Beware of Becoming Enslaved by a Severance Agreement! Many hardworking employees who dedicate their lives and sacrifice their own health and family for the good of their corporate employers will sooner or later find a pink slip in their inbox, usually right before the holidays. Whether it’s due to “downsizing” or for whatever pretextual reason…
Continue reading ›The Entrepreneur Parole Rule Lets Foreigners Buy their Way Into the USA Starting July 17, 2017 The US Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has finalized new regulations creating the Entrpreneur Parole Rule, which takes effect on July 17, 2017. The DHS believes that this final rule will encourage foreign entrepreneurs to create and develop start-up…
Continue reading ›The California Supreme Court Recently Held That Employees Cannot Be “On-call” Or “On-duty” During Their Rest Breaks On December 22, 2016, the California Supreme Court ruled that employers may not require their employees to remain “on duty” or “on call” during rest breaks. In Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., the plaintiffs were required to…
Continue reading ›USCIS Filing Fees Set To Increase On 12/23/2016 Just in time for the holidays, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has recently announced an increase in the filing fees for almost all of its applications. In particular, applications concerning the “million dollar investment greencard” face filing fee increases in the thousands of dollars. Further,…
Continue reading ›President-elect Trump Will Likely Retroactively Cancel DACA! On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization. Deferred…
Continue reading ›Get Ready for the new 2017 California Employment Laws! Governor Brown has just signed several important measures that bring new changes to California’s employment laws, most of which will take effect on January 1, 2017. Here are some of the highlights: 1) Increased Paid Family Leave and State Disability Benefits: Effective January 1, 2018, state…
Continue reading ›6 Sick Days For Employees In Los Angeles City Starting 7/1/2016 Starting July 1, 2016, most employees within Los Angeles city will be entitled to accrue six sick days (48 hours) of paid sick leave per year. California state law already provides that employer must provide three days (24 hours) of paid sick leave per…
Continue reading ›2016 is the Year of Two Minimum Wage Hikes in L.A. The first minimum wage hike that already hit Los Angeles was on January 1, 2016. The second will hit when Los Angeles’ own minimum wage law goes into effect July 1, 2016, pushing pay within city boundaries to $10.50, the first of a series…
Continue reading ›$16.3 Million Age Discrimination Award Against Staples Upheld by Court of Appeal On May 26, 2016, the Second District of the CA Court of Appeal upheld a $16.3 million judgment—comprised of $3.2 million in compensatory damages and slightly more than $13 million in punitive damages—in favor of a man found to have been fired because…
Continue reading ›The Court of Appeal in a recent age discrimination case entitled, Davis v. Farmers Insurance Exchange (Cal.App. 3/28/16), affirmed a trial court’s jury instruction that the Plaintiff must prove his age was a substantial motivating reason for his termination; that the employer could use the same decision or mixed motive defense; and that a same…
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