Paid vacation is a great job perk for attracting and retaining high quality employees. However, many employers offer such time off without understanding the legal implications of so doing, consequently running into a variety of easy-to-avoid but potentially quite costly problems. Here are three simple tips to ensure that your vacation policy does not land your business in hot water: Implement a cap on the number of vacation days your employees may accrue. California law regards accrued vacation days as… Read More >
Mar
26
Employer Access to Social Media Now Regulated By Statute
California has become the third state to enact legislation that protects employees from coerced disclosure of passwords, usernames, postings and other information relating to their social media accounts. The new law, which is codified at Labor Code 980, went into effect on January 1, 2013 and prohibits employers from “requiring or requesting” employees to do the following: – Disclosing a username or password for the purpose of accessing personal social media. – Accessing personal social media in the presence of… Read More >
Mar
22
Important Changes To The Law Governing Personnel File Requests
Prior to this year, Labor Code 1185 permitted employees to examine their personnel files upon request. However, new legislation for 2013 significantly enhances this right and imposes harsh penalties against employers for non-compliance. Here’s a non-inclusive run down of what has been changed: – Employees now have a right not just to inspect, but to obtain an actual copy of their personnel files. – Former employees are now afforded the same rights with regard to inspection and copying, although former… Read More >
Mar
14
Important Changes In California’s Mandatory Meal Period Law
The Labor Code severely penalizes employers who fail to provide lunch breaks to their employees. However, until the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, the precise nature of this obligation was largely unclear. Labor Code 512 states that an employer “may not employ an employee for more than five hours per day without “providing the employee with a meal period of not less than 30 minutes…” Ambiguity arises from the word “provide.” What if… Read More >
Mar
12
On the Road and on the Clock: An Employer’s Guide to Vehicle Liability
If your small business employs individuals who drive on-the-job, it is important to understand your potential liability associated with vehicle use and how you can reduce it. Liability arising from on-the-job car or truck accidents breaks down into three distinct categories–respondeat superior, negligent hiring, and negligent vehicle maintenance. This guide briefly summarizes these legal theories and provides some basic suggestions for minimizing liability pursuant to each. RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR Respondeat superior is the most commonly applied theory of employer liability… Read More >
Jan
23
Generic Drug Users Stripped Of All Legal Recourse
“Generic” prescription drugs are chemically identical substitutes that offer an affordable alternative to name-brand drugs. But what if I told you that by choosing a generic–or in many cases, by having that choice made for you by your insurance company or pharmacy–that you were waiving your right to legal recourse in the event that the drug causes you to incur serious injury, even if the generic manufacturer is aware of the risk and chooses to conceal it from you? For… Read More >
Jan
6
Bad Faith Insurance and ERISA: An Overview of Available Damages
In California, insurance companies owe a duty of good faith and fair dealing to the people who they insure. This duty is often referred to as the “implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,” and it automatically exists by operation of law in every insurance contract. As a general rule, if an insurance provider violates the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, a policy holder may sue in tort in addition to bringing a standard breach of contract… Read More >
Jan
6
Social Media And Your Personal Injury Claim
It appears that social networking has become common-place in our personal lives, but what is far less certain is how the law treats what we post online—particularly in claims for personal injury. In November of last year, the New York Court of Appeals in McCann v. Harleysville Insurance Co. denied a defendant’s motion to access the private Facebook page of a plaintiff who was claiming damages in a personal injury action. The judge reasoned that the defendant “failed to establish… Read More >
Jan
6
Failure Rate for DePuy Hip Replacement May Reach 50%
In August of 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of John & Johnson, Inc., announced a recall of its ASR XL acetabular hip implant system after receiving numerous and repeated warnings from orthopaedic surgeon groups that the implant’s rate of failure was substantially higher than the acceptable range. Now, it appears that the rate of failure may be even higher than previously thought. Last week, surgeons with the British Hip Society and the British Orthopaedic Association announced that failure rates for… Read More >
Jan
6
When Are You Entitled To Future Medical Expenses?
A proper assessment of damages in personal injury claims requires consideration of future medical expenses. However, such claims are inherently speculative, since they involve costs that plaintiffs have yet to actually incur. It is therefore important to understand the threshold for when the law determines they are collectable. Scognamillo v. Herrick is instructive for this purpose. In Scognamillo, the plaintiff won a verdict that included damages for a surgery his physician predicted he might have to undergo. Specifically, the plaintiff’s… Read More >