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Employment Contracts

Training customers how to use business software doesn’t count as exempt work

07/26/2016
A highly compensated employee whose job duties consisted largely of training customers on how to use the software his employer sells has won a California overtime lawsuit.

Notify lawyers quickly about arbitration agreements

07/25/2016
If an employee sues, immediately let your attorney know if the employee signed an arbitration agreement.

Sacramento status update: Employment law legislation

07/22/2016
A bill that would make it unlawful to require military veterans to sign arbitration agreements waiving their right to sue for discrimination based on their military status (A.B. 2879) appears to have died in committee.

Litigation: Unintended consequence of regulation

07/22/2016
Sometimes, government regulation can unexpectedly lead to litigation.

8th Circuit splits on NLRB authority on arbitration agreements banning class-actions

07/22/2016
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Minnesota employers, has come out against the NLRB’s interpretation on arbitration agreements.

DOL cites Houston contractor for misclassification

07/06/2016
The DOL has recovered back wages for workers that a Houston masonry firm wrongly classified as independent contractors.

Simple list of customers doesn’t count as trade secret

06/22/2016
Under California law, not every work product amounts to a trade secret. For example, an ordinary customer list with information generally available through open sources isn’t subject to protection.

Arbitration agreement may not be bulletproof

06/22/2016
Bad news for employers that hope arbitration agreements might limit the cost and time required to resolve employment disputes.

Opening salvo fired in big ‘joint employer’ lawsuit against NLRB

06/20/2016
The National Labor Relations Board’s new joint employer standard violates the National Labor Relations Act, according to opening briefs filed by Browning-Ferris Industries in a closely watched lawsuit that seeks to overturn a major NLRB decision.

Commerce Department report tries to define ‘sharing economy’

06/15/2016
For several years, we have somewhat vaguely referred to the “sharing economy” when discussing such enterprises as the Uber and Lyft ride-hailing services, online errand-running brokerage TaskRabbit and ad hoc hospitality matchmaker Airbnb.