Insights

A California appellate court recently ruled that an employer may not terminate an employee who refuses to sign an illegal covenant not to compete, because such terminations violate public policy. D’Sa v. Playhut, Inc.,...

A new California law intended to assist in locating parents for the purpose of collecting child support payments will require businesses and government entities to report specified information about independent contractors to...

On November 13, 2000, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its final ergonomics program standard. The rule will take effect on January 16, 2001, and will apply to all employers except those covered...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently struck down a Department of Labor regulation that allowed an otherwise ineligible employee to obtain benefits under the Family Medical Leave Act (the...

As jury verdicts continue to soar (see What Damages Cap? Significant Jury Awards in Employment Cases in 1999), many employers have looked to mandatory arbitration agreements to limit the expense and uncertainty of employment...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, has ruled that employers have a fiduciary duty to respond to employee inquiries regarding potential changes to employee benefit plans covered by the Employee...

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently issued a decision that limits the ability of employees to use of an employer’s customer list to set up a competing business, ruling that customer information may be protectible...

As many out-of-state companies have learned to their regret, California (unlike virtually every other state) has a strong public policy against the enforcement of restrictive covenants in the employment context, such as...

As of January 1, 2000, employers in California who offer paid sick leave to their employees are required to allow those employees to use up to one-half of their yearly accrued sick leave to attend to a child, parent or spouse...

On January 21, 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed summary judgment for an employer whose recording of employee telephone conversations had been challenged as a violation of federal...