Monthly Archives: February 2011

by | February 14, 2011 · 2:43 pm

Update: Relationships in the Workplace – Dunder Mifflin Style

I know about a hundred people who have had relationships within their workplace.  I’m sure you know a hundred more.  Well, The Office had an entire episode about interoffice relationships.  Joshua Drexler at the ‘That’s what she said’ blog (one of my favorites) has a great post on the subject.

http://www.hulu.com/embed/C-GhMCa18lkKKGDGk49n4w

Update:

After posting the above link I found another one worth mentioning.  Apparently, the Vault does an annual ‘office romance’ survey.   Employers and employees in will find this interesting.  A few of the highlights are:

  • 41% of employees in the general population claim to have never participated in an office romance.
  • 40% of employees report “avoiding or curtailing a potential romance that they would have otherwise pursued specifically to avoid an office romance.”
  • Among those who have engaged in an office romance, 26% have dated a subordinate, and 18% have dated their boss.

These percentages were worse than I expected, but not surprising.  You may find it humorous to note that lawyers are particularly bad when it comes to romance in the office.  As opposed to 41% in the general population, 36% of lawyers have “never participated in an office romance.”  I bet that number changes when you look specifically at labor and employment attorneys.  They would know better.  But that’s just my hunch.

 

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Filed under Freedom in the Workplace, Harassment, Relationships, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment

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by | February 5, 2011 · 11:05 pm

Employee Non-Compete Agreements Invalid in California

Orange County, CA – Are you an employee?  Go find your employment agreement (the contract you signed when you started work at the company) and open it up.  I would bet that 75% of the employment agreements in California have some sort of provision that reads like this:

The undersigned Employee hereby agrees not to directly or indirectly compete with the business of the Company and its successors and assigns during the period of employment and for a period of X years following termination of employment and notwithstanding the cause or reason for termination.

If you’re an employee, you’re in luck.  These “non-compete” clauses (also called “covenants not to compete” or “restrictive covenants”) are almost entirely invalid in California.  If you’re an employer, can you ever restrict your current and former employees from competing?  Find out after the jump…

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Filed under Discharge & Layoffs, Duty of Loyalty, Leaving a Job, Non-Compete Agreements, Restrictive Covenants, Retaliation

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by | February 3, 2011 · 11:51 am

Employee Duty of Loyalty

Orange County, CA – What is the duty of loyalty?  Does it apply to a employee?  Employer?  What is California’s rule regarding the duty of loyalty?

These are all extremely valuable questions for both the employer and the employee to have answers to.  First, the employee duty of loyalty basically means this: An employer has the right to the undivided loyalty of its employees. The duty of loyalty is breached and may give rise to a tort cause of action on behalf of the employer when the employee takes action hostile to the employer’s best interests.  Stokes v. Dole Nut Co. (1995) 41 CA4th 285, 295.

What on earth does that mean?  It means that an employee isn’t supposed to compete with his or her employer while he or she is employed.

Well, what does “compete” mean?  Easy answers after the jump….

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Filed under Duty of Loyalty, Leaving a Job, Non-Compete Agreements, Restrictive Covenants, Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition

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