Leaves of Absence: Making Sense of It All 

Bianca Saad

Vice President, Labor and Employment – Content, Training and Advice, Bianca Saad, a member of the CalChamber legal affairs team since April 2018, was named vice president in mid-November 2021, assigned to develop and lead the content and training strategy for existing and emerging products and training. She oversees CalChamber subject matter experts and serves as a co-presenter for CalChamber compliance seminars and webinars. Bianca brings the perspective of an employee representative, coming from nearly eight years in private practice as an employment law and litigation attorney. She has represented plaintiff workers in wage and hour disputes, employment whistleblower claims, personal injury matters, and employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation cases. She graduated with honors from the University of Miami with a B.B.A. in business management. J.D. California Western School of Law

Matthew Roberts

Labor Law Helpline Manager, Employment Law Counsel and Subject Matter Expert, Matthew Roberts joined CalChamber in July 2019 as an employment law counsel/subject matter expert. He explains California and federal labor and employment laws to CalChamber members and customers, and was named in October 2021 to serve as manager of the Labor Law Helpline. Matthew brings a decade of experience as an attorney representing business owners on California wage and hour and anti-discrimination employment laws for law firms in Sacramento and Davis. He came to CalChamber from the Shaw Law Group, P.C. of Sacramento, where he was a senior attorney and authored articles on emerging issues in employment law. In addition to representing employers in all phases of litigation before state and federal employment law enforcement agencies, he has provided training on topics such as sexual harassment prevention training, wage and hour and leaves of absence issues, as well as conducted sensitive workplace investigations for public and private employers. He received a B.A. in government from California State University, Sacramento. J.D. McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific

Sarah Woolston

Employment Law Subject Matter Expert, Sarah Woolston joined CalChamber in 2022. Sarah oversees local ordinances content, serves as a co-presenter for compliance seminars and webinars, and is an HR Adviser on the Labor Law Helpline. She has defended employers in trial and at administrative proceedings and provided day-to-day guidance to clients on a wide range of topics, including COVID-19 compliance, terminations, wage and hour, and harassment investigations. Prior to joining CalChamber, Sarah worked as a litigation associate at Best, Best & Krieger LLP and Matheny, Sears, Linkert & Jaime, LLP. In law school, she externed at the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District for the Honorable Louis Mauro. She holds a J.D. from UC Davis School of Law, where she was the President of the King Hall Labor and Employment Law Association and an editor for the UC Davis Law Review.