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SHALL THE FOG BE FOREVER FORSAKEN?
California Labor Commissioner Again Attempts to Resolve Questions on New Paid Sick Leave Benefits Law As we covered in Mandatory Paid Sick Leave for California Employees, all companies with employees working in California are subject to this state’s paid sick leave law (Assembly Bill [AB] 1522), effective July 1, 2015. AB 1522 requires each employer, […]
THE ANNALS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NUMBER 2
What is a Trade Secret? In our blog, “What is Intellectual Property?”, we identified several kinds of intellectual property, i.e., products created through one’s creativity and intellect, that others may not use without permission. One of those is trade secrets. The most famous example is the Coca-Cola formula, maintained as a trade secret since its […]
THE ANNALS OF COPYRIGHT NUMBER 7
Copyright Owners “Make Some Noise” for Infringement of Their Songs Protecting your own copyrights is of paramount importance. See “Annals of Copyright Number 2.” Vigilance in avoiding violations of others’ copyrights is equally necessary to prevent expensive legal disputes. See “The Annals of Copyright Number 3”. Monster Energy has learned this the hard way in […]
THE ANNALS OF COPYRIGHT NUMBER 6
Should You Register Your Copyrighted Work? Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office gives the copyright holder the right to file a lawsuit for infringement against an unauthorized user of that work. Title 17 United States Code section 411(a). It also enables the copyright holder to claim and possibly win actual or statutory damages (set amounts […]
CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL VIOLENCE TO GET REGULATORY INJECTION
Health Care Worker Fatality Rate Has Been Twice for All Other Industries Combined New Labor Code section 6401.8 requires state government, no later than July 1, 2016, to adopt required standards for acute general care and acute psychiatric hospitals plans to prevent workplace violence. The new statute is from Senate Bill (SB) 1299, approved by […]
CALIFORNIA LABOR LAWS 2015 UNFAIR IMMIGRATION-RELATED PRACTICES
California Extends Protections For Whistleblowing Employees As relayed a year ago in California’s Expanded Immigration-Related Protections, this state provides the most stringent retaliation protections for immigrant workers in the country. Effective January 1, 2015, California employer obligations in this area are increased again. Labor Code section 1019 has prohibited any California business from engaging in […]
CALIFORNIA LABOR LAWS 2015 EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY FOR STAFFING AGENCY LABOR VIOLATIONS
Business Must Carefully Balance the Risks Effective January 1, 2015, California Assembly Bill 1897 makes employers that hire workers from staffing agencies automatically liable for wages and workers’ compensation violations by the staffing agencies. Labor unions promoted this new law. The California Chamber of Commerce opposed it. AB 1897 makes it easier for a worker […]
CALIFORNIA LABOR COMMISSIONER PROVIDES THE FAQ’S ON NEW PAID SICK LEAVE BENEFITS LAW
As covered in Mandatory Paid Sick Leave for California Employees, AB 1522 requires each California employer, regardless of size (and except for those with collective bargaining agreements and other very limited exemptions), to provide paid sick leave benefits to any temporary, part-time and full-time employee once he or she has worked for that company in […]
SAN FRANCISCO MINIMUM WAGE ESCALATES TO $11.05 AND BEYOND
Rate Effective January 1, 2015 Starting January 1, 2015, employers (regardless of where located) must pay wages of at least $11.05 per hour to each employee who performs work in San Francisco (including temporary and part-time employees). The minimum wage requirement, set forth in the November 4, 2014 San Francisco Minimum Wage Ordinance, applies to […]
MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT RATES FOR 2015
IRS has pumped it up again In a December 10, 2014 directive, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has increased its optional standard mileage reimbursement rate for an employee’s business use of his or her vehicle from 56 cents in 2014 to 57.5 cents in 2015. The government calculates the mileage rate by an annual study […]