The Groff v Dejoy Postmaster General is a recent, significant Supreme Court case, which sets the employers’ obligation to accommodate employee religious practices. This case is extremely helpful to all those workers who need a religious accommodation at workplace, especially if it involves not working on certain days or holidays. In Groff, the highest Court has overturned a number of other decisions, which held that an employer is not required to “bear more than de minimus cost” in order to provide a religious accommodation. The Supreme Court logically observed that these prior holdings are si ..read more

It’s important to recognize the reality that just about any case can be looked at from different angles, and the opposing party in your case probably feels just as strongly about them being right as you are. Too many people, who are involved in litigation, are convinced that they are 100% right, the truth is on their side, and that the opposite party has zero chance of winning because their position is devoid of merit.  When they start working with an attorney, they exaggerate the facts that support their case and understate or neglect to mention the unfavorable aspects of their situation ..read more

About 10 years ago a client was unhappy when he saw me shaking the opposing attorney’s hand in court right before the hearing. The client went as far as to suspect me of colluding with the other side due to being “too friendly”. I suppose he saw too many lawyer movies which make it look like being disrespectful or downright rude is the way to go, when nothing could be further from the truth in reality. I wanted to tell him that there are very few situations where being mean toward opposing counsel is a good idea, I couldn’t think of a single such situation. Going back to the question of whethe ..read more

Under California law, when you apply for a religious accommodation at workplace – your employer is entitled to request further information to better understand the reasons behind your request. The law is not clear what information the employer can inquire about, but they are entitled to a basic follow-up, reasonably necessary to address the accommodation request. This right has to be balanced with the idea that a claimed religious belief must generally be presumed as true. Let’s look at two examples of religious accommodation requests and discuss one common mistake that an employee should avoi ..read more

Both employees and employers in California need to know that even if they don’t sign a formal employment contract, their conduct alone, without many or any actual documents to that effect, can form an employment or business relationship. This is because to form a contract, a manifestation of mutual assent is necessary. Mutual assent may be manifested by written or spoken words, or by conduct. Restatement of Contracts § 19. “Contracts are often spoken of as express or implied. The distinction involves, however, no difference in legal effect, but lies merely in the mode of manifesting assent ..read more

Just like making all of your workers remote is often not a great idea for a business, asking every remote employee to come back to the office just because that’s your new policy can also be a bad decision. It is in your best interest as an employer to consider the individual circumstances of every employee and ask yourself certain questions about each one of them: do you really want them to be in the office or is that some type of power move on your part? How well is each specific employee doing performance wise while being remote? Is thgat worker likely to be doing better in the office given ..read more

First of all, contrary to a popular belief – not all mediators are the same. Even though the role of a mediator is limited to facilitating negotiations in a legal dispute and they don’t make any decisions or ruling in a case, having the right mediator can make a big difference between settling a dispute or bringing it close to settlement v not getting anywhere at all. There is more than one type of effective mediator, and like all people – different mediators bring their own unique style of pursuing resolution. However, there are at least two fundamental qualities you should be looking for in ..read more

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“Outside salesperson” in California are exempt from overtime, minimum wage, reporting time and meal and rest break requirements. (Labor Code 1171). Wage Order No. 7-2001(2)(J) defines outside salesperson as “any person… who customarily and regularly workes more than half of the working time away from the employer’s place of business selling tangible or intangible items or obtaining orders or contracfts for products, servies, or use of facilities.” Based on this definition, in order to qualify as an outside salesperson, an employee must (1) work more than half the time away from his employer’s ..read more

Up until now, California workers were eligible to take CFRA / FMLA leave to only care for their immediate family members, subject to a number of other criteria. Assembly Bill 1041, would expand CFRA to permit an employee to take job-protected leave to care for a “designated person.” The bill defines “designated person” as any individual related by blood or whose relationship with the employee is the “equivalent of a family relationship.”  The bill provides that the employee may designate a “designated person” in advance and that an employer may limit an employee to one designated person p ..read more