California Workplace & Employment Law Blog

A common question I get from clients goes something like this: “My employee handed in a note from their doctor saying they need a leave of absence. Do we have to give it to them?”

The short answer is not necessarily, at least not yet. But the note does trigger an important legal process, and how you handle it matters. Here’s a breakdown of what employers actually owe employees when a medical note requesting leave lands on your desk.

I’ve noticed that my clients are increasingly receiving workplace complaints from employees that read less like emotional grievances and more like polished legal demand letters. Complaints now often include references to “hostile work environment,” “protected activity,” “disparate treatment,” and other employment law terminology that many employees would not have used a few years ago.

It’s not hard to figure out why. Employees now have easy access to AI platforms that can help them draft professional-sounding workplace complaints in minutes. An employee can input a few facts into an AI tool and receive back a carefully worded complaint that sounds as though it was written by an attorney.

Some employers make the mistake of dismissing these complaints because they appear AI-generated. That is a dangerous approach. Whether or not an employee used AI assistance to draft a complaint is largely irrelevant from a legal standpoint.

Severance agreements can be a valuable tool for employers. When drafted properly, they give employees financial support during a transition and provide employers with legal protections, usually in the form of a release of claims. But employers sometimes make costly mistakes when deciding how much severance to offer.