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…
This year has brought some significant changes to the rights of lenders participating in short sales. In January 2011, a new California law was passed (SB 931) which required residential (1-4 units) lenders in first position who agree to accept a short sale, to accept the amount received in the…
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…
Whether you are a startup company in Sunnyvale or a family owned business in San Jose, as an employer, you will have some basic employment concerns. In my previous two blogs, I discussed risks in looking for employees and evaluating potential applicants. This blog focuses on reference checks, both for…
In my previous blog, I discussed the risks faced by companies that are looking to hire new employees. This blog focuses on issues employers need to be concerned with once they have found some candidates and need to choose between them. Once you are ready to interview candidates, you still…
Silicon Valley’s job market heats up even as national employment stalls, thanks to an increase in venture capital and personal investing. Large corporations are competing with small businesses and start-ups for talent. Although some of my business clients are start-up companies where the founders are the only employees, more and…
Most letters of intent describing acquisitions in Silicon Valley, as elsewhere, will describe the material points of a transaction. Although a properly drafted letter of intent will provide that the business points of the deal are nonbinding, it is difficult in the course of any negotiation to change a business…