wage and hour lawsuit

California Piece-Rate Workers Get New Payment Protections Starting 2016

November 20, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

money dollars Employees in California who receive piece-rate compensation will see a substantial change to the law regarding payments beginning January of 2016. Assembly Bill 1513 was signed into law in October of 2015, according to National Law Review. It created Labor Code Section 226.2, which imposes a new requirement related to compensation for piece-rate workers for their nonproductive periods. Employees must be aware of changes to wage and hour regulations to ensure they are receiving the money they are entitled to under labor laws.

New DOL Wage-and-Hour Rules Goes Into Effect for California Home Care Workers

November 5, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

In Home Care Association of America, et al v. Weil, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Department of Labor had authority to enforce new regulations established in 2013 and going into effect in 2015. The regulations related to the inapplicability of some statutory exemptions from traditional minimum wage and overtime rules applicable to employers. Under the new DOL rules, third-party employees working for home care agencies will now be covered by federal minimum wage and overtime rules. An experienced Los Angeles wage and hour lawyer knows this change could make a significant impact on compensation received by employees.

In response to the D.C. Court of Appeals ruling, several home care agencies sought a stay of the ruling, which was going to impose new obligations starting October 13, 2015. The stay was not granted, and employers must now ensure they are in full compliance with the rules, as Open Minds indicates the Department of Labor will begin enforcing new rules starting November 13. Home healthcare workers who are not paid overtime and who are not paid according to new DOL rules may have a case against their employers to obtain compensation for back payments and penalties.

New DOL Wage and Hour Rules in Effect

A Look at Workers’ Satisfaction in Los Angeles

October 6, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news article from Los Angeles Weekly, more than 50 percent of millennials living and working in the Los Angeles area are not happy with their jobs. The article is focusing on college grads, who spent a great deal of money getting a college education and now have hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt and are working jobs they don’t like.

A recent report from UCLA’s Labor Center focusing on young workers in Los Angeles states that nearly 60 percent of workers between age 18 and age 29 are forced to take low-wage positions. In this particular study, UCLA defines low wage in the Los Angles area as $13.38 per hour. The study also defined millennials as anyone born in the first half of 1980 or born in the following 20 birth years. This is somewhat different that the standard definition of the generation, which includes people born later than 2000. The study has also determined that around two-thirds of Los Angeles’ workers in this target age group are Latino. Continue Reading ›

California Minimum Wage Bill Stalls Again

September 30, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

There is no question that the minimum wage in California is too low. While some employers may not agree with this statement, anyone making minimum wage who actually tries to live in Los Angeles or the Orange County area and take care of a family knows all too well the reality of the situation. The bottom line is dedicated employees are working hard for minimum wage, but they are unable to make ends meet and take care of their families.

In order to correct this problem, there has been a lot of talk about raising the minimum wage in California, but, if these bills do not pass, it may not be anything more than talk. According to a recent news article from Business Management Daily, legislative efforts to raise the statewide minimum wage have stalled. The main bill, which many consider to be controversial, is Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), which was designed to increase the state minimum in wages in phases over several years. The total increase would have been in the amount of $3 per hour. The bill would have also set up a schedule for annual cost of living increases (COLAs). The first phase would have increased the minimum wage rate for the state of California to $11.00 per hour, and this would have gone into effect on January 1, 2016. On July 1, 2017, there would have been an automatic increase in the state minimum wage to $13.00 per hour. The automatic COLA increases would have begun in 2019. Continue Reading ›

California Gov. Expected to Sign New Equal Pay Legislation

September 28, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

As much as people like to believe there is equality in the workplace, equal pay for equal work is still much more an ideal than reality. While the gender gap is smaller than it once was, the fact is many women make less than male employees who would be in the same exact position. Even though this is illegal and in violation of California labor laws, some of the existing laws do not have strong enough penalties or enforcement mechanisms in place to end gender-based wage discrimination once and for all.

However, according to a recent news article from ABC, California Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign a new bill that will expand the already existing fair pay legislation that is on the books. The package of new laws includes additional protection for women from retaliation if they inquire about how much other employees are earning. This was often treated as almost a taboo practice where you do not ask what others are earning in the company because this could lead to anger among the workforce. However, the reality of the situation was that by not asking about how much other employees are making, the employer is getting away with paying a woman less money for doing the same job as a man. Continue Reading ›

A Look at How a Hike in Minimum Wage Affects Workers

September 23, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

It should come as a surprise to nobody that anyone working for minimum wage in Los Angeles would likely welcome an increase in the city’s minimum wage or an increase in the state minimum wage to a rate above what the city currently mandates.

However, as one might also expect, many employers and business associations are against a hike in the local or statewide minimum wage rates, arguing that increasing the minimum wage would harm workers. While it is obvious they are more concerned about their own profitability that their employees’ well-being, according to a recent news article from the Los Angeles Times, some economists don’t know what effect a raise would have on workers. Continue Reading ›

California Legislature Acts to Bar Mandatory Employment Arbitration Agreements

September 7, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news article form the National Law Review, the California state legislature has just passed Assembly Bill 465 (AB 465), which prohibits the use of mandatory employment agreements by employers in the state. With the bill having passed, it is up to the governor to sign the law by the middle of October or challenge it

The new law would effect any employment arbitration agreements entered into, renewed, or revised after the first of next year. There is also a provision in the new law making it illegal for an employer to retaliate against or threaten any employee for refusing to sign an arbitration agreement. Continue Reading ›

Recent Change to California Employment Law

September 5, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

While some aspects of the law and legal doctrine date back more than 1,000 years ago, when empires were fighting each other in Western Europe, a good portion of our laws and our legal system are constantly evolving based upon the will of the people and the actions of legislative bodies.

For this reason, is it important to review all recent changes to the law from time-to-time. A news article from The National Law Review takes a look at recent changes to employment law in the state of California. One of the recent changes was that the word “alien” has been removed from the California Labor Code. Continue Reading ›

U.S. Court of Appeals Agrees with Home Health Workers

August 31, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent article from California Healthline, The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has issued an opinion granting home healthcare workers the right to overtime pay and no less than the prevailing minimum wage.

The decision paves the way for officials in the state of California to go ahead with a law passed last year allowing overtime pay for workers in the In-Home Supportive Services program throughout the state. This law was on hold pending this recent decision from the federal appeals court in Washington, DC. Continue Reading ›

Uber Employment Lawsuit Challenges Independent Contractor Status

August 14, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

A class action lawsuit filed in California’s Northern District Court asserts the drivers who work for Uber are wrongly classified as independent contractors when in fact they should be employees.

The ride-sharing service, one of several to crop up in recent years, shot back with a motion asserting the workers are independent contractors, as they have little or nothing in common with one another, aside from having downloaded the company’s digital application at some point in the last six years.

In California, there are approximately 160,000 Uber drivers, and many hundreds of thousands more across the country. Drivers do download an app, which is then accessed by customers who need transportation. In this multi-billion dollar on-demand economy, there are numerous pending cases that question the classification of workers. Continue Reading ›