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Supreme Court Won’t Address FLSA Pleading Standard

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to resolve a purported split among the federal appellate courts about the content required for a successful Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the issue most recently, holding that employees must allege specific facts in FLSA complaints; workers cannot merely restate potential […]

The Skinny on Bonuses

“Bonus” is a term we’re all familiar with in a general sense, but today we’re going to step back and look at the concept in the context of your overall compensation strategy.

Road Trip Redux

Litigation Value: Nothing this week, at least not from an employment law perspective. But beware next year’s version of Recyclops. At the rate Dwight Schrute is going, he’s going to wreak some real havoc. This week’s repeat episode has Michael Scott and His Merry Men (Andy, Dwight and Oscar) off to New York — in […]

A Lesson from Google in Fostering “Smart Creatives”

I often talk about the characteristics of the people with whom I want to work. In their book How Google Works, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg talk about the type of people they had at Google. And the two of them should know—Schmidt is the executive chairman and ex-CEO, and Rosenberg is a former SVP […]

FEHA

Americans first: Preference for foreign workers can run afoul of federal laws

by Jacob M. Monty Making good on promises from earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun cracking down on what it calls discrimination against U.S. workers who are being passed over in favor of temporary foreign workers. The DOJ recently announced a settlement with Carrillo Farm Labor, LLC, a New Mexico […]

How to Trim Onboarding Costs Without Impacting Quality

Onboarding is a make-or-break point in the employee life cycle. With the right approach, a fresh hire can establish meaningful work relationships, gain the right knowledge, and clarify expectations about job performance, reaching his or her full potential as quickly as possible. A poor onboarding experience, on the other hand, will only hamper job satisfaction […]

The perils of firing an older, long-tenured worker

by Jonathan C. Sterling Q We have an employee over age 65 who has been a manager for over 40 years and has excellent evaluations in his file. Recently we have learned that his department is possibly committing fraud in their documentation of paperwork. He doesn’t abide by company policy, doesn’t meet deadlines, and has […]

Don’t Manage Talent Too Tightly

In her 2013 book, Talent Wants to Be Free, Orly Lobel presents what may sound like a counterintuitive approach to talent management or, as her subtitle indicates, Why We Should Learn to Love Leaks, Raids, and Free Riding. Lobel, Herzog Professor of Law and founding member of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Markets […]

Juries to decide if Uber, Lyft drivers are employees

by Mark I. Schickman One of my earliest cases involved a client who ran a livery service—with a fleet of luxury cars to drive passengers all over town. But neither his cars nor his drivers were properly licensed, and his vehicles were impounded and the drivers were arrested every time they hit the streets—such was […]