At the proverbial eleventh hour, a federal court has blocked the implementation of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL's) new overtime exemption rules that were scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016. As detailed in...more
Although the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL's) new overtime rules are scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016, the results of the U.S. presidential election and a pending federal court case are causing some...more
11/21/2016
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The White House has entered the fray regarding employer use of non-compete agreements. While the Obama administration's recently issued "State Call to Action on Non-Compete Agreements" does not change current law applicable...more
In two recently announced settlements, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a strict interpretation of the whistleblower protections afforded under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer...more
On May 11, 2016, we reported in a WSGR Alert that under the new Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), employers seeking exemplary damages or attorneys' fees in a trade secrets misappropriation action must provide employees with...more
Notwithstanding—and perhaps because of—the emergence of the so-called "sharing economy" and its proliferation of disruptive new business models, as well as calls to re-examine the traditional and familiar employee versus...more
6/15/2015
/ Business Development ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Joint Liability ,
Labor Code ,
Misclassification ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Sharing Economy ,
Subcontractors ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Young Lawyers
In a recent enforcement action, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took action against a company for "using improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements with the potential to stifle the...more
4/29/2015
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Internal Investigations ,
KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) ,
Protected Activity ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
In non-competition agreement disputes involving California employees, it is common to encounter an agreement stating that the law of another state governs the non-compete. Since non-competes in California are generally...more
Employers frequently struggle with determining when a service provider should be classified as an independent contractor, as opposed to an "employee." Getting the answer to that question wrong can prove significant in many...more
The California Supreme Court has upheld the use of class action waivers in mandatory arbitration agreements. In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation of Los Angeles (June 23, 2014), the court held that a state's refusal to enforce...more
6/27/2014
/ Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
CLS Transportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Iskanian ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Trucking Industry
The controversy surrounding unpaid internships is increasingly in the news. Reports of interns filing wage and hour class actions in, for example, The New York Times and PBS's NewsHour, have highlighted an often-unnoticed...more
While New York law in theory recognizes the "inevitable disclosure" doctrine, a federal district court there, in Janus et Cie v. Andrew Kahnke, recently reinforced the state's hostility to the doctrine by dismissing an...more
By the end of this year’s term, the United States Supreme Court had issued three “employer-friendly” decisions. While the decisions do not dramatically alter the employment law landscape, employers will still welcome the...more
8/2/2013
/ American Express v Italian Colors Restaurant ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Harassment ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar ,
Vance v. Ball State University
The Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC) recently issued revised regulations that govern pregnancy disability leave (PDL) in California. The new regulations take effect December 30, 2012, and include changes that...more
In this issue:
- European Data Protection Law: Breach Notification Requirements – A Global Approach
- FTC Announces $1 Million Penalty for Children’s Privacy Violations by Fan-Club Website Operator
- Company...more
11/16/2012