This week, the California Court of Appeals addressed a wage topic that arises in a wide variety of workplaces – payment for on-call time.

The recently passed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (or "Rescue Bill") contains numerous tax breaks and benefits to individuals and businesses, including one that may be of special importance to those over the age of 70-1/2 who own IRAs and who wish to make charitable gifts before year end.

In a company with a robust compliance culture, potential whistleblowers can express their concerns without fear of retribution.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published its long-awaited final rule requiring employers to pay for the personal protective equipment (PPE) that their employees are required to use.

Driven by increasing pressure to halt financial fraud and prevent misuse of government stimulus money, as well as continued concern about reported government contractor and Medicare abuses, Congress is revamping the False Claims Act for use as a serious fraud-fighting weapon.

Many of you have asked about the future of federal estate taxes. Will the federal estate tax disappear in 2010, as scheduled? Will the estate tax exemption amount go up or down? The answer so far is "who knows?"

In January of this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought suit against Taiwan-based D-Link Corp. and its U.S. subsidiary, D-Link Systems Inc, in Los Angeles Federal Court...

A recent California Court of Appeal ruling creates a Hobson's choice for employers who are advised that an employee has signed a non-compete agreement with a former employer.

On August 23, 2007, the California Supreme Court held that employers may base bonuses upon store net profit, despite California legal limits on business losses affecting employee compensation.

On August 7, 2008, the California Supreme Court issued a decision with two important effects on employee contracts. First, the Court rejected a theory that non-solicitation clauses might be acceptable under California law if narrow enough to allow continuation of the employee's profession.

The California Court of Appeal has held that the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN) Act requires that employers notify employees of temporary layoffs...

On January 8, 2009 the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released their preliminary draft regulatory guidance on the analysis and mitigation of the potential effects of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law new provisions that allow wineries to sell wine by the glass and allow customers to buy and consume wine by the bottle at wineries.

Grape contracts used to be made on a handshake and the reputation of the parties involved. If reduced to writing, they were often limited to one-page letters setting forth the varietal, vineyard source, term and price per ton.

This is to alert, but not alarm, you about a consequence of the recent financial decline that you may have overlooked: the effect on life insurance policies.

In a case of first impression, the 9<SUP>th</SUP> Circuit recently held that a service provider cannot change the terms of its service contract with customers by merely posting the revised contract on its website. In order for contract changes to be enforceable, some form of notice to and consent from the customer is required.

It doesn't take a millennial to know that these days not all pertinent business-related communications are to be found on corporate e-mail servers.

As public policy, environmental sustainability and economic reality converge to focus development within existing urban and suburban communities, historic preservation issues will increasingly come to the forefront for developers and their design professionals.

In recognition of the difficulty developers are having in obtaining construction financing for entitled projects, Gov. Schwarznegger signed an urgency measure (AB 333) that will extend the life of tentative maps and vesting tentative maps that had not expired by July 15, 2009.

In our May 24, 2011 article "Can Donations Be Taxed?", we cautioned that the IRS was investigating individuals' contributions to IRC Section 501(c)(4) organizations—commonly known as social welfare organizations—as subject to gift tax.