As a business litigation lawyer in Silicon Valley, I have seen quite a few employee-related issues come up for businesses in San Jose and Santa Clara. For the purpose of this blog, I have combined issues of several clients into one hypothetical owner of a small Internet company. The owner…
As a corporate and business lawyer in San Jose, I have been busy speaking with Silicon Valley business owners about a recent California law affecting companies that have misclassified employees as independent contractors. When the 2008 economic crisis hit, large high tech companies and small start-ups in San Jose, Santa…
Has your business been misclassifying workers as independent contractors? If so, you should pay special attention to a recent IRS announcement of its new program giving a break to employers who voluntarily correct such misclassifications. With Silicon Valley being a technology hub, there are thousands of computer programmers and engineers…
With the new year comes new laws, and businesses in the San Jose area should be aware of the new California employment laws that are on the books in 2012. Ensuring compliance with these new laws is good for the bottom-line, as it will make for happy employees, who will…
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…