A "surety bond" is a legal tool used to guarantee that a promise will be kept.  It ensures that contractual requirements will be met and work will be done according to specifications.  If they are not, the bond will cover some or all of the damages that result.

The "surety bond" commits three parties to a binding contract. 

First, there is the "principal," the contractor, business or individual purchasing the "surety bond" as a way to assure others that work will be done as agreed.

New law hailed as a victory for organized labor but CalChamber calls it a “job killer”

California governor Jerry Brown announced on September 28, 2014 the signing of Assembly Bill (AB) 1897, which adds section 2810.3 to the Labor Code and targets businesses that use workers provided by temp agencies. AB 1897 takes effect January 1, 2015.

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Signed by President Obama's on February 7, the Agricultural Act of 2014 (or the Farm Law) expands crop insurance for farmers, but cuts funding and makes other changes to the nation's food stamp program (officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP).

As a business owner, you know that terms of a contract are typically negotiated between you and the other parties to the contract. However, some contract terms are already established, usually by lawyers and are attached to your contracts. The term “boilerplate” may sound like it belongs in an equipment manual, but it is a legal term that refers to standardized, formal contract language that addresses the “what if” situations. In other words, it’s the fine print of a contract. 

A Quick History of Boilerplate 

There’s a good reason why the word “boilerplate” doesn’t sound like it belongs in law, it didn’t originate there.

A controversial plan to convert hundreds of thousands of acres of California farmland into a high speed rail corridor has certainly been making news headlines.

But despite being confronted with a host of lawsuits, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is still planning to undertake the massive public works project, the fruit of a multi-billion dollar bond measure approved by voters in 2008.

CHSRA's use of eminent domain entails purchasing numerous and often odd shaped parcels from area farming operations to facilitate the construction of the high-speed rail project.

When the high-speed rail project is finally completed in 2029, commuters will zip between San Francisco and Los Angeles at speeds approaching 200 MPH. Purported southern and northern extensions will reach to San Diego and Sacramento.

Crowdfunding has emerged as an exciting alternative to traditional business financing. In essence, a crowdfunding model solicits a large number of smaller investments from an extremely broad base of investors, allowing entrepreneurs to raise the capital they need to get a project off the ground without exposing any single investor to a deterring level of risk.

While crowdfunding has shown some promise, there is still risk involved and investors need to have realistic expectations. Also, entrepreneurs should be aware that many crowdfunding ventures fail before they reach an operational stage, and understand strategies they can use to increase their chances of success.

Because of its collective nature, crowdfunding shields investors from significant losses and because individual contributors don't generally contribute large amounts of money.

After three years of waiting, the California Supreme Court has finally rendered their decision in the case of Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court. This has been a highly-anticipated decision in that it was to provide much-needed clarification regarding the extent of an employer’s obligations to provide rest and meal periods to their employees.

The widespread confusion on this issue has resulted in a tidal wave of class-action litigation against employers. More often than not, these companies believed they were in compliance, but nonetheless found themselves embroiled in expensive litigation.

We live in a digital world and if you are not doing business online you could be missing out on the profits and other benefits of this marketplace.  If you want to expand your business horizons using the internet, you should be aware of the legal implications that may come along with the benefits.  You should make your customers aware of your policies when doing business online and it is also imperative that you tend to intellectual property concerns at the same time.

1. I.                   Terms and Conditions

An important but frequently overlooked legal aspect of doing business online is the Terms and Conditions of Use agreement.

Job-seekers have to be ready to respond to any interview question asked of them, but not every question has to be answered. 

To ensure that employers do not discriminate against candidates based on age, gender, race, health and family arrangements, there are certain regulations which restrict the type of questions which are permissible during an interview. Below, we explore several topics that may be problematic and should not be asked of potential employees: 

Questionable Questions

Let’s take a look at a few topics that may be problematic. 

• Age: Does anyone like to be asked their age unless just turning 21? Probably not. While an interviewer may ask whether a candidate is over the age of 18 or 21, he or she may not ask for a specific age.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) makes it illegal for employers to knowingly hire undocumented workers and requires employers to verify each worker’s identity and eligibility by completing the I-9 Form. An employer’s failure to complete the I-9 Form can result in criminal and civil penalties.

