Inaugural “Women” Entrepreneurs Day in Georgia!

February 21, 2010

By: TaylorLegalSrvs

 

Ms. CEO Media Inc. and Georgia Senator Nan Orrock invite women business owners and the public to participate in the first ever “Women Entrepreneurs Day in Georgia”  This extraordinary event, is scheduled to be held on Monday, February 22, 2010, Wednesday, March 3, 2010 from 8:00am until 1:15pm at State Capitol, Atlanta, GA,  Georgia’s businesswomen will be formally recognized by the Senate.

“Women Entrepreneurs Day in Georgia” is a special event to formally acknowledge the accomplishments, courage and success of Georgia’s women business owners.  There will also be an opportunity for participants to share concerns and ask questions of legislators regarding small business, policy and the economy.
(Note: Event time subject to be adjusted based on the length of the Senate session during which women entrepreneurs will be formally recognized. Full details forthcoming. Please RSVP and follow Ms. CEO Media on Twitter at twitter.com/msceo for real-time updates. 

Note: There is a limited capacity to participate in this event.  Please confirm your attendance by e-mailing events@msceo.net. Additional details will be provided upon confirmation.  Visit www.msceo.net and follow Ms. CEO Media on Twitter at www.twitter.com/msceo for real-time updates.

Update:  This event has been rescheduled to Wednesday, March 3, 2010 due to changes to the Senate’s calendar.

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GOOGLE LAUNCHES “GOOGLE BUZZ”

February 21, 2010

 

Last week, Google added social networking tools to its Gmail e-mail service. Google Buzz is designed to help users more easily and quickly find the most important information contained in their flood of social posts, pictures and videos. Well, it certainly didn’t take long. Spammers began targeting Google Buzz just days after it was launched, according to security company Websense, Inc. The security company issued an alert on Google Buzz late last week noting that the first spam attack, which was about smoking, hit the new social networking hub last Thursday. Websense noted that its analysts expected spam messages to pop up on Google Buzz, just not so soon. “When Twitter was launched, it took a while before it was used to send spam and other malicious messages,” Websense said in its alert. “In this case, it only took two days. It’s clear that the bad guys have learned from their experience using social networks to distribute these type of messages.” Last Friday, Google rolled out several tweaks to Buzz in an attempt to address privacy concerns. Then over the weekend, Google said that over the next several weeks it will offer up more tweaks to deal with privacy issues.

“As a fellow google/g-mail subscriber, I am giving it a go!….and will give my feedback if it is working for me!”

“NEW EMPLOYMENT LAW FOR 2010”

January 31, 2010

TAYLORLEGAL VIRTUAL SERVICES

In light of the budget crisis, which consumed much of the 2009 legislative session, the California Legislature was relatively quiet on the employment law front.  However, while the legislature was tending to other pressing needs, the courts and administrative agencies helped to change the landscape of employment law for business owners, especially in the area of wage and hour law.  Here are a few of the changes employers should be aware of as we move forward into 2010:

EXEMPT EMPLOYEES AND WORK FURLOUGHS

Until August 2009, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (aka California Labor Commissioner’s Office) had not addressed whether it was permissible for an employer facing “significant economic difficulties” to proportionally reduce an exempt employee’s salary as part of a work furlough, without violating the “salary basis test”, and thus destroying the exemption. 

Prior to the DLSE ruling, employers were not permitted to adjust or fluctuate an exempt employee’s salary, based upon the number of hours the employee worked, without bearing a significant risk of losing the exemption.

However, the new ruling allows employers to proportionally reduce the salary of an exempt employee, as long as certain conditions are met.  A review of those conditions are addressed in the opinion letter, which can be viewed at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/DLSE_OpinionLetters.htm.

 

FEDERAL EQUAL PAY ACT

In February 2009, President Obama signed a bill titled “The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009” which amended federal laws to expand the definition of what is an “unlawful employment practice” for purposes of a claim of discriminatory pay practice.  Under the new bill, every time an employee is subjected to a discriminatory pay practice, including every time he or she receives a paycheck, which is a new act of discrimination, which essentially re-starts the statute of limitations to bring a claim.  The revisions to both Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act will allow an employee to recover up to two (2) years of back pay from the date a claim is filed.

