The Kitsap County Treasurer announced a temporary extension of the property tax deadline until May 31, 2020. Treasurer Meredith Green encourages every person and business to pay property taxes now if they can. Importantly, these payments support the essential and emergency services we all require. However, she acknowledged that these are unusual times. “Kitsap County will temporarily extend the property tax deadline for residential and commercial taxpayers to May 31, 2020. Continue reading
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Coronavirus Stimulus Check Calculator
While we all wait for the federal government to implement the latest stimulus package, The Washington Post provided this quick calculator to determine the size of the individual stimulus checks. Most citizens will receive a Coronavirus stimulus check. However, you do have to have filed a federal tax return for 2018 or 2019, unless you collect Social Security. The wealthy and those who are dependants on another’s tax return will not receive a check. The Post story contains more details.
COVID-19 State Worker Benefits
The State of Washington created a handy chart for worker benefits. This chart of state worker benefits was created prior to new federal laws. The chart covers paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, paid family leave, in addition to workers’ compensation. Click on Read More to see the chart.
COVID-19 Criminal Courts Information
by Michele Taylor, criminal defense attorney
You may have questions about how our criminal courts are operating during the pandemic. Both Kitsap County District Court and Kitsap County Superior Court closed for routine business in March through April 24, 2020. Below is the key COVID-19 criminal courts information for this time.
You have a bench warrant
Co-Parenting in the time of COVID-19
by John Groseclose and Larry Lofgren
People are inquiring about visitation in this time of crisis. The question of child custody is perhaps the most emotional and difficult question courts have to decide. When parents cannot agree, often children are put in the middle. At GS Jones Law Group, we remind our clients that, not only do courts focus on what the best interest of the child is (not what’s “fair” to the parent), we genuinely care for the welfare of children.
Coronavirus Tips for Small Business
Washington State’s law on sick pay can be a real force for containing the Coronavirus here. Now is a great time to review your compliance and consider what changes this emergency requires. Consider whether you need to make your sick and family leave policies more generous temporarily.
Summary of our state paid sick leave law
Ginger Johnson Featured in Kitsap Daily News
Ginger is featured in The Kitsap Daily News supplement 2019 Women in Business (page 13) as the CEO and founder of Run Amok Racing. At GSJones we rely on her for her paralegal skills. However, in addition to her work as a legal professional, the veteran runner organizes six races a year and several in our office participate. Continue reading
Hostile Work Environment or Outrage?
Do you believe that you are the victim of a Hostile Work Environment? Maybe the correct legal term is Outrage.
by Chalmers Johnson, employment attorney
The Seattle Times recently reported on a state case involving a claim of “outrage”. A man did not like the fact that his neighbor was giving piano lessons in her home. He filed a complaint to stop her and then sued. He lost, and paid $30,000 for court costs and her legal fees. In response he parked his big truck outside of her house. He then repeatedly remote-started it, revved the engine and sounded the alarm. This tended to scare off students and interfere with her lessons. The music teacher sued and won. Continue reading
Pronouns and gender employment discrimination
by Chalmers Johnson, Employment Attorney
Trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming employees in the workplace
This week, The Seattle Times reported that Merriman-Webster added “they” to the American/English language as a pronoun for a “single person whose gender is nonbinary.” As an employment lawyer, I had to ask myself, “how is this going to affect the workplace?”
My inquiry led me to a chat with my brother, an employee of the City of Portland, Oregon. To him, this issue is an old one. Apparently the City requires its employees to include, a sign-off on their emails, to state a preferred set of pronouns, including they/them, and other employees are required to use that pronoun set when addressing the employee in the third person.
Trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming employees and the law
Business partnership split
Is your business partnership showing signs of fraying? Check out “How to break up with your business partner the right way” for cues to how to handle the split. The author, John Boitnott, cites three issues to look for. They include partners failing to carry their weight, fundamental issues that you can’t resolve and discordant work style issues.
The author focuses on the practical and psychological but also advises consulting a lawyer. Our 3-lawyer team for businesses can help you plan and negotiate your split, including tax, contracts, restructuring and estate planning.