California Supreme Court has ruled that employers must pay hourly employees for tasks that are performed off the clock, no matter how menial. The case at hand involved Starbucks Corp. and a shift supervisor who claimed the company was taking advantage of outdated laws that allowed for some responsibilities to…
Minimum wages recently went up in a number of cities across California, including Los Angeles as part of a planned implementation of gradual increases. In 2015, city council established a new citywide minimum wage and put L.A. on a schedule to reach $15 per hour by 2020. This would be…
What started as two delivery drivers fighting for their employee status has blossomed into a landmark class-action lawsuit that could have a major ripple effect on employee classification in California and the gig economy in general. In the case of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. The Superior Court of Los…
A bill labeled “Dignity in the Driver’s Seat” has been introduced in the California State Senate, taking aim at port trucking companies’ exploitation of workers and failure to pay up for affirmed violations. This bill would make retailers who work with offending trucking companies jointly liable for their actions. Previous…
Californians have some of the best employee protections in the country. Our state has worked hard to establish fair wages, decent hours, and laws that are in the best interest of workers. Rules are put in place to discourage employers from overworking employees, and in situations where that is necessary,…
Any good employment lawyer will tell you that employee rights laws and wage disputes aren’t just about holding corporations accountable. At the core, these actions are about protecting people, defending their humanity, and ensuring vulnerable workers aren’t taken advantage of. We have come a long way over the decades to…
For many Americans who struggle to get enough hours at their jobs, the chance to work overtime is welcomed. The reason for this is that being paid time and a half for any hours over 40 in a given week means a bigger paycheck. However, there are those who are…
California has some of the best state-level worker protection laws in the country. It’s something Andrew Pudzer always opposed in his adopted state, where the Midwest lawyer moved and succeeded in building up a once-failing fast-food chain. Pudzer, President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of the U.S. Labor Department, was…
Workers hired to clean up asbestos are dealing with one of the most dangerous substances in the world. Asbestos exposure is known to cause latent diseases such as lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma. These conditions can be aggressive and, in the case of mesothelioma, is terminal. The substance was used…
A wage-and-hour lawsuit filed in Texas by a nurse at a large hospital alleges the health system docks the pay of nurses each shift for 30 minutes, but they aren’t actually allowed a 30-minute meal break. Instead, nurses are expected to remain on duty for the duration of their shift. …