A client told me what her manager said the third time she worked through lunch that week: “Nobody’s forcing you to skip lunch. That’s on you.” Wrong. That single sentence is doing a lot of work, and almost none of…
Your last paycheck did not show up when you expected it to. This catches a lot of people leaving a California job, and there is a clear, specific rule for exactly when that check is due, not just a vague…
When an employee reports a workplace injury, a common instinct is to notify the insurance carrier and let the claims process take over from there. That instinct is incomplete. It skips what happens in the first hours and days after…
Many employers assume a statutory settlement offer under Code of Civil Procedure § 998 has to be a single, clean number to count for cost-shifting purposes. The California Supreme Court just confirmed that assumption is too narrow. In Gorobets v….
An AI notetaker sitting in on a termination meeting feels neutral. It just listens and writes things down. That feeling is wrong. In California, that assumption is not safe, and it can create two separate legal problems at once: a…
You got a better offer, and then you remembered the noncompete you signed on your first day. This stops more people than it should. It comes up often enough in California that there is a clear, settled answer for what…
You signed an agreement calling you an independent contractor, so you assume that settles your employment status. It does not. This is one of the most litigated questions in California employment law, and it comes up often enough that the…
“I’m not the one who’s sick.” Between 35-plus years in HR, including thousands of leave and accommodation matters, and now my own law practice, that line comes up more than almost any other. An employee’s parent, spouse, or child gets…
Your employer paid for a certification or a training program, and you signed something promising to pay it back if you left within a set period. That felt like a normal, fair trade. As of January 1, 2026, it usually…
You asked for a religious accommodation, and HR told you that you were welcome to apply for a transfer. That felt like an answer. It was not one. This comes up often enough that a federal appeals court just ruled…
We use cookies to improve your browsing experience, analyze website traffic, and provide essential website functionality. You can choose to accept or manage your preferences.
