Real Life Employment Law
Nearly every day, executives and managers, and the in-house counsel and Human Resources professionals who work with them, are confronted with unanticipated questions regarding the workforce. Just when they think they have "seen it all," along comes a new and often stranger scenario involving an odd twist to an area they thought they fully understood. These individuals often find themselves back at square one when trying to construct an appropriate response and devise a creative solution to the problem presented. Sometimes these "Quirky Questions" can be resolved easily; other times, they implicate practical and legal issues that are not immediately apparent.
This Quirky Employment Questions Blog addresses unanticipated questions regarding the workforce.
We encourage you to submit your thoughts and reactions to the questions presented. We also encourage you to submit questions that you would like to see addressed, subject to these guidelines.
Stephen D. Bell
Michael Droke
Joseph W. Hammell
Sarah Andrews Herman
Ryan E. Mick
William J. Miller
Melissa Raphan
Gregory M. Saylin
Gabrielle Wirth
David C. SingerBLOG CONTACT INFO
E: Wirth.Gabrielle@dorsey.com
P: 714.800.1455
The EEO-1 report, commonly referred to as either “Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Report” or simply “EEO”, is a reporting requirement for many U.S. employers. Mandated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), it aims to provide a demographic breakdown of the employer’s workforce by race/ethnicity, sex and job categories. The data submitted is kept confidential by the EEOC unless...
Dear QQ: I am the HR Director for a technology company. We have offices in three states and hire employees from all over the country. Since 2020 we have let employees work remotely from the state of their choice. I’ve been hearing a lot about pay equity, but am not clear on the different types of laws and where they...
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked an ongoing upheaval in the California (and greater U.S.) labor market. Extensive job losses early in the pandemic have led to a tight labor market, which arose in part due to the phenomenon now known as the Great Resignation. With employees resigning from positions at a record rate, employers are left scrambling to retain and recruit...
Agricultural employers are often at the mercy of nature which causes constant fluctuations in labor needs. Given the unique nature of the agricultural industry, their workers have historically been exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements. These requirements differ from state to state, and employers are noting a change in the agricultural exemption. Some states have removed, or are considering...
As many states progress through different phases of reopening, companies are preparing for their employees to return to work. Employers are also noting, however, that some states are seeing COVID-19 cases surge. This has generated some concerns from employees who do not want to return to the work place. Can employers require employees to return to work if the employees...
On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which clarifies when workers should be considered “employees” under the California Labor Code and the California Unemployment Insurance Code, thereby entitling them to the protections afforded by those laws. The bill codifies the standard set out in last year’s California Supreme Court decision, Dynamex Operations West, Inc....
Many U.S. employers have recently experienced frustration over legal obstacles to keeping high quality foreign-national employees. These valuable employees have often been with the company since finishing a degree and sometimes even interning with the employer. Other employers experience delays in hiring foreign nationals needed for specialized positions despite the obvious qualifications of the candidate. These employers’ frustrations reflect the...
Many employers have offices in multiple states, but want to have one form of employee agreement prohibiting solicitation of employees and customers. Since some state laws, namely California, may be too different to reconcile with other states, what sort of non-solicitation agreements work in California? In California, non-solicitation agreements are reviewed as contracts which prevent a person from engaging in...
Today’s workforce is more mobile than in past generations. Long gone are the days when an employee started and ended a career at the same company. Knowing how to protect your company’s confidential information when a trusted employee leaves can have a lasting impact on your ability to compete. So, what can you do when a former employee goes to...
Let’s face it. The hiring process involves mounds of regulations, disclosures, authorizations, and then more disclosures. The last thing an employer – or applicant – wants to see is a higher stack of documents filled with legal jargon. Should employers then consolidate disclosures and authorizations to simplify the hiring process? Not when doing a credit check pursuant to the Fair...
Erica ChenErica is an associate in the Costa Mesa office of Dorsey & Whitney and a member of the firm’s Labor and Employ...
Jack SullivanJack is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employment group, where he focuses his practice on employment adv...
Ieva AubinAs an employment and business immigration attorney, ...
Michael DrokeMike started his career as a client, not a lawyer...
Matt DurhamMatt defends employers in Utah and throughout the ...
Aaron GoldsteinAaron is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employ...
Josh HughesJosh’s experience spans trial and appellate advoc...
Jillian KornblattJillian is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employ...
Laura LestradeLaura began practicing at Dorsey in 1992 and has s...
Ryan MickFor more than a decade, Ryan has counseled corpo...
Nick PappasNick litigates and counsels with respect to com...
Melissa RaphanMelissa is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor and Employ...
Gabrielle WirthEmployers turn to Gabrielle for guidance on how they...
