Practice Areas
BUSINESS FORMATION
The most crucial step you can take toward the security of your business is setting it up correctly. Forming your business properly means that you’re covered in the case of any future legal action - and that plaintiffs can’t go after your personal assets. Whether you need to be set up as a corporation, a limited liability company (LLC) or a limited partnership, I can customize your entity formation to the needs of your specific company. I also draft internal agreements that govern how your company will operate.
Other areas I can advise you on include:
Preformation considerations
Founders, shareholders and partners agreements
Fictitious business name
Requisite filings with state, federal and/or local authorities
CONTRACT DRAFTING, NEGOTIATION, AND REVIEW
Reviewing contracts made between small businesses/independent contractors and large companies or corporations is the most requested service I provide for my clients. I comb through every section of a contract to ensure you understand what it means and what you need to do. This is vitally important so that you don’t unintentionally end up breaching any terms. I can also amend certain provisions of a contract to meet your specific circumstances and capabilities, giving you, the small business owner, more bargaining power with a larger entity. Whether it’s reviewing an agreement that you’ve received from another company, strengthening a contract already in use, or drafting new agreements, I can protect you and your business from many legal pitfalls.
Examples of Contract Services Provided:
Independent Contractor and Consulting Agreements
Licensing Agreements
Distribution Agreements
Service Agreements
Acquisition Agreements
Production Agreements
Option/Purchase Agreements
Confidentiality Agreements
Non-Disclosure Agreements
Employment Agreements
Buy/Sell Agreements
Assignment and Work For Hire Agreements
Employment law
Over the years, we have found that many of our small business clients assumed that if they have workers’ compensation insurance and are paying the correct minimum wage and payroll taxes through a payroll service that they are compliant with California employment laws. But California employment laws are so much more complex than that! As a result, we have developed affordable resources specifically tailored to small businesses.
Employee Handbook
While California does not require an employer to have an Employee Handbook, per se, it does require an employer to have written policies and procedures on a number of topics that comply with California laws. Combining these policies into one handbook is just the most efficient and economical way to do this. Our handbook is specifically designed to include only those required policies that apply to employers with 25 or less employees, customized to meet your company’s individual policies (e.g. vacation policy, if any, holidays, parking, performance reviews and the like). We can also personalize your handbook by including your company’s logo. As a bonus, we include all federal, state and municipal required posters.
Required topics include:
Discrimination/Harassment
Sexual Harassment Training (New!)
Meal Breaks/Rest Breaks
Overtime
Paid Sick Leave
Workers’ Compensation
Federal and California Insurance Programs
Accommodations
Voting Time Off
Leaves of Absence
Importantly, we can include an arbitration provision that comports with California cases regarding the enforceability of arbitration clauses in employee contracts.
Employer Handbook
While our Employee Handbook includes all of the relevant required employee-related policies and procedures, there is so much more an employer needs to know about California employment law. Our Employer Handbook covers the most common misunderstood and misapplied employment laws.
Topics covered include:
Independent Contractor vs. Employee Worker Classification
Easy to use Questionnaire to Determine Independent Contractor Status
Exempt vs. Nonexempt Worker Classification
Easy to use Questionnaire to Determine Exempt Status
Nonexempt Employee Wage and Hour Law Explained (state and municipal minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest breaks)
California Compliant Timesheet Example (available as a fillable PDF file for a flat one-time fee)
Payday and Payroll Rules for Nonexempt Employees
Payroll Schedule Example
Paystub Example
Sexual Harassment Training – Coming Soon!
Effective January 1, 2019, employers with 5 or more employees must provide California-compliant sexual harassment training to all employees every 2 years. Non-supervisory employees must complete 1 hour of training every 2 years, and supervisory employees must complete 2 hours of training every 2 years. Employers have until January 1, 2020 to comply.
This training can be completed online via a California-compliant E-learning platform, and we are pleased to announce that we are developing such a platform with our education and technology partners. Our platform will be designed to meet the minimum content and time requirements of the new law, be user-friendly and cost-effective, and include a qualified professional to answer any questions.
If you would like an email notification of when our sexual harassment online training platform is available, please sign up below:
Note:
An “employee” includes part-time, temporary, seasonal and contract workers. “Supervisor” means any individual having the authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend that action, if, in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of that authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.