, frivolous, meritless, or vexatious.” So it’s not enough for the employer to win the case.  Employer still losses on attorneys’…Read More

A common misconception is paying an employee a salary makes them “exempt” from payment of overtime.  I bet at least half of you reading this are saying, “what, you mean that’s not the case?” That’s right, it’s not.  While paying a salary is required, there…Read More

Smart employers know having written employee policies is good business. But who would have thought the absence of a written policy – when the law does not require one – could create liability for employers?  And when that lack of a written policy can result…Read More

Here’s more inside scoop from the continuing education course on employment and labor law for attorneys I recently attended. This a continuation of Part 1.  Read Part 2. Lessons learned, Part 3: Unemployment Insurance Claims This one I found particularly interesting.  When I used to represent very large…Read More

Here’s more inside scoop from the continuing education course on employment and labor law for attorneys I recently attended. This a continuation of Part 1.  Read Part 3. Lessons learned, Part 2: Employee Documentation What am I talking about here?  I’m talking about HR Legal employee documentation.  This…Read More

If you are an employer or employer’s representative you might find the following inside scoop interesting. Recently I attended a continuing education course on employment and labor law for us attorneys.  As is typical, there was an attorney who represents primarily employees (“plaintiff’s attorneys” we…Read More

A new California law just changed the ball game for in home care for the elderly who are unable to care for themselves. What happens when your parent would like to remain in their own home but they cannot care for themselves and need someone to…Read More