The INA also protects individuals from employment discrimination based upon national origin, citizenship or immigration status. The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) enforces the INA’s anti-discrimination provisions.  Victims of discrimination may file a complaint with the OSC to seek back pay, reinstatement and other remedies.

In 2009, the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched a program to ensure that employers comply with immigration rules designed to protect public safety and national security.  Under the Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASVVP), FDNS makes surprise site inspections to verify the information that employers provide to the government.

Who Is Inspected?

The FDNS selects sites at random, before or after adjudication of a visa petition.

There are many reasons for retaining tax records. They can be a useful guide for business planning, for tracking receipts and expenses, and in cases where the company or shares are being sold to outside parties. 

The IRS expects taxpayers to keep records for as long as they are needed to administer any part of the Internal Revenue Code. In other words, if you fail to keep records, and an item in a past return is questioned, you may not have the documentation you need to defend yourself and avoid taxes and penalties. In addition, insurance companies and creditors may wish to see tax returns even after the IRS no longer does.

Which entity is best for your business depends on many factors, and the decision can have a significant impact on both profitability and asset protection afforded to its owners. Below is an overview of the most common business structures.

Sole Proprietorship
The sole proprietorship is the simplest and least regulated of all business structures. For legal and tax purposes, the sole proprietorship’s owner and the business are one and the same. The liabilities of the business are personal to the owner, and the business terminates when the owner dies.

The primary advantages of operating as a corporation are liability protection and potential tax savings. Like any important decision, choosing whether to incorporate involves weighing the pros and cons of the various business structures and should only be done after careful research.

Once incorporated, the business becomes a separate legal entity, and assets of the corporation are separated from the owner’s personal finances. As a result, the owner’s personal assets generally can be shielded from creditors of the business.

To maintain this legal separation and avoid “piercing the corporate veil,” the corporation must observe certain formalities, including:

• Keeping corporate assets and personal assets separate (no commingling of funds)
• Holding shareholder and director meetings at least annually
• Maintaining a corporate record book including bylaws, minutes of shareholder and director meetings, and shareholder records
• Filing annual information statements with the Secretary of State
• Filing a separate tax return for the corporation

Many business owners are concerned about “double taxation” of income that affects certain types of corporations known as “C-Corporations”.

If you co-own a business, you need a buy-sell agreement. Also called a buyout agreement, this document is essentially the business world’s equivalent of a prenup. An effective buy-sell agreement helps prevent conflict between the company’s owners, while also preserving the company’s closely held status. Any business with more than one owner should address this issue upfront, before problems arise.

With a proper buy-sell agreement, all business owners are protected in the event one of the owners wishes to leave the company.

What is crowdfunding? Part social networking and part capital accumulation, crowdfunding is simply the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their financial resources together to support efforts initiated by others.

Inspired by crowdsourcing, this innovative approach to raising capital has long been used to solicit donations or support political causes. This method has also been successfully implemented to raise capital for many different types of projects, including art, fashion, music and film.

Entrepreneurs can also tap the internet as a way to raise financing from a broad base of investors without turning to venture capitalists. With crowdfunding, you can raise small amounts of capital from many different sources, while retaining control over your business venture.

Workplace romances are never advisable, but sometimes co-workers and business partners fall in love and get married. Unfortunately, they also sometimes fall out of love and get divorced. What happens next?

For some couples, the end of the marriage parallels the end of their working relationship—and possibly the end of the business itself. There are a number of options in such cases. The couple can sell the business and split the proceeds as part of the divorce settlement, or one partner can buy out the interest of the ex-spouse.

American employers are subject to countless federal, state and local laws, imposing various requirements, including wage and hour and anti-discrimination laws. Unfortunately, many employers – particularly small businesses – are unaware of their obligations and violate various worker protection laws, often resulting in expensive lawsuits, civil settlements and criminal fines. Here are some common, costly mistakes employers make:

Misclassifying Non-Exempt Workers as Exempt
Generally, all workers are entitled to overtime pay and subject to minimum wage requirements. However, some employees – typically executive, managerial or professional employees – are “exempt” and receive a flat salary without overtime pay. The exemption only applies in certain situations, however, and many employees have improperly classified workers as “exempt” when they are legally entitled to overtime wages and minimum wage requirements.