You’ve probably heard the term “Skelly” meeting or conference hundreds, if not thousands of times, but what does “Skelly” really mean?  Even if you think you know, a refresher can’t hurt, right?!

Most California public employees have what is known as a constitutionally protected “property” interest in continued employment, once and

This article was reviewed in July 2021 and is up-to-date.

Often times, an employee may know that discipline or a poor performance evaluation is imminent. Occasionally, such an employee will engage in a preemptive strike—“You can’t discipline me or give me a poor performance evaluation now since I have submitted a complaint.” While this may

This article was reviewed in June 2021 and is up-to-date.

Prevention of liability starts with auditing your agency’s personnel rules.  Indeed, in an employment-related lawsuit, the applicable personnel rule is often “Exhibit A.”  Each year, public agencies face changes to employment laws and regulations, best management practices, and internal changes to procedures.  Thus, the outcome

Our clients frequently face questions about how immigration laws and policies apply to their employees, candidates, and students.  The world of immigration law can be a bewildering jumble of acronyms, statutes, regulations, and policy directives that leave many employers or school administrators exasperated and with whiplash.  As practitioners in labor, employment, and education for our

This post was authored by Lisa S. Charbonneau.

Under Article XI, Sections 4 and 5 of the California Constitution, charter cities and counties have exclusive authority to regulate and determine their own municipal affairs, free from intrusion by the state.  These provisions of the Constitution are collectively referred to as the municipal affairs clause

In the corporate world, the practice of giving annual performance reviews to employees has come under attack in recent years.  Leading business magazines and newspapers have printed articles advocating for the elimination of performance evaluations.  There are even books in the marketplace that teach companies how to get rid of performance reviews.  Among the reasons

In the wake of recent attention to sexual harassment in the workplace, employers and members of the public are asking: what about all of those sexual harassment trainings we required?  Are they helping?  How do we know?  And, if they’re not achieving our goals (public policy and agency-specific), what can we do better?

Just What

It is that time again. These are actual employment cases.  Really, they are.

Mad at your co-workers? Tell a friend, not Facebook

Jayne Brill sued her former employer and the Virginia Employment Commission because she was terminated and denied unemployment benefits. Brill was alleged to have violated the company’s social media policy when she made