Marjorie S. Fochtman
Partner

Practice Areas

Experience

Ms. Fochtman heads the firm’s West Coast Wage/Hour team. She has extensive experience in wage and hour matters, representing employers in Department of Labor and California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement audits, labor commissioner hearings, and in state and federal court, both in individual wage claims and class actions. She also represents employers in preventive employment and labor law; discrimination, sexual harassment, and wrongful discharge litigation; employment training; and preparing personnel policies and procedures.

Recent Articles

• “An Employer’s Obligation for California’s Meal and Rest Periods,” BNA HR Decision Support Network, October 2009.
• “Ninth Circuit rules on compensability of activities performed from home and continuous workday doctrine,” Nixon Peabody Employment Law Alert, August 2009.
• “Reporting Time Pay: Time for Employers to Pay Attention,” California Wage & Hour Advisor, Vol. 3, No. 7 (July 2008) (coauthored with Paul Lynd).
• “San Francisco employers must provide paid sick leave beginning February 2007,” Nixon Peabody Employment Law Alert, November 2006 (coauthored with Joshua Henderson)
• Ms. Fochtman was quoted in article, “Hire help for the holidays—without headaches,” FORTUNE, November 2006
• Ms. Fochtman was quoted in an article, “Meal break fight mean big money, muddy rules,” San Francisco Recorder, April 2006

Recent Speaking Engagements

Ms. Fochtman is a frequent speaker on a variety of employment law topics.

• “Social Media: What Every Employer Should Know,” East Bay HR Leadership Forum, May 2010, Dublin, CA
• “Best Practices for Internal Investigations in the Age of Technology,” Nixon Peabody LLP,  March 2010, San Francisco, CA
• “Protecting Trade Secrets in an Era of Increasing Employee Mobility,” Northern California Human Resources Association, January 2010, Santa Clara, CA
• “Managing Leaves of Absence: The Interplay of FMLA/CFRA, ADA/FEHA, and Workers’ Compensation Act,” Employer Resource Institute, 2009 California Employment Law Update Conference, November 2009, San Francisco, CA
• “Obama Administration’s Impact on Labor and Employment Law: First Ten Months,” Nixon Peabody, October 2009, Palo Alto, CA
• “Protecting Your Company from Meal Period Penalty Claims,” Retail Roundtable, Nixon Peabody, February 2009, San Francisco, CA
• “Leaves of Absence in California: You Can’t Make Me Come to Work,” California Payroll Association Annual Conference, September 2008, San Francisco, CA
• “Wage & Hour Update,” San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, American Payroll Association, June 2008, San Francisco, CA
• “Employee Handbooks:  Setting Expectations and Furthering Your Company's Culture,” Employer Resource Institute, 2007 California Employment Law Update Conference, December 2007, Berkeley, CA
• “Wage and Hour Law Update,” BLR National Employment Law Update, November 2007, Orlando, FL
• “How to Keep Lawyers Out of the Kitchen,” Panel discussion, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs National Conference, November 2007, Newport, RI
• “How Lawful Is Your Diversity Initiative?” Practicing Law Institute, 36th Annual Institute on Employment Law, October 2007, San Francisco, CA
• “Have You Had a Break Today?” Meal and Rest Period Requirements in California after Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Productions, Nixon Peabody, September 2007, San Francisco, CA
• "New Laws and Perspectives on Absenteeism Policies,” co-presented with Dan Rabago, Lam Research, Association of Corporate Counsel, March 2007, San Francisco, CA
• “When a Stranger Calls on Your Company…,” Association of Corporate Counsel, Oakland and Palo Alto, CA, December 2006
• “The Role of HR in Disaster Planning, Response and Recovery,” Employer Resource Institute, Berkeley, CA, October 2006 
• “Responding to Workplace Data Security Breaches,” Northern California Human Resources Association, October 2006, San Francisco, CA
• “Understanding and Avoiding Off-the-Clock Claims,” Institute for Professional and Executive Development (IPED), Boston, MA, September 2006 
• “Protecting Information in Employment Law:  A Good Defense is a Good Offense,” Information Protection Conference:  Legal, Practical and Technical Solutions, A Forum to Ask the Experts, Sun Microsystems, June 2006, San Jose, CA
• “Manage With Care: Labor and Employment Issues,” Counsel to Counsel, LexisNexis, Martindale-Hubbell, Dallas, TX, April 2006
• “The Wage and Hour Lottery: How to Avoid Being the Next Class Action Target,” BlueCube Software CubeConf ’06, Ponte Verde Beach, FL, March 2006
• “Fair Pay Rules” (co-presenter with Alfred B. Robinson, Jr., Deputy Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor), IOMA Payroll Management Symposium, Washington, DC, October 2005

Admissions

Ms. Fochtman is admitted to practice in California.

Education

New York Law School, J.D., cum laude (Jackson Award for Outstanding Performance in Labor Relations Law)
Northern Illinois University, B.S.

Affiliations

Member, San Francisco County bar association Labor and Employment Law section; Advisory Board Member, Community Violence Solutions, 2004-present; Community Violence Solutions Community Champion Award, April 2005; Board Member, Ritter Center, 1997-2004.