San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance

Employees in California who are eligible to take family leave, including leave for “baby bonding,” can receive up to 55% of their weekly wages (up to a maximum weekly benefit amount that is currently $1,129) for a period of 6 weeks through California’s “Paid Family Leave” program (funded through employee contributions to State Disability Insurance).  Continue reading

Is Uber Driving Us Toward a New Class of Worker?

Technology has radically changed the way we work.  It has freed us from notions of a static physical worksite and turned many Starbucks into a business center.  It has upended traditional ideas of work schedules and work days in ways that are both good and bad.  It has also created what has been termed “the online gig economy” which allows people to opt in and out of jobs in ways that simply would not have been possible in the past.
Continue reading

California Minority Counsel Program

Managing Partner: Reflections on Diversity

I had the privilege recently of attending a conference organized by the California Minority Counsel Program.  The purpose of the conference was to promote the development of minority attorneys in the legal community.  Several hundred attorneys throughout the state attended.   Continue reading

navigating rocky waters

An Ounce of Prevention

. . . is worth a pound of cure.  We’ve all heard it a thousand times.  Timeworn phrase though it is, the principle behind it is nonetheless true for California employers when it comes to safely navigating the rocks and shoals of California’s employment and wage/hour laws.Continue reading

Equal Pay

Get Ready for a New Conversation

With the passage of California SB 358, signed by Governor Brown on October 6, California employers will need to begin preparing for a new conversation with their employees about gender pay equality in the coming year.  California’s existing Equal Pay Act, found at Labor Code § 1197.5, has been substantially strengthened by the Legislature.  The law continues to apply to California employers of all sizes—with no exclusion for small businesses.Continue reading

Time Sheet

Abandoning The Billable Hour Crutch

Associates in law firms almost universally bemoan billable hour requirements. It’s frequently cited as the No. 1 thing attorneys hate about the practice of law. Yet, weaning young professionals from the billable hours performance metric can be a challenge. Why?Continue reading

DrivingTime

Travel Time – To Pay or Not To Pay?

Employers are often unsure as to whether they must pay nonexempt employees for travel time. Most employers are aware that they generally do not have to pay employees for normal travel from home to work and back. However, the issue becomes more difficult when nonexempt employees travel to various customer locations, trade shows, client meetings, etc.Continue reading