Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog
We hear a lot about jobs and job numbers on the news these days, as it has become a major political talking point. Whether or not jobs will come back to Americans is up for debate, and both sides of the aisle have a lot to say about the topic.
However, what we do know is that there are a lot of factories shuttered and a lot of jobs being lost, and for the laid-off workers, this is often devastating. According to a recent news article from 89.3 KPCC, California is providing $3 million to help the 600 workers who were laid-off by American Apparel.The money comes from the California Employment Development Department via an award to the Economic and Workforce Development Department for the city and county of Los Angeles. This money will go to assist 600 of the workers who were laid off, but there was a total of around 3,000 employees who were laid off by the company. Many of the employees were working in Los Angeles before they were let go by the company.
The city said that the money will go to the 600 because they were ones who chose to accept the grant, as it is evidently a voluntary program. There were another 300 workers who are employed by a new company called Los Angeles Apparel that was created by the founder of American Apparel. However, it seems that many of the former workers chose to use their lay off as an opportunity to retire, and others were able to land jobs with other companies.
This grant program does not give the money directly to the employees, but provides vocational training that includes learning computer skills. They will also be helped with career skills like resume writing and others will get help with filing unemployment. One of the issues is that many of the workers do not speak English, and this process is very difficult for them.
One thing to keep in mind is that many industrial workers do not speak English, and this has led to many of them being mistreated and taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers, as our Los Angeles employment lawyers can explain. Many of these foreign-born workers who do not have English as a native language are also afraid to speak out if their employers are not paying them minimum wage or not paying overtime. This fear is actually instilled by many employers who threaten them if they take action or otherwise seek help.
Not only is this type of intimidation wrong, it is a violation of the labor code and any retaliation can be the basis for an entirely different claim by the aggrieved or injured employers. Another thing to understand is that a consultation with a labor lawyer is entirely confidential, and it will not get back to your employer that you had such a meeting. This is not to say that these workers are the only ones that are paid less than they should be and not provided legally required protections by the employers, but it does happen to these individuals at an alarming rate.
Contact the employment attorneys at Nassiri Law Group, practicing in Orange County, Riverside and Los Angeles. Call 949.375.4734.
Additional Resources:
California gives $3 million to help 600 laid-off American Apparel workers, July 6, 2017, By Ben Bergman, 89.3 KPCC
More Blog Entries:
Will Cities and Counties Soon Investigate Discimination Claims in California?, May 28, 2017, Employment Lawyer Blog