WORK PERFORMED OUTSIDE OF REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS

As the use of Blackberry/iPhone/smart phones continue to proliferate in the business community, employers must be cautious about which employees are allowed (or even required) to carry such devices.  The Ninth Circuit recently confirmed that non-exempt, hourly employees, who spend time outside of their regular business hours performing tasks which are considered “integral” to their primary work activities, and which go beyond a “de minimus” time investment, will be entitled to compensation for the time they are “suffered or permitted” to do work.  Checking e-mails, confirming driving directions or submitting electronic data (including time records) may rise to the level of compensable time and the employer will be responsible for keeping track of, and paying the employee for those hours . . . or minutes, as the case may be.

MEAL AND REST PERIODS

The legal community is still anxiously awaiting the California Supreme Court’s decision in the Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (Hornbeam) and Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc. cases, which should be issued in mid-summer 2010.  These two decisions weigh in on the issue of whether an employer is required to “ensure” that an employee is taking his or her statutory meal and rest periods, or whether the employer must simply “make available” the opportunity for the employee to take his breaks. 

The court’s decision will have a significant impact on those cases where an employee failed to take breaks, and later sued the employer claiming that the employer is liable for money damages for failing to allow the employee his statutory rest periods.

The impact of these new laws, requirements and administrative opinions vary from industry-to-industry, and occasionally from business-to-business.  To learn more about how these laws apply to your business, contact your labor and employment attorney.

Winsome Taylor, Certified Paralegal

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CLIO – The All-In-One Legal Practice Database Program for Virtual SOLO/SOHO Attorneys

January 4, 2010

As a fellow small business owner, I provide virtual paralegal support to solo/soho attorneys nationwide, and finds that CLIO is a very useful/efficient legal practice program.  My clients have the ability to log-in and create new and existing clients profile and contacts; access documents;  track, and share calendar/appointments, and track their billable time with ease.  There is no software to download, CLIO is virtual program, so you can log-in and gain access, and the program is very reasonable, secure, and the program is designed to back-up all your data.  I personally recommend CLIO virtual databases program. – Winsome M. Taylor, Certified, and Virtual Paralegal of TaylorLegal Virtual Services.

WHY MANY ATTORNEYS ARE GOING VIRTUAL.

December 27, 2009

 Although today’s virtual paralegal/assistant are a relatively new phenomenon, it is becoming a very important aspect of the business landscape.  Administrative tasks are repetitive tasks that form the bulk of what needs to get done in the work place.  These tasks include setting of appointments, typing documents, filing, answering phone calls and other tasks. These tasks may be time-consuming but they are necessary to be able to run a successful business.  To ensure the success of a business, a company must make sure that all tasks- big and small are performed efficiently in the workplace. 

Virtual paralegals/assistants are professionals that can do these tasks for your business without reporting to your office.  Because virtual paralegal/assistants provide these services for a good cost to the company they really help companies achieve more in their business.  This is why the virtual paralegal/assistant can be one of the important employees in your business. 

Whether they work for your business only part-time or full-time, the virtual paralegal/assistant can really help your company in achieving its business goals.  You should consider a virtual paralegal/assistant as nothing different than your office worker that do tasks for your business so that you can deliver products and services effectively to your clients. 

 Even if they are not physically present in the office, virtual paralegal/assistants form part of your workforce and definitely form part of your business’s backbone.  An efficient virtual paralegal/assistant with legal and non-legal office skills can help you achieve business success. They can help you fulfill your business’s full potential with nothing more than their fees as your investment.  Human resources matter a lot in business and hiring virtual paralegal/assistants can be the best way you can gain good work force without the need to invest extensively in the workforce.  The virtual paralegal/assistants invest in their own office space, equipment, training and development.

Therefore, you are essentially paying for the skills and gaining benefits from the virtual paralegal/assistant’s skills without really investing in them. 

 If you have new ideas for your business but do not have the time, the energy and the manpower to implement them, a virtual paralegal/assistant can easily implement your news ideas for your business.

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December 27, 2009

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