Effective Jan. 1, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will recognize automatic gratuities, a percentage automatically added to a restaurant bill, as a service charge, rather than a tip. The IRS ruling on automatic gratuities isn’t new. This was the result of a June 2012 tax ruling that was delayed to give restaurants and related businesses more time to comply.
Continue Reading Think You Are Leaving a Tip After a Nice Meal, Think Again; You May Be Leaving Someone’s Wages – IRS Ruling On Automatic Gratuity Begins January 2014

By:       Brendan J. Begley

A federal appellate court this week upheld an attorney-fee award of nearly $700,000 to a California employee who won less than $28,000 in damages in a lawsuit alleging wrongful demotion.  According to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Muniz v. United Parcel Service, Inc., Case No. 11-17282, the trial court was not required to reduce the large disparity between the damages and the fees. Continue Reading Attorney Fees Continue to be the 800-Pound Gorilla in Employment Cases

By: Meagan D. Christiansen

AB 2263

AB 2663 made various technical changes to various sections of the Education Code administered by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and of the Public Resources Code to improve, and continue effective administration of the System. Among the changes made are the following:Continue Reading New Laws Affecting Public Schools Employees

Effective January 1, 2009, Senate Bill 940 creates new wage and hour requirements for temporary service employers. Along with adding section 210.3 to the California Labor Code, SB 940 also amends sections 203, 203.1, 204, 210, 215, 220, and 2699.5 of the Labor Code. Existing law requires that employers pay their employees twice during each