California Homestead Exemptions – Protect Your Home
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 2-10-2010On October 11, 2009, the Governor signed Assembly Bill 1046, which increases California’s statutory homestead exemptions by $25,000. Effective January 1, 2010, the base homestead exemption is $75,000 for a single person, $100,000 for a member of a family unit, and $175,000 for a person who is (1) 65 years of age or older, (2) [...]
Posted in Real Estate Reporter
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February 10th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
California Unlicensed Contractors
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 2-9-2010Pursuant to California Business & Professions Code § 7031(a), an unlicensed contractor cannot file a lawsuit to collect compensation for the performance of any act or contract requiring a license, regardless of the merits of the lawsuit. California Business and Professions Code §7031(b) further requires that an unlicensed contractor be disgorged of all monies paid by [...]
Posted in Real Estate Reporter
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February 9th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
Long Overdue Good Samaritan Law
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 2-9-2010In response to a 2008 California Supreme Court decision that held a good samaritan who gave emergency assistance to an injured person at the scene of an accident liable for making the plaintiff’s injuries worse, California’s legislature enacted Assembly Bill 83. Under the new law, any person who renders emergency assistance in good faith, and [...]
Posted in Real Estate Reporter
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February 9th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
Employers May Deduct Accrued Vacation and/or Sick Leave for Partial Day Absences
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 2-8-2010DLSE Opinion permits employers, under certain circumstances, to deduct accrued vacation and/or sick leave from a salaried employee for Partial Day Absences. To see when, and how, this new opinion applies, read the full post.
Posted in Employment Law News
Tags: partial day absence, partial day off
February 8th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
Shortened Statute of Limitations in Employment Agreements Are Void.
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 2-7-2010On January 28, 2010, the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeal held that employers cannot by agreement limit the time period in which an employee can file a lawsuit for wage and hour issues. Any clause in an employment agreement that requires an employee to file employment related claims within a time period that is less than four years mahy be held void as against public policy. In Pellegrino v. Robert Half International, Inc., which is discussed in more detail in the full text of this blog post, six former employees sued their temporary staffing company for various Labor Code violations including the failure to pay overtime, the failure to pay commissions, the failure to provide itemized wage statements (pay stubs), and the failure to provide meal breaks. The defendant employer argued that there were no violations of the Labor Code as the employees were properly classified as exempt from overtime pay under the administrative exemption. The employer also argued in the alternative that the employees’ claims were barred by the “Limitation on Claims” provision in their employment agreement that shortened the statute of limitations for filing such claims from 4 years to 6 months.
Posted in Business Law Bulletin, Corporate Client Bulletin, Employment Law News
Tags: overtime pay, overtime pay claim
February 7th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
Small Claims Court Can Issue Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 2-1-2010Prior to the enactment of Assembly Bill 712, California Smalls Claims Courts had jurisdiction over actions seeking certain forms of relief, including money damages up to $7,500 and in such actions the Smalls Claims Court was also permitted to grant equitable relief in the form of rescission, restitution, reformation, and specific performance in lieu of, [...]
Posted in Business Law Bulletin, Real Estate Reporter
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February 1st, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
8 New California Employment Laws for 2010
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 1-30-2010The California courts were very busy in 2009, and consequently there are many new interpretations to what appeared to be settled law with respect to tip pooling, sexual harassment, who is an indpendent contractor, Commissions owed to terminated sales representatives, managers being held personally liable for unpaid wages, and an employee’s right to privacy in the workplace.
Posted in Employment Law News
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January 30th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
IRS Milegage Deduction For 2009 and 2010
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 1-8-2010Every year, the Internal Revenue Service sets forth a standard mileage rate. For 2010, the standard mileage rate deduction for business use of a vehicle is lowered to 50 cents per mile. In 2010, the mileage deduction is 16.5 cents per mile for use of vehicle for medical or moving purposes and 14 cents per mile for use of a vehicle for charitable purposes. for more information, please read the entire blog post.
Posted in Business Law Bulletin, Corporate Client Bulletin, Employment Law News
Tags: mileage deduction
January 8th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
Terminating An Employee For Making A False Overtime Claim May Constitute Wrongful Termination
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 1-6-2010On November 30, 2009, the California Appellate Court in Barbosa v. Impo Technologies, Inc. ruled that a good faith complaint or inquiry about missing overtime can be a protected activity, and that firing an employee for making a good faith claim (even when a subsequent investigation shows he was wrong), constitutes wrongful termination. In Barbosa, Manuel [...]
Posted in Employment Law News
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January 6th, 2010 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
Small Business ID Theft – Check Your Company’s Credit Report!
Written by: Melissa Marsh, a California Business Law Attorney on 11-8-2009This blog post explains how small businesses and corporations are being targeted by identity theives and provides 6 ways a business can limit its exposure.
Posted in Business Law Bulletin, Corporate Client Bulletin
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November 8th, 2009 by mmarsh | Comments (0)
