Blogs By: Scott Shibayama, Esq.

The California legislature passed a number of bills effective 1/1/2014 affecting California employers.  Certain of these new employment and labor laws require the prudent employer to update their employee handbooks. Suggested handbook updates: AB 11 – Time Off For Reserve Peace Officers And Emergency Rescue Personnel Training…Read More

The employment relationship in California is governed by Labor Code section 2922.  Labor Code section 2922 states, “An employment, having no specified term, may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other.”  This is known as “at-will” employment. But an…Read More

California employers, did you know your employees owe you a duty of loyalty?  In California, there is not much you can do to prevent your employee from leaving to work for your competitor.  But while they are employed, they owe you a duty of loyalty…Read More

Now that the California minimum wage will increase to $9/hour on July 1, 2014 and to $10/hour on January 1, 2016, California employers must gear up for pay raises to their exempt employees.  That’s a 12.5% legally mandated pay raise in 2014 and another 11.1%…Read More

Can an employer and employee agree to litigate wage claims before an arbitrator rather than the Labor Commissioner? Two days ago, the California Supreme Court issued its Sonic-Calabasas II decision that was supposed to answer that question.  But the case creates more confusion in an already uncertain and…Read More

Who is an “independent contractor?”  This is a very misunderstood question in employment and labor law.  And no, just because you “1099” them does not make them an independent contractor. There are legal rules that determine who is an independent contractor.  And if the worker…Read More

Recent rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States have called into question key California arbitration decisions.  US Supreme Court decisions such as Preston v. Ferrer (2008), Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds International Corp. (2010), AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (2011), and American Express v. Italian Colors Rest. (2013) have made clear federal…Read More

We recently posted on class arbitration rules for business.  Just 10 days later, the US Supreme Court has issued another ruling enforcing class arbitration waivers in binding arbitration agreements. The case is American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (6/20/2013).  It says a large charge card company can require…Read More

In a trio of cases since 2010, the US Supreme Court has telegraphed “best practices” for avoiding class arbitrations for consumer and employee claims. Best Practices To Avoid Class Actions And Class-Wide Arbitration First the “best practices.”  If you are a businesses that wants to…Read More

A California Court of Appeals has put another nail in the coffin for piece rate systems in California.  Bluford v. Safeway Stores, Inc. (5/24/2013) ruled California employers are “required to separately compensate for rest periods” and cannot compensate for them  by including them in a piece…Read More