Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog
Retail workers often have a much harder time than most people would imagine. While it might not seem like the hardest to job to stand in a store, manage the shelves and check out customers, there are a lot of challenging aspects when trying to earn a living and take care of a family in the retail industry.
First of all, most retail jobs are not full-time positions, and many retail workers are forced to work two or even three separate jobs to make enough money to get by each month. However, even though an employee might be working well in excess of 40 hours per week, he or she will not be entitled to overtime pay, fulltime employee benefits, or even paid sick leave in many cases. Retail employees are also constantly being accused of theft of merchandise, even when there is not evidence or reason to make such accusations, and management is constantly verbally abusing them.
According to recent news feature from the National Law Review, the City of San Francisco has just enacted an official Bill of Rights for Retail Workers. The bill of rights is technically composed of two separate city ordinances passed by the city board of supervisors, and it aims to regulate scheduling, employee hours, retention, and treatment of part time employees within city limits.
The law was created to apply to employees at national retailers and is specifically applicable to companies with at least 40 retail establishments located anywhere in the world and at least 20 employees located within city limits. These large national retailers are called “Formula Retail Establishments” under the new retail workers’ rights bill of rights. It also applies to companies that use standardized designs for retail establishments and the same trademarks and displays at multiple locations – basically, national chains and big box stores. Fast food chains restaurants would also be included in this description of a Formula Retail Establishment.
As our Orange County employment attorneys can explain, even though this particular retail workers’ bill of rights does not apply to workers in our area, including the City of Los Angeles, as it only applies to retailers in the city of San Francisco, it does not mean that retail employees in our area do not face many of the same issues. If you are retail employee, and you feel your employer has discriminated against you, you should contact an experienced employment attorney as soon as possible to see if you have a case and if you are entitled to compensation.
It is important to understand that while many workers are hesitant to take legal action because of fear they will be fired or it will harm their chances of employment with other retail establishments, an employer is not legally allowed to take retaliatory action against an employee for exercising his or her legal rights. It is also important to understand that if your employer does take retaliatory action, you may be entitled to separate compensation, because this is a violation of the California labor laws.
Contact the employment attorneys at Nassiri Law Group, practicing in Orange County, Riverside and Los Angeles. Call 949.375.4734.
Additional Resources:
San Francisco California Retail Workers Bill Of Rights, July 8, 2015, National Law Review
More Blog Entries:
McDonald’s Faces Suit for Rampant Racial and Sexual Discrimination, Jan. 26, 2015, Orange County Discrimination Lawyer Blog