Members Making News YOUR STORIES, YOUR NAPA CHAMBER Napa Valley Opera House Fundraiser: Congratulations To Michael Chiarello On His Nomination For Best Chef By The James Beard Foundation! What Happens in Napa... The Napa Chamber would like to congratulate Michael Chiarello of Bottega, The Napa Valley Performing Yountville for his Best Chef nomination. This is a great honor for him and his Arts Foundation (a.k.a the Napa restaurant. For more info visit: jamesbeard.org/awards Valley Opera House League) “The James Beard Foundation Awards shine a spotlight on the best and held a Casino Night / Poker brightest talent in the food and beverage industry. Tournament fundraiser Friday, March 30th at the Opera House Covering all aspects of the industry—from chefs and restaurateurs to cookbook called “What Happens in Napa, authors and food journalists to restaurant designers and architects and more— Stays in Napa.” The event the Beard Awards are the highest honor for food and beverage professionals featured local Napa businesses: working in North America.” -James Beard Foundation Website Wines were poured by Toolbox Wines, and food was provided byCarpe Diem, Cole’s Chop Poker Tournament was held on the Opera House, Compadres, Bounty House stage, and the first place winner of the Hunter, and Kinyon Catering. tournament won a trip for two to Las Vegas. Several prizes were awarded that Blackjack and Craps tables entertained the rest night, thanks to the generous of the crowd in the Opera House cafe. Funds donations of our local Napa raised from the event will go to the Opera House businesses. The Texas Hold’em in support of their operating expenses. As a non-profit, the Opera House brings people together to share in the performing arts experience. The programming is diverse and ticket prices are affordable. However, ticket sales cover only some of the costs of presenting a show. In these tough economic times, the Opera House could not bring high quality shows to the Napa Valley without the generous support from the community. Thank you to everyone who supported this event! Visit nvoh.org for more information. ■ Top 10 Things Employers Do to Get Sued! 2. Be nice to employees — let them work through lunch so they can take off early.Classify all employees as exempt, whether they are or not.1. 3. Make everyone an “independent contractor” because having employees is too There is no question that California has some of the most stringent and complex labor laws in the nation. The much trouble. California Chamber of Commerce white paper, “The Top 4. Don’t bother providing training about harassment and discrimination to 10 Things Employers Do to Get Sued,” details some of the managers and supervisors. They won’t need the information. mistakes that could lead to employment lawsuits. 5. Let employees decide which hours and how many they want to work each day. One of the toughest tasks for an HR manager or business 6. Terminate any employee who takes a leave of absence, whatever the reason. owner is managing risk to prevent lawsuits. Employers It is too much trouble to administer leaves of absence, and who knows if the may unintentionally violate employment laws and never employee will return. realize the risk they create for the company. Trying to 7. Don’t give employees their final check if they fail to return company property. provide some flexibility for an employee, saving money for the company, or just being nice are all ways that an act 8. Provide loans to employees and deduct the money from their paycheck each of kindness can become a business liability. pay period. Although this list does not apply to all employers 9. Use non-compete agreements to protect confidential information such (regulations and collective bargaining agreements may as business secrets, customer lists and pricing information and prevent override these general rules), these 10 HR examples can employees from working for the competition. help employers better manage their risk: 10. Implement a “use it or lose it” vacation policy and avoid paying out all the *Reprinted with permission from the California Chamber of Commerce. money at termination. J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2 59
NVLife_JulyAug_2012
To see the actual publication please follow the link above