California noncompete agreements are basically void. California’s legislature routinely passes its own version of federal laws, often with crucial differences that can trip up multistate employers. Noncompete agreements are one such topic. While most states do not give employees protection (or...

Yesterday , we discussed two of the big employee handbooks mistakes employers tend to make, according to attorney Elaina Smiley. Today, a look at the final mistake she sees too often, and an introduction to a valuable handbook drafting tool — specifically for California employers. Smiley is a partner...

Employee handbooks come in all shapes and sizes, but there are certain "must-have" policies that no employee handbook should be without. Our new White Paper provides a list of the 20 "must-have" policies, courtesy of Kate Gold, Esq. and Heather Sager, Esq., attorneys at Drinker Biddle...

Yesterday , we looked at 3 New Year's HR tips from James J. McDonald, Jr., managing partner of the Irvine office of Fisher & Phillips, LLP ( www.laborlawyers.com ). Today, 3 more tips from McDonald, and an invitation to a can't-miss webinar on California recordkeeping. 4. Revise Your Vacation...

Every job has at least 3 job descriptions: the company's (the written one on file), the boss's (rarely the same), and the employee's (the one that describes what he or she actually does). In an ideal world, they would all be the same. But in the real world… ...they aren't the same...

The California Supreme Court has issued an important decision that makes it clear that employers cannot restrain an employee's ability to compete, regardless of how reasonable or narrow the restrictions. As a result of this ruling, employers should do a thorough review of their employment agreements...

As the Yahoo! suit against MForma Inc. highlights, things can get ugly if you suspect former employees have walked off with your trade secrets and joined a competitor. The best way to head off trade secrets disputes—and the potentially disastrous business consequences of your trade secrets getting...

Recently, Yahoo! sued startup MForma Group, Inc., a wireless content provider based in San Francisco, claiming that a group of seven Yahoo! workers left the Internet giant to join MForma, taking trade secrets with them--including proprietary source code and other confidential business information. The...

The long-running class action lawsuit over alleged misclassification of Farmers Insurance Exchange adjusters has taken another twist: A California court of appeal has ruled that the employees can sue the San Francisco law firm that represented them against Farmers for malpractice. Recently, the adjusters...

Daniel Thompson was working for Pac-West Labels when Impaxx Inc. bought the company. Impaxx asked Thompson to sign an agreement stating that for one year after his employment ended, he would not call on, solicit, or take away Pac-West's customers or potential customers he had contacted in his job...

Most California employers know that agreements that restrict employees from competing with former employers are illegal and that California courts won't enforce them. But because of a new California Supreme Court ruling, it is now riskier for you to hire someone who has signed a noncompete clause...

California courts have repeatedly refused to enforce noncompete agreements. Now, a new California appeals court decision upholding a whopping $1,080,000 punitive damages award shows the high price you can pay for firing an employee who won't sign a noncompete agreement. Out-Of-State Employer Uses...

Former employees who make off with your trade secrets can spell disaster for your business. Once confidential information is in a competitor's hands, the damage is done and may be impossible to reverse. Now a case involving Fremont-based Avant! Corp.—which had to pay huge fines and whose top...

Flair Communications Agency in San Francisco asked for an injunction against three former employees, claiming they violated a nonsolicitation and trade secrets agreement by stealing the agency's clients and setting up a rival promotional agency. Flair also sought $1.3 million in damages. But the...

In California, most agreements that restrict employees from competing with former employers are illegal and California courts won't enforce them. But what if you want to hire someone who signed a non-compete provision with an employer in another state that does recognize these agreements? A California...

Agreements that prohibit an employee from competing with you after leaving your employment are usually illegal. That's because contracts that prevent someone from engaging in a lawful occupation are against public policy and are void in California. Now a California Court of Appeal has ruled that...

Contracts that bar employees from working for competitors after they leave your company are unenforceable under California law in most cases. And now such provisions pose an even bigger problem for employers. That's because a Court of Appeal has recently ruled that you can be sued for insisting employees...

If you think an ex-employee is using your trade secrets to build a competing business, you might decide to haul the person into court to protect your confidential information. But you have to be very careful with what you say about the employee or this move could backfire, which is what happened recently...

Competitors luring away workers is an increasing concern these days. In a recent case, Jeff Sposito, a managing broker with Jon Douglas Co. in Walnut Creek, quit less than a week after Coldwell Banker acquired his company. He immediately joined a rival and, allegedly within a day, persuaded more than...

When employees leave to join a competitor or start their own business, is your confidential data going with them? Sometimes the most valuable, but least-guarded information-like your customers' names or even an employee's rolodex-could seriously harm your business if it falls into the wrong hands...