New COVID-19 Laws for Employers
Today, governor Newsom signed two new bills into law that affects employers in California.New Workers Compensation Benefits Effective immediately, SB1159 includes illness or death resulting from COVID-19 as part of the workers compensation law. For the employee to be eligible for workers compensation benefits due to COVID-19, the following circumstances must be present:1. The employer has five or more employees; 2. The employee has tested positive within 14 days after performing working at the employee’s place of employment at the employer’s direction; 3. That date of performing work must be on or after July 6, 2020; and4. The positive test occurred during a period of an outbreak at the employee’s place of employment (excludes working from home).If both of those circumstances are met, the employee is presumed to have contracted…
New Exemptions to AB 5
Last week, the Governor signed into law AB 2257, which adds new exemptions to AB 5 (the law that uses the ABC test to classify most workers as employees with limited exceptions). This law took effect immediately. The new exemptions include: • Videographers • Photo Editors • Digital Content Aggregators • Translators • Copy Editors • Illustrators • Content Contributors • Producers • Narrators • Cartographers • Specialized Performer hired by a performing arts company to teach a class for no more than 1 week • Appraisers • Home Inspectors • 2 sole proprietors or individuals acting through a business entity, if it is a single engagement event • The following professions in the music industry (excluding film and television production crews): o Recording artists o Songwriters, lyricists, composers and…
Pandemic Update for San Diego County Businesses
The entire BMBR team hopes this message finds you, your families and your staff safe and healthy in these continually trying times. Last Week, Dr. Wooten, San Diego County’s Public Health Officer, amended the Health Order with new specific provisions pertaining to all San Diego County businesses. Effective July 30, 2020, all businesses (regardless of size) must take the following actions with respect to COVID-19 in the workplace: 1. If the employer becomes aware that an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19 (regardless of the source of infection), the employer must promptly notify the County Department of Public Health with the employee’s name, date of birth and contact information. 2. If the employer becomes aware that an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19 (regardless of the source of infection), the employer must…

New Year Legal Check-List: 2020
NEW YEAR THOUGHTS: We would like to express our thanks to our many clients, colleagues and friends who helped to make 2019 a terrific year. We would also like to extend our best wishes to our readers for a happy, healthy & prosperous 2020! We do what we do because we like it and because we want to make a difference. But we could not do it without all of you. NEW YEAR LEGAL CHECK-UP: With the new year upon us, the following is a list of ten suggestions for starting it off right by putting some of your professional and business affairs in order. Not all suggestions may be applicable to all readers, but they are designed to provide a framework for planning ahead. Make your own additions to…

What is “IP”?
People often come to us knowing they want to protect something of theirs, but they are not quite sure what it is. Sometimes they will say: "I want to patent my idea". Or…. "I want to trademark the title of my book". However they say it, what they are trying to say is: "I have an idea or something I created that I want to protect". At the end of the day, we know that there is some form of intellectual property (“IP”) protection that can help them. Intellectual property law has been described as the law pertaining to products of the intellect such as inventions (patents), creative content (copyrights), brand names (trademarks), and secret formulas and processes (trade secrets). Essentially there are four basic intellectual property tools: A patent…

Most Common Partnership Disputes in Business
A common issue within companies is disputes erupting between business partners. Tension can arise from the stress of both working together and jointly owning the business, which can create a legal mess for all parties involved. To best avoid disputes, it is helpful to understand some of the root causes. Some of the most common partnership disputes include: Disputes over resources: When partners can’t come to terms about how to allocate financial resources, conflict can ensue. This can lead to lengthy debate over large purchases, such as machinery, which can put business operations on standby while the partners attempt to resolve the dispute. Failure to distribute work evenly: When people enter into a business partnership there are instances where one partner may do the physical work, while the other is…

The Benefits of Working with an Employment Attorney
When you are experiencing issues in the workplace, one of the most helpful resources you can turn to is an employment attorney. An employment attorney can help address a variety of problems that you may be experiencing with coworkers, supervisors, or the owner of the business. Some of the situations where an employment attorney can help include: Help Reviewing a Job Offer: Most people think that an employment attorney is only helpful after losing a job. In fact, when you receive a new job offer, it can be very beneficial to have an employment attorney review the contract, so that you understand what you are undertaking at this new position and make sure you are in the best starting place possible. Counsel for a Workplace Issue: Employment attorneys have experience…

Frequently Asked Questions Business Law
What is a business attorney? Business attorneys help guide businesses through the myriad of state and federal laws that affect its business. They help with all aspects of entity issues (such as forming a corporation or other entity, corporate maintenance, selling additional shares, stock option plans, and dissolution), contracts (drafting, review and negotiation), disputes with third parties, and other issues that affect your business, such as employment issues, protecting intellectual property and regulatory compliance. What is the difference between a corporation and an LLC? Although the answer to this is much more complex than a paragraph, in short, although both provide personal asset protection when formed and operated correctly, the corporation has a few more "formalities" than an LLC (such as annual meetings/minutes). However, LLC's can provide more flexibility in…

Owner Disputes
Most people start businesses with people they know and like; such as, friends, relatives and business associates. Unfortunately, at some point, conflicts among the owners will arise, whether they be a result of the personalities involved, differing business philosophies or issues related to the performance of an owner or the company overall. While many of these conflicts are successfully sorted out by the owners, sometimes they can't be resolved and become detrimental to the business and its operations. When this occurs, it is not uncommon that the only plausible resolution is that one or more of the owners must exit the business. When proper formation documents and exit planning strategies are utilized at the beginning of a business relationship, the exit of a business owner can be relatively smooth and…