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legal news & tips for employees published by Law Office of Eugene Lee

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Can My Employer Break My Employment Contract? Can I?

Can My Employer Break My Employment Contract? Can I?

Whenever it comes to contracts, the answer is always the same: it depends on what the contract says. A contract is a contract is a contract. Neither you nor your employer can breach a contract without facing the consequences. That is, unless the contract says it's ok. This is why ...

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Top 5 Tips: So You Want to Sue Your Boss?

Top 5 Tips: So You Want to Sue Your Boss?

So you want to sue your employer for racial discrimination, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, failure to pay you your last paycheck, what have you. Now what? Here are five tips all clients should keep in mind before they pick up the phone to call a lawyer. Tip 1: Write it, don’t ...

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Can My Boss Fire Me at Any Time for Any Reason? What is “at will”?

Can My Boss Fire Me at Any Time for Any Reason? What is “at will”?

"At-Will". California is an "at-will" employment state. What does this mean? In most cases, it means that your boss can fire you at any time for almost any reason or no reason at all. She can fire you because she doesn't like you thinks you're too tall or short thinks you talk too ...

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Background Checks -- What Are My Rights?

Background Checks -- What Are My Rights?

If you're applying for a job, or want to keep one, you're going to have to accept that background checks are becoming a part of work life. An estimated 50% of resumes submitted by job applicants contain false or inaccurate information. Bad employees who slip through the hiring process can ...

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What Break Periods Am I Entitled To?

What Break Periods Am I Entitled To?

Under California law (which is much more generous to employees than federal law), if you are a non-exempt worker, you are entitled to meal and rest breaks: a 30-minute meal break if you work more than 5 hours in a workday, and 10 minutes breaks for every 4 hours you ...

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How Much Time Do Lawsuits Take?

120209 0540 HowMuchTime1 How Much Time Do Lawsuits Take?“You’ll be hearing from my lawyer!” Famous last words. But what does bringing a lawsuit really mean? Make no mistake about it, a lawsuit can be a big commitment, not just in terms of money, but also in time. Your time. (more…)

Popularity: 3%

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Google Offers Caselaw…for FREE

111809 0236 GoogleOffer1 Google Offers Caselaw…for FREEToday Google announced the launch of a free federal and state caselaw database that is lightning fast and extremely powerful. It can be found at the “legal opinions and journals” section of Google Scholar. (more…)

Popularity: 6%

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Free Pamphlets on Labor and Employment Laws

100109 0758 FreePamphle1 Free Pamphlets on Labor and Employment Laws

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) publishes numerous free pamphlets on California labor and employment laws. These pamphlets provide a brief but helpful and easy-to-understand explanation of employee rights under (more…)

Popularity: 3%

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Free Video Tutorials on Employment & Labor Laws

100109 0501 FreeEmploym1 Free Video Tutorials on Employment & Labor LawsInterested in a quick overview of California labor and employment laws? Break out the popcorn and turn up your speakers. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has released several short videos, 90 seconds to 3 minutes in length each, offering short overviews of (more…)

Popularity: 2%

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District Spends $532k on Lawsuit that Settles for $150k

092809 0453 DistrictSpe1 District Spends $532k on Lawsuit that Settles for $150kWhat’s wrong with this picture? A school district spends $532,123 in legal fees and costs to fight a wrongful termination lawsuit; after more than 2 years of litigation, it ends up settling the case for $150,000.

According to an article in the Ventura County Star entitled (more…)

Popularity: 2%

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An Ode to Whistleblowers and the Law: Part II

092809 0125 AnOdetoWhis1 An Ode to Whistleblowers and the Law: Part IIHave you blown the whistle on illegal conduct at your workplace? If so, there are state and federal laws that could protect you from retaliation by your employer. For instance, the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 prohibits retaliation against employees of publicly-traded companies who (more…)

Popularity: 3%

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We’ve Been Named a Top 100 Legal Blog!

Top law blogs award Great news! The Daily Reviewer has just selected “California Labor & Employment Law” as one of its Top 100 Legal Blogs. We’re very excited by the recognition. A big thank you to the hard-working editors at the Daily Reviewer. Keep up the good work and we’ll keep on doing what we’ve been doing and hopefully stay on your list. To everyone else, (more…)

Popularity: 1%

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Employers Are Now Screening Employee Facebook and MySpace Pages

082009 0705 EmployersAr1 Employers Are Now Screening Employee Facebook and MySpace PagesDo you have a personal account with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or any of the other social media websites that have become so popular lately? Chances are you (more…)

Popularity: 8%

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Bad Times, Worse Managers

Meeting Bad Times, Worse ManagersAs the world grapples with recession, here’s a look at how company managers have (mis)behaved during a time of high unemployment and off-the-charts human suffering.

  1. Job-Seeker Mistreatment. With the tables turned, employers have enjoyed having the upper-hand on desperate (more…)

Popularity: 3%

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Economic Recovery Around the Bend?

081609 2023 EconomicRec1 Economic Recovery Around the Bend?The signs of recovery (or at least a bottoming out) are there. The US economy shrank just 1% between April and July of 2009, after shrinking at a torrid 6.4% pace in the first quarter. (more…)

Popularity: 1%

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Tip-Pooling – Can My Employer Take My Tips and How?

080109 0233 TipPoolingC1 Tip Pooling – Can My Employer Take My Tips and How?

Some History

For better or worse, tipping has become an accepted part of American commerce. It is a practice that first emerged in the late 1800s. In 1917, the California legislature passed a law for the first time prohibiting employers from taking any portion of employees’ tips. However, the courts struck down the law as a violation (more…)

Popularity: 12%

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