Mileage Rate: Keeping up to date with the standard mileage rate is important for me as a business lawyer because I often drive to meetings, as well as for my small business clients in San Jose and all over Silicon Valley who will be using that rate to figure out…
Many profit-driven companies in California interested in providing a positive social and environmental impact experienced the problem of maintaining a fiduciary duty to their shareholders and being charitable and green at the same time. Effective January 1, 2012, this should be less of a problem as the state has adopted…
During the past few months, we have seen an increase in hiring from small startups and larger corporations here in San Jose and other parts of Silicon Valley. At this time of year, when companies are about to review Forms W-2 and 1099 for their workers, it is a good…
Starting in April, 2012, the EDD will calculate an ex-employee’s unemployment claim differently than it does now. Currently, the EDD calculates the unemployment claim based on a lookback period of one year ending two quarters prior to the termination of employment. In April, 2012, the EDD will calculate the claim…
As always, be careful when dealing with employees. I recently was contacted by a small business owner in Sunnyvale who was irate because her previous business attorney assisted her with a new alternative workweek schedule and all the employees agreed. Then, years later, they had to lay off some employees…
Whether your company is a large manufacturer corporation in San Jose or a small service partnership in Los Gatos, you will eventually be forced to deal with terminating an employee. Terminations can be especially daunting because they are one of the most common reasons companies are sued. Therefore, whenever possible,…
Silicon Valley is experiencing a “war for talent,” even as the nation struggles with unemployment. The Bay Area has not been unaffected by unemployment, but with the number of high technology startups based in cities such as Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose, and Santa Clara, companies are finding themselves…
This blog focuses on an employer’s rights to monitor electronic communications. One of my Mountain View clients recently had an employee leave and wipe out all of his e-mails before he signed off for the last time. The employer immediately had its IT group recover the e-mails, and a corporate…
Silicon Valley employers expect a hiring boom in technology jobs in the next two years, especially in the areas of social networking, cloud computing, and mobile technology, according to a recent study headed by NOVA, a nonprofit, federally funded employment and training agency in Sunnyvale. As a result, many companies…
Most businesses have to deal with filling opened positions at their company at one time or another. In my continuing series on basic employment concerns for employers I have so far discussed searching for new employees, evaluating potential applicants, and doing and responding to reference checks. This blog discusses what…