It might be tempting to informally agree with other business owners in a niche field not to poach one another’s employees, but it’s illegal – and recently, some businesses have paid a high price. For example, the Department of Justice went after several tech companies that allegedly had an informal “no-poach” understanding. The employees themselves then filed a class action, which resulted in a $415 million settlement.

Many businesses have predicted that new federal rules that took effect last year could result in “quickie” union elections in which the employer wouldn’t have time to campaign effectively and get its message across. It now looks like those fears might be justified – the average time before a private-sector union election is now only three weeks, compared to five weeks previously, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has put its records online, including trademark owners’ full addresses. As a result, many shady but official-sounding businesses are now contacting trademark owners and offering scam services. For instance, such businesses may offer to arrange third-party publication (which is unnecessary), or they may offer legitimate services such as filing a record with the Customs Office at exorbitant prices. The most dangerous scams offer to renew a trademark registration without properly

Can a company that conducts an internal investigation tell the employees it’s interviewing not to talk about the matter while the inquiry is pending? Not necessarily, according to a new decision by the National Labor Relations Board. The ruling applies to all businesses, regardless of whether they have a union. Companies can insist on confidentiality only if certain conditions are met, the Board said.

Many business owners think it’s easy to set up an LLC. That’s partly the result of companies and websites that claim to offer simple, “standardized” LLC operating agreements. Just fill in the blanks and you’re off! In reality, there’s no such thing as a “standard” LLC operating agreement. You have a lot of choices to make, and even if you’re starting a very simple business, your choices will have a profound effect on you down the

“Discovery” is the phase of a lawsuit before trial in which the two sides have a right to demand relevant information from each other. Sometimes, big companies suing little companies try to “bury” the little company with endless requests for information, hoping to find some stray helpful tidbit or simply pressure the little company to settle to avoid the burden and expense. But starting in 2016, the federal court rules have been changed to limit this

This can be a tricky question, because it often turns on whether the public is likely to actually be confused. In one recent case, a California company called White Oak Vineyard & Winery brought a lawsuit against a Florida vodka distiller called White Oak Spirits. The vodka company argued that wine and vodka are different products, and that no one would be confused by the two names, especially since White Oak Vineyard was not a nationally

Starting in 2017, companies that have federal contracts must allow employees to earn up to seven paid sick days per year, under an executive order signed by President Obama. Employees can earn one sick day for each 30 hours worked, up to seven days per year. These days carry over from one year to the next, although an employee who quits or is fired without using them doesn’t have to be compensated for them. Sick leave

Did you know that executives and other employees may have a legal obligation to be “loyal” to their companies? This means that they have to act in the company’s interest, and not deliberately harm the company or take advantage of it for their own interest. This came up in a recent New Jersey case where a timeshare company hired a COO who made $500,000 a year. The company eventually fired the COO, claiming that he had

The Abercrombie & Fitch clothing chain cannot require its salespeople to buy and wear Abercrombie & Fitch clothes in order to work there, says a federal court in California. The court okayed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 62,000 Abercrombie employees in the state, based on the claim that the company’s “look policy” required them to buy Abercrombie clothes – and then buy new Abercrombie clothes every time the company issued a new sales guide. The