Telecommuting from Japan to California - Is it possible?

clambake asks: "Well, the long and short of it is I'll be moving to Japan next month as my wife is returning to finish her Master's degree in Tokyo. I have an excellent job now in Silicon Valley, and I'd love to keep working here from abroad, but it looks like California lawmakers have it out for me. Despite my company's willingness to keep me on, the labor laws make it very difficult, if not impossible, to do so when I don't physically work in the country. I can't work as a contractor for my own company either, as there are laws in place to 'protect' me from my employer trying to demote me to contractor to save on paying benefits. Is there anyone out there who's been through a similar situation and who would be willing to post their success or failure stories?"

Can you legally keep your address at California?

[xanderwilson]

Could you use a friend's or family member's address for a bank account and legal residence in California, and your employer could auto-deposit your checks into the account?

Just treat this like college students do when they go to school in a different state and keep their parents' house as residence.

Alex.

Is this so different from a business trip?

[polymath69]

supposedly it actually matter where you physically do the work, not where you live.

My old company used to send me all over on business -- to India, Brazil, and other places, for extended stays, yet never had any trouble with simply continuing my pay and benefits as usual. Granted that I'm not in California, but surely Californians face the same situation all the time? I've never run into anyone who stopped getting paid over a business trip.

You're going over, and you're going to do business, right? So it could be a business trip of unusual duration.