Our speaker for September 6 - Jonathon Light

Jonathon Fraser Light gave a presentation titled “Legal and Business Pitfalls That Can Decrease Your Bottom Line and Increase Your Blood Pressure.”  Mr. Light is very active in the community working with such organizations as the Ventura County Bar Association, Volunteer Legal Services Association, Ventura County Taxpayers Association, Ventura County Boy Scout Council and the Channel Islands Ballet.  He is the author of the award winning book “The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball.”  Mr. Light practices employment law at his firm Light Gabler Law in Camarillo.

One of the first things a business can do to protect itself is to purchase employment practices liability insurance (EPLI).  This will cover many things except for wage and hour claims and punitive damages.  Be sure to get coverage for employee theft which happens all the time.

Mr. Light recommends entering into an arbitration agreement with your employees.  The result is that any dispute you have will not be heard before a jury.  It would be heard by a private arbitrator outside of court.  Jury trials are expensive to conduct and often result in high awards against the employer so it is good to avoid them.  Offer, but do not force, current employees the option of signing an arbitration agreement.  With new hires, send the agreement with the offer letter and do not hire them unless they sign the agreement.

Business documents and website content need to be continually updated.  For example, review the written terms and conditions that you have on your invoices and vendor contracts. 

Employee performance reviews can be helpful if the employee later sues the company.  As a result, Mr. Light recommends that you actually write out your comments as opposed to just rating the employee on a number scale.  As part of this process, you can also ask your employees what you do that helps them and what you do that does not help them.  This feedback can be used to create a more productive team.

Thank you Mr. Light for a very informative presentation.

Deborah A. Perkins