No. Whether you are entitled to overtime depends on whether you are an exempt or nonexempt employee, not whether you are paid a salary. It is not true that salaried employees are always exempt from overtime and other Industrial Welfare Commission rules. In fact, most...
Year: 2021
Can you structure your partnership to avoid partner disputes?
There are many reasons partners fall into dispute. Business disagreements are common enough. One partner may favor a strategy that another thinks is a mistake. Intrapersonal issues also come up. One partner may be working noticeably harder than the other partners, or...
What is Seth’s Law, California’s anti-bullying statute?
In 2010, a 13-year-old California boy named Seth took his own life after experiencing years of anti-gay bullying in school. His school had failed to address the bullying, even though California law requires that all public school students be given equal access to...
What actually constitutes harassment in the workplace?
When people think about harassment, it can seem hard to guess what is actually prohibited. Take sexual harassment, for example. Many people fear that asking a co-worker out on a date could constitute sexual harassment. But as long as you accept it if the answer is no,...
It’s time to get started on your business succession plan
Even after he found out he had cancer in 2017, Ivo Puidak did not create a business succession plan. A former top chef and the founder of the Galena Canning Company, Puidak must not have realized how much trouble that would mean for his family. You see, he was...
Can schools punish kids for social media posts on their own time?
Do students have free speech rights that protect their non-school-related social media posts? Or can schools discipline students for violating school rules during their free time? The question is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The plaintiff is Brandi L, who...
5 reasons to have your business contract reviewed by a lawyer
As a business owner, you’ve had to make quick decisions. You’ve had to negotiate your own contracts. You’ve had to do everything on the fly. If it has worked so far, you might think that you can do without legal counsel on your business agreements. What do lawyers...
AAPI workers and all Asians are protected by state and federal law
In light of recent events and the uptick in anti-Asian bias due to the pandemic, you may wonder what protections the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and others of Asian descent really have. Both California and federal law protect AAPI individuals...
US Supreme Court to decide if college athletes must be paid
In 2014, a group of college athletes filed a class action against the National Collegiate Athletic Association and other major athletic conferences. They argued that the NCAA’s eligibility and compensation restrictions, meant to keep college sports amateur, are...
Is long-haul COVID-19 illness considered a disability?
It’s an important question because it’s illegal to discriminate against a person with a disability in employment or in places of public accommodation. In California, our laws define disability broadly. For the purpose of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act...