DISTRACTED DRIVERS CAN BE AS DANGEROUS AS DRUNK DRIVERS! By Lillian Romero The U S Department of Transportation reports that the use of cell phones while driving plays a role in 1.6 million auto crashes each year. The University of Utah recently published a study showing that motorists who talk on handheld or hands-free cell […]

Written by: Rebecca Gomez ( 6/2018) CA Supreme Court Adopts a New Tougher Standard For the past several decades, California courts utilized the multi-factor test to determine whether or not a worker is classified as an employee or independent contractor. The multi-factor test focused on the level of control the employer retained over the worker […]

Written By: Rebecca Gomez Last April 2018, the California Supreme Court issued the landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles which imposes a narrower standard for classifying Independent Contractors. The Court held that all workers in California are presumed to be employees subject to the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage […]

Wage and Hour laws govern the payment of minimum wages and maximum working hours of the workforce in the U.S.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) imposes federal wage and hour regulations. California enacted the Industrial Welfare Commission and California Labor Law which regulates wages, rest and meal periods, overtime, maximum work hours, vacation pay, […]

How can a Workplace Bullying Affect Your Organization’s Liability Exposure? by Lillian Romero and Rebecca Gomez Hostile Work Environment and Workplace Bullying Hostile Work Environment: Federal law defines a “hostile work environment” as behavior that is so severe or pervasive that it alters the conditions of the employee’s employment or interferes with the employee’s ability […]

By Pamela Tahim Thakur, Esq. California lawmakers were very busy last year, passing an assortment of new workplace-related laws that will affect California employers in 2019 and beyond. Most prominently are laws that followed the outcry over workplace-related sexual harassment, also known as the #MeToo movement. Additional new laws include increased minimum wage, new requirements […]

By Rebecca M. Gomez Many Nonprofit Organizations rely on third-party vendors to assist in the management of their operations. Depending on the nature of the Third-Party Vendor, this could leave your nonprofit vulnerable to many exposures. Organizations outsource critical aspects of their operations – Payroll, Accounting, Human Resources, Cyber Security – which can leave them […]

Not Insuring Your Property Adequately Can Cost You! By Lillian Gomez Romero & Rebecca M Gomez Providing adequate valuation of your property and its contents is critical to properly insuring your organization. It is important to ensure that replacement cost values for buildings, all personal property, and other affiliated costs (i.e. business income / extra […]