Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog
The time between Black Friday and Christmas Day is always a hectic one for those who work in the retail industry. This is the time when sales are often the highest, which is where the term “Black Friday” is derived, as store ledgers move from the red to the black. Much has changed in recent years in terms of how employers staff their businesses during this time, and some of these updates are creating a significant hardship for these hard-working employees.
According to a recent news article from The Los Angeles Times, retailers, regardless of their size, are using computers to maximize staffing at times that correlate with higher sales. They are also using many more temporary employees than ever before. This way they can safe costs by not having as many year-round employees.
The problem is that many employees have no flexibility in their schedules, and the number of hours and times at which they work can swing so rapidly that it is very difficult to care for their children, go to medical appointments, and do any of the other tasks that are required in life. In some cases, an employee will have six hours one week and 39 the next. Not only is the number of hours changing on a dime, we also have workers being told the day before that they will have to work over night for one of the door buster or midnight madness sales that are common during this type of year.
There have been various efforts in recent to force employees to give employees in Los Angeles proper notice of the number of hours they will be required to work each week and when those hours will be, but the employers have been arguing that this will destroy their businesses. They claim that online shopping has but so much pressure on them, that they have no choice. It is hard to known what the legislature will do, but for the sake of these employees, something must change soon.
As our Orange County employment lawyers can explain, even without these protections over scheduling that are being lobbied for by labor advocates, there are currently many laws in place that protect workers, and a lot of them are being violated over the holiday season. If you were employed at a retail establishment over the holiday season, and you believe your employer violated the law, you should contact an experienced employment attorney as soon as possible.
Employee Misclassification in Los Angeles
One of the common issues that spring up in these situations is employee misclassification. Workers are wrongly dubbed independent contractors instead of employees. The reason this is done is to get the employee to work more than 40 hours a week without paying benefits or overtime. While there are certainly some jobs where independent contractor is the appropriate classification, it is not typically appropriate when dealing with workers on the sale floor or stock room of a retail store.
Contact the employment attorneys at Nassiri Law Group, practicing in Orange County, Riverside and Los Angeles. Call 949.375.4734.
Additional Resources:
Black Friday retail workers are treated like yo-yos. They need scheduling protections, November 24, 2017, By Steven Greenhouse, LA Times
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