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Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue Ste B367, Hermosa Beach, CA (2026)

10/18/2026

When a worker classified as an independent contractor is found to actually be an employee under California's ABC test, the consequences reach back in time, not just forward. Retroactive claims can include unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest period premiums, unreimbursed business expenses under Lab. Code § 2802, and unpaid payroll tax contributions the worker should never have borne personally. Many misclassified workers assume that fixing the label going forward is the whole remedy, when in fact the retroactive exposure is often the larger part of what is actually owed. If you have been working as a 1099 contractor while functioning like an employee, in schedule, control, and supervision, the retroactive piece of that claim is worth having evaluated specifically, not assumed away.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com | Attorney Advertising.

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/18/2026

Election Day Is November 3. Your Voting-Time Notice Is Due by October 24.

California employers have a voting-time notice deadline coming up: October 24, 2026.

That date is a Saturday.

Under Elec. Code § 14001, employers must post a notice of employees’ voting-time rights at least 10 days before every statewide election, and the statewide general election is November 3.

Under Elec. Code § 14000, an employee without enough time outside working hours to vote may take enough working time to vote, with up to two hours paid, at the start or end of the shift unless both sides agree otherwise.

If the notice is not posted on time, an Election Day scheduling request can turn into a dispute. That is what a first conversation is for.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/17/2026

When I work with clients on California employment matters, what stands out is how specific the value of confidential, proprietary AI tools actually is. It speeds up document review, research, and first drafts, the parts of a matter that are genuinely faster with more computing power behind them. It does not touch judgment calls: whether a set of facts supports a claim, how a client's specific situation should be framed, or what a case is actually worth. Those decisions are made by me, informed by experience on both sides of the table, and every piece of work product is reviewed by me before it goes anywhere. The goal has never been to replace that judgment; it is to spend less client time and cost on the parts of the work that do not require it.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com | Attorney Advertising.

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/17/2026

Your Child Turned 18. Your Right to Care Leave Did Not Expire.

“She is 24, so leave to care for her does not apply.” Wrong.

The federal FMLA covers an adult child only if that child cannot care for themselves because of a disability. In California, CFRA controls: under Gov’t Code § 12945.2(b)(1), a “child” has no age limit, and CFRA covers leave to care for a child with a serious health condition.

CFRA applies to employers with five or more employees, and eligibility generally requires more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months.

Do not let a birthday decide your leave rights. Ask for CFRA leave by name.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/17/2026

As the week ends, here is something worth knowing before you sign a severance release. Civ. Code § 1542 governs how broadly a release can waive unknown claims, but even a broad release typically cannot waive certain rights: unpaid final wages already owed, unemployment benefits, and claims based on conduct that happens after the release is signed. Some releases are drafted, or read by anxious employees, as if they wipe out everything without exception. They do not, and knowing the actual boundary matters when you are deciding whether the severance amount reflects what you are truly giving up. If you are looking at a release and are not sure what it does and does not cover, that uncertainty is worth resolving before you sign, not after.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com | Attorney Advertising.

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/16/2026

Your AI Hiring Vendor’s Score Could Become Your Background-Check Problem

Using an AI tool to rank applicants does not automatically hand the legal risk to the vendor.

A pending California class action, Kistler v. Eightfold AI Inc., alleges that an AI vendor’s scores are consumer reports. These are allegations, not findings, but the theory matters to employers.

Under California’s Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, employers must give a standalone written disclosure and get written authorization before obtaining an investigative report for hiring (Civ. Code § 1786.16(a)(2)), and liability under Civ. Code § 1786.50 reaches the user of the report.

The vendor may not absorb it.

If a scoring tool shapes who you interview, the disclosures given to applicants before it ran may decide where the exposure sits. That is what a first conversation is for.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/15/2026

Litigation is expensive and slow for employers as much as for employees, and no lawyer can guarantee how a case will turn out once it is filed. Proposing mediation early, sometimes before a formal claim is even made, gives an employer a chance to resolve a dispute on terms it helped shape, rather than terms a jury or judge imposes later. This is not an admission of fault; it is a cost and risk calculation, the same one that drives most business decisions. Employers who wait until litigation is well underway to consider mediation often do so after the more efficient window has already closed. If a dispute is still early enough that positions have not hardened, that is exactly when mediation tends to work best.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com | Attorney Advertising.

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/15/2026

A Federal Fight Over the Discrimination Test Does Not Rewrite California’s

You saw a headline that the Supreme Court might change how cases like yours are judged, and now you are second-guessing your own situation.

That worry comes up every time federal law makes the news, and it is usually misplaced.

The federal framework comes from McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973), and the Supreme Court declined a request to overrule it in January 2026. California courts apply their own standards, including the substantial motivating factor test for FEHA claims at trial under Harris v. City of Santa Monica (2013) 56 Cal.4th 203.

California runs its own rules.

Whistleblower claims use Lab. Code § 1102.6: once the report is shown to be a contributing factor, the employer must prove by clear and convincing evidence that it would have made the same decision.

If you are deciding whether to pursue a claim, the California rule that fits your facts is what matters most. That is what a first conversation is for.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/14/2026

When an employer requires a specific certification, license renewal, or training course as a condition of keeping your job, Lab. Code § 2802 generally requires the employer to bear that cost, not deduct it from your paycheck or require you to front it yourself. This shows up in healthcare, transportation, and skilled trade settings where ongoing certifications are mandatory, and employees are frequently told the cost is simply part of the job. A cost that exists only because the employer requires it as a condition of employment is a business expense, not a personal one. If you have been paying for employer-required training or certification out of your own pocket, or had it deducted from your pay, that arrangement is worth having reviewed.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com | Attorney Advertising.

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

10/14/2026

“The Software Flagged It” Is Not a Discipline Decision in California

If software flags an employee and you act on it, California is about to ask what you did in between.

Under SB 947, operative July 1, 2027, discipline and termination decisions cannot rest on an automated decision system alone, and a person must check the output whenever it is the main basis for the decision.

A person has to look.

The worker must also be told, when the decision is delivered, that a system was relied on, that a person reviewed it, and how to get a description of the data used.
If alerts from a scheduling, attendance, or productivity tool already drive your write-ups, the review step you skip today may be the one that matters in 2027.

That is what a first conversation is for.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

Michael Trust Law, APC

10/18/2026

10/18/2026

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10/14/2026

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Monday	9am - 6pm
Tuesday	9am - 6pm
Wednesday	9am - 6pm
Thursday	9am - 6pm
Friday	9am - 6pm