This is our yearly wrap-up of some of the new laws created in California this year to continue to protect employees: Gender Pay Equality Law Expanded Beginning January 2016, an employer shall not pay employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work, and performed…
WHILE my columns usually focus on the serious subject of IRS audits, let’s end this year with more somber versions of Murphy’s Law: Law of IRS Audits If you are a rat pack who keeps lots of tax records, you get an IRS audit letter as soon as you discard your records. Keep your records…
In response to my previous article, one reader asked me about how one can possibly let go of worries, anger and pain brought about by the past when these are real emotions and real concerns that we just cannot kiss goodbye just because we are about to start a new year. It’s a very valid…
A NEW Year’s Day is that from which all dated their time and count upon what is left. Enjoying New Year’s Day is the knack of knowing how to live. It is all the hearty enjoyment of life – that flicked sense of happiness that can overtake any person anywhere, from the change of the…
In life, the greatest well-taught experiences come packaged in seemingly very ordinary encounters but surreptitiously tagged with lessons learned the hard way…through mistakes, failures, oversights, and disappointments. As the year 2016 draws to an end, I couldn’t help but reminisce and gather those not-so-distant events that have had major impact on me. Looking back at…
DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: I entered the U.S. on a C–1 transit visa, but I am not a crewman, nor was I joining any ship. I was simply passing through the U.S. to another country. However, I remained in the U.S. and am out of status. I just got married to a U.S. citizen, and was…
Even if every immigration attorney has a crystal ball and is able to read ‘mumbo jumbo’ or perform magic, they are unable to forecast the future for undocumented aliens (imagine the potential clients). Unpredictability or ‘flip flops’ is becoming the name of the game called politics. More than a month after the presidential elections, people…
MEN’S sweat is good for women Don’t laugh. This is true. Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania found that men’s perspiration has beneficial effects on women’s mood, reduces stress and induces relaxation. It even has an soothing effect on a woman’s menstruation. Blood test revealed a rise in the level of reproductive luteinizing hormone, which…
Best wishes to all readers for Christmas! HUSBAND and wife are both 66. They were my clients 15 years ago. I do not remember how much credit cards were discharged then but I do remember that their problem was too much credit cards. After they wiped out these cards in 2001, they were able to…
Q: I WAS diagnosed with early stage cancer a few weeks ago. I can still do my job but I will need about 5 hours off from work every week for 3 months for medical treatments. I asked my manager for intermittent leave. When he refused, I emailed him information from the Labor Commissioner’s office…
THE loss of our homes to foreclosure, short sale, or deed in lieu of foreclosure is akin to adding insult to injury – after losing our homes, we also have to worry about lender repercussion, credit history, and tax consequences. Let’s define and discuss tax consequences of foreclosure, short sale, and deed in lieu of…
FOR people who are considering bankruptcy as a way to get out of debt, some questions constantly arise. Am I doing the right thing? What other options are available? If I decide to file bankruptcy, should I file now or do it later? Filing for bankruptcy is a serious decision to make. Unfortunately, a lot…
ASIDE from the Christmas feast, Christmas carols, and gift giving, one of the highly anticipated parts of our family Christmas celebration are the games — particularly the Christmas trivia. Those who answer correctly win a prize while those who do not will have to do something crazy as ordered by the game master (my husband),…
Among the top resolutions people make when the new year comes around is getting their finances on the right track. The promise of new beginnings and the burden of self-improvement help people look back to a year’s worth of regrets. Aside from spending more time with family or trying to be healthy, we all certainly…
In both fiction and reportage, I’ve always made known that the winding down of autumn and ushering of winter puts me in a heavy and philosophical mood. I’m thinking about the deep and very private personal needs of people — a need that when met, gives us a sense of well being, one of them…
I HAVE read a lot of posts on social media bidding 2016 goodbye in the context of “good riddance” to all the challenges, losses, disappointments the year that is about to end has brought on both the personal and collective levels Indeed, it is hard to fathom how our loving God would subject us to…
ONE of the holiday anthems often played is the song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland. But not everyone knows the story behind this song. TIME magazine contributor, Wook Kim, wrote: “The original lyrics for this lovely holiday song—written for the 1944 musical ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’—were too depressing for the…
A BLESSED and Merry Christmas and New Year to all of you! For my column this Christmas, I’d like to quote Bishop Robert Baron in one of his Advent reflections. Contrasting our personal will to God’s will and purpose in our lives, here’s what he says: “We are dominated today by the ego-drama in all…
AN important part of Christmas is buying gifts for loved ones. Filipinos are busy filling their balikbayan boxes with pasalubong, to send to their families “back home.” The pasalubong may consist of clothes, food items, electronics, or other useful items, given as a way of “sharing one’s blessings.” However, many Filipinos forget about what could…
In the early 1990’s, news travelled fast about the irony behind the label “Made in the U.S.A” attached to famous brands of clothing because it was misleading. The apparels were not actually made in mainland U.S.A. but in Saipan, a U.S. territory, one of the 14 islands in an archipelago in the Pacific ocean also…
I CAN never quell a stir of fascination, dread and longing, when the house lights dim and the curtain parts in every Filipino American Symphony Orchestra (FASO’s) gentle riot. It is spellbound. “Enjoy whatever music floats the boat, never question your own tast. There is a world of music out there both old and new,…
DESPITE efforts by President Rodrigo Duterte to vociferously fight the drug crisis in the country, many still refuse to see its success. Whether they are guilty or not, the staggering numbers of people who have been killed cannot hide the growing level of violence and impunity in the country. The gruesome photographs of blood-soaked corpses…
CHRISTMAS is my favorite season of the year because it just makes us look at what matters most in our life, be thankful for them, and yearn to spread the joy and love with others. A fitting prelude to New Year, Christmas also serves as a good time to look back to the year that…
National tour at Hollywood Pantages Theatre until January 21 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” prevails as a timeless musical production that has undergone several revivals since it first premiered in 1951. Based on the novel “Anna and the King of Siam,” the story follows British schoolteacher Anna Leonowens who was hired to teach…
Thirty-two years ago, my husband left me. He died, leaving a house full of daughters, young and adorable, innocent, with the world on their side. In the face of adversity, we were not permitted to ask, “why me?” You can ask, but you won’t get an answer. Through the years, I’ve learned the hard way….
SAN FRANCISCO – You think they’ll go away. They didn’t, they haven’t and they won’t. They are not just a passing phase with cultural mileposts. They are here to stay in the heart of the Castro. The district is a world of its own: a special enclave, their home habitat where they are out and…
The city looking to combat Trump’s deportation threat IN conjunction with city officials and philanthropists, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the installation of a $10 million fund dedicated to assisting the city’s undocumented immigrants facing deportation. The announcement comes amid the historic election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has proposed stringent immigration plans, including…
LOS ANGELES — Roughly 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Pershing Square on Sunday, December 18, before marching to the steps of City Hall, where lawmakers and community leaders pledged to resist proposals by President-elect Donald Trump. Immigration was the most prominent topic discussed at Sunday’s rally, which coincided with International Migrants Day. At the event, demonstrators,…
Senior seeks Chapter 7 relief for $100K credit cards CLIENT is 52 and married. Her husband filed for Chapter 7 relief for $30K of credit card debts two years ago. At that time, I suggested to her that she should just file a joint Chapter 7 petition with her husband so that she could also get…
(And can employees use their paid sick time to care for family members?) Q: I AM a part-time hourly employee working in retail. I work between 20 to 30 hours a week. I recently got sick and had to be out for three days. I was told that I was not entitled to paid sick…
