The Congressional Races — We have Winners
Thanks to Tuesday’s primary, the outlook for California’s congressional races is now much clearer. Democrats have targeted up to 10 Republican-held House seats. But the primary suggests that four GOP seats are in real danger of flipping to the Democrats, while the incumbents look stronger than expected in the other contests. Two seats were always long shots: Rep. Tom […]
Brownout
Jerry Brown’s long political career will likely end in January 2019, when the 80-year-old’s second stint as California governor concludes. In the media’s eyes—and in his own mind—Brown’s gubernatorial encore has been a rousing success. His backers say that he has brought the state back, economically and fiscally, from the depths of the Great Recession, […]
Local 11 Advocacy Rife with Hypocrisy
UNITE HERE Local 11—California’s most controversial labor union—recently turned in signatures to secure a November ballot initiative that would force certain hospitality employers in Anaheim to pay their employees an $18 per hour minimum wage by 2022. The proposal is estimated to cost the city thousands of job opportunities from hotels that won’t be built. But perhaps even […]
Time to Hold Our Judges Accountable When it Comes To PAGA
Last week the California Supreme Court published an opinion in Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California that should strike fear in the hearts of the state’s small businesses. It is a significant decision for employers operating in California that offer incentive pay for working longer/atypical hours (i.e., shift differentials) or non-discretionary bonuses, because the […]
PAGA Problem Mirrors Workers Comp Before Reform of 2004
For the business community, the difficulties of the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) are similar to what business faced under the burden of workers compensation costs over a decade ago. Small businesses particularly had to cope with workers comp costs that stood at twice the national average threatening the viability of many establishments. While workers […]
Will 2018 Bring More Employment Mandates on California’s Business Community?
As the 2018 California Legislative Session commences on January 3, the business community must remain vigilant about those bills that could present new, burdensome changes in state labor and employment laws. The 2017 Session saw a large number of significant labor and employment laws get enacted that impose significant burdens upon employers in California, including […]
2018 Brings Yet Another Minimum Wage Hike
Just like earlier this year, because of the enactment of SB 3 (Leno) in 2016, California’s minimum wage is going up again. On January 1, 2018, the state’s minimum wage will be increased for all sizes of businesses as “small employers” will see their first wage hike in recent years. Under prior state law, the […]
Stop Adding Labor Laws
If you build a 1,000 square foot home, and add a room, and then another, and add a floor, and another floor, what will happen? The home will collapse because the foundation was not built for such a big house. This is what has happened to the 1,039 page Labor Law digest 2017 edition, and […]
Bills Facing the Business Community When the Legislature Reconvenes
Even though the 2017 Legislative Session recently concluded, the California business community needs to be aware of “2-year bills” that will be considered when the Legislature reconvenes on January 3, 2018. There are nearly 1,000 of these two-year bills that are technically alive, at least until the constitutional deadline of January 31, 2017 to clear their […]
What is Farmworkers Union Hiding From?
United Farmworkers Union (UFW) president Arturo Rodriguez recently sent a letter to several agricultural organizations, elected officials, and water groups intended to bully the recipients into supporting an effort to disbar an attorney in a closely watched labor case, Jose Arias v. Anthony Raimondo. The letter made several unproven allegations about events surrounding the deportation of a dairy worker. After […]