If you follow my corporate divorce series, you are familiar with my affinity for the employment-as-marriage metaphor. I’ve already examined how employment relationships end or should end. But I have yet to address an...more
If you’ve been following my corporate divorce series, you are familiar with my view about who owns what at the end of the employment relationship, who pays what to whom, and even how to end the relationship. But I have yet to...more
We are often asked what, if anything, employers should tell an employee about the reasons for the employee’s termination, especially if the termination is abrupt.
We tell employers to tell the truth....more
Few of us can honestly say that our job never disappoints us and the same can probably be said of personal relationships. But how do you know when you are in a failed employment relationship and what do you do about it?...more
You don’t have to have an Ashley Madison account to know that a spouse who strays into an affair is unfaithful to the marriage. Is there a similar adulterous line for employees when they consider leaving an existing job?...more
If you have been following my corporate divorce series, you may have read the “Break Up” piece where I advised newly terminated folks to keep their cool if they are unexpectedly fired because their post-firing behavior might...more
The California Fair Pay Act, which goes into effect on January 1, 2016, prohibits employers from paying employees less than the rate paid to members of the opposite sex who perform “substantially similar” work. Although...more
10/8/2015
/ Anti-Pay Secrecy ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
New Legislation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Substantially Similar ,
Training ,
Wage and Hour ,
Working Conditions
If you tuned in to my appearance a few months ago on Bloomberg Law Radio, you heard me bemoaning our legal system’s failure to catch up with the gig economy.
For those of you who don’t know, the term “gig economy” (also...more
One of the questions clients frequently pose to me is how to make employment policies uniform across the different states where their employees work. Now it seems to me that this is a most appropriate question in this day...more
The divorce metaphor bears fruit yet again when it comes to the employment relationship. To this mix I add the concept of “no fault” divorce and the reasons employment ends....more
Yes I realize that had my Corporate Divorce series progressed in a linear way, I would have started with The Courtship instead of The Break Up, but employment law metaphors are sometimes unpredictable. In my defense, I note...more
In my last article I promised to examine as part of my Corporate Divorce Series whether alimony (though the politically correct term these days is “spousal support”) is like unemployment (I’m pretty sure it is still...more
It turns out the answer to this question depends on the reason for the move and whether California law applies to the contract.
We all know that California is finicky when it comes to non-competes – so much so that...more
A recent Circuit Court case confirms that the term “non-inducement” means just that. In American Family Mutual Insurance Company v. Graham, the Eighth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict against an insurance agent who, the jury...more
7/16/2015
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Former Employee ,
Former Employer ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Inducement ,
Insurance Agents ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
The divorce metaphor bears fruit yet again when it comes to the employment relationship. To this mix I add the concept of “no fault” divorce and the reasons employment ends.
A “no fault” divorce permits a spouse to end a...more
Who Owns What -
Unlike the marital relationship, which hypothetically balances power between spouses, the employment relationship is founded on the central concept of control: it is the employer who dictates the time,...more
Once again I observe that while I am not a divorce lawyer, the analogies of divorce law to my employment practice are startling. Two parties meet (the interview), they realize how many things they have in common (the job...more
As of July 1, 2015, any employer with employees in California must comply with the state’s new Paid Sick Leave Law (AB 1522).
Below is a brief summary of what this change will mean to employers...more
As of July 1, 2015, any employer with employees in California must comply with the state’s new Paid Sick Leave Law (AB 1522).
Below is a brief summary of what this change will mean to employers...more
The Sweet Sixteen has come and gone and it was glorious. Streamed live over our new Apple Watches, 16 employment law issues battled it out for the right to move onto the Elite Eight, which will be held next week at Sixth...more
The “employee choice” doctrine is one of those employment terms that is as misunderstood as “right to work,” “employment at will” and my personal favorite, “labor lawyer”. But a recent New York Federal court in IBM v Smadi,...more
This past weekend, while college basketball teams across America finished up their conference tournaments, 64 employment law issues played in the first round of our tournament, and boy did it live up to the hype. Filled with...more
3/17/2015
/ At-Will Employment ,
Background Checks ,
Disparate Impact ,
Drug Testing ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
OWBPA ,
Paid Sick Leave Act ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Training Requirements ,
Transgender ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Deductions ,
WARN Act
When it comes to California non-competes, you can never get enough clarity. And when that clarity comes from a Delaware Chancery Court, it adds a utility element that our corporate brethren appreciate....more
Those of you reading our Employee Mobility blog posts are familiar with California’s unique approach to non-compete agreements: they are, except in a few limited circumstances, unenforceable in the Golden State. And that...more
Welcome to 2015 and the start of California’s Anti-Bullying Training Requirements. Employers of 50 or more in California must now add an “anti-bullying” training requirement to their training curriculum, which is required to...more