Employment Contracts

Alternative Dispute Resolution

02/01/2014

HR Law 101: In recent years, various forms of alternative dispute resolution have gained popularity. Mandatory arbitration in particular is attractive to employers because employees who sign arbitration agreements forfeit their right to sue in federal or state court …

Seeking enforceable arbitration agreement? Be certain it’s not tilted in your favor

01/24/2014

Want to arbitrate employment disputes rather than drag them out in state or federal court? Then make sure the arbitration agreement you use is fair to both sides and doesn’t include any obviously one-sided clauses favoring the employer.

5th Circuit rejects NLRB D.R. Horton decision on class-action waivers

01/07/2014

In a major win for employers, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the highly controversial D.R. Horton decision from the NLRB.

Age Discrimination: ADEA/OWBPA

01/05/2014

HR Law 101: Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, employers with 20 or more workers can’t engage in personnel practices that discriminate against individuals age 40 and older. Most age discrimination cases grow out of wrongful discharge and mandatory retirement policies, but they can involve any adverse change in working conditions …

Negotiating union contracts: Seek attorney’s help when drafting arbitration clause

12/24/2013

While having a union in the workplace may not be ideal, having a union contract in place clarifies many of the work rules your employees must follow, as well as how your disciplinary process must work.

You want loyalty? Get a dog! Or include it in employee training

12/24/2013

You may think that employees understand their obligations when they sign noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements designed to prevent them from jumping ship and stealing your clients. Don’t make that assumption.

Trade Secrets

12/06/2013

HR Law 101: There are two important reasons you need to protect your company’s trade secrets: (1) You make it less likely that confidential information will be misappropriated. (2) It will be easier for you to seek relief in court if your secrets are stolen …

Should we use arbitration agreements to help resolve employment disputes?

12/03/2013

In California, companies adopting arbitration agreements face a number of difficult decisions in crafting their agreements to ensure that they will be enforceable while also maximizing the benefits of arbitration.

Get expert help with arbitration agreements

12/03/2013

If there is an area of the law that remains confusing for employers, it’s arbitration agreements. Here’s the latest twist in the legal saga of what’s a good agreement and what’s not.

Check settlement agreements for precise ADEA language

12/02/2013

When an employee promises not to sue for age discrimination and accepts money in exchange for that promise, he can revoke that agreement unless it contains some very specific language. But the revocation can only apply to the age discrimination claims, not others. Those remain settled.