Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

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 ›

How the “Gig Economy” is Affecting Employment Data

October 4, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about how the economy is growing across the country and in the Los Angeles area. However, unlike in previous periods of economic growth, much of this job growth has been attributed to what is being referred to as “on demand” jobs “or “gigs.” While the term gig has being around a long time, it formerly was used when a band got hired to perform for a night. These days a gig could mean when someone online requests a single service, such as helping to fix a computer problem, or even coming to help put together furniture a customer bought from IKEA.

There are also ridesharing companies, such as Uber and Lyft. These companies get customers to download their apps for their smartphones. When a user needs a ride, he or she can call an Uber, for example. A driver who is working with the ridesharing company will have an iPhone that tells them someone has requested a ride. The ridesharing driver can either accept the request or do nothing. If he or she accepts the ride, then the driver is expected to pick up the rider and take the rider to his or her designation, and the app handles all of the payment, including a tip for the driver. Continue Reading ›

Report: Los Angeles Warehouse Workers on Strike

October 2, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Going on strike is not something anyone really wants to do. While it may be empowering to finally make an employer feel the effects of unfair labor practices, it is not easy to live without a paycheck. For that reason, workers who are forced to go on strike hope their employer will not be able to financially weather the strike and will cave before the strikers do.

According to a recent news article from The Nation, dozens of workers at the California Cartage warehouse went on strike. The Cartage Warehouse is part of the Port of Los Angeles and employs large numbers of Longshoremen’s Union members, as it has throughout its storied past. The Los Angeles ports have been the site of many disputes between workers and management over the years, much like the large ports and shipping piers in major cities across the country. In addition to longshore worker strikes, we are now seeing trucker strikes and warehouse worker strikes. The ports are staffed by members of the various unions. 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 ›

Irvine Water District Employee Claims Workplace Discrimination and Harassment

September 26, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news article from the Los Angeles Times, an analyst working for the Irvine Water District is claiming workplace harassment and discrimination based up both her race and gender.

Employee filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court, alleging that her supervisor at the water district disrespected her on multiple occasions and threatened her like she was his “personal servant.” The Los Angeles Times attempted to reach the supervisor named in the lawsuit and a spokesperson for the water district, and both said they were unaware a lawsuit had been filed. 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 ›

Roscoe’s Chicken N’ Waffles Sued for Employment Discrimination – Jury Awards $1.6M

September 20, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Roscoe’s Chicken N’ Waffles is a more than just a restaurant. It has become an institution in the City of Los Angeles and is frequented by celebrities ranging from Larry King to Snoop Dogg, as well as droves of tourists who come to the establishment after reading about it in travel guidebooks.

However, to one former employee, it was a place of discrimination, according to a recent news article from CBS Los Angeles. The former employee is African American, and the famous soul food restaurant is an African American owned business, but plaintiff claimed the owners discriminated against him based upon his race. He claimed the owner give full authority to the Hispanic employees and allowed them to run the place, discriminating against the black workers. Continue Reading ›

Immigrant Workers in California Strawberry Farming Must be Protected

September 14, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

There are millions of immigrants arriving in the United States each year, and many of these people choose to come to California. There are many reasons one would pick California as a place to find work and make a home. There are many jobs here that immigrants can get if they want. While many think of the construction industry as a large source of employment, in California, agriculture offers a large number of employment opportunities. Another reason people choose to live in California is because the state has some of the more progressive laws to protect immigrants in the nation.

According to a recent news article from the Californian, strawberry farmers tend to hire a lot of immigrant workers to work on their farms. Strawberry crops must be planted by hand, looked after and weeded by hand. Once the crops are producing strawberries, the fruit must be picked by hand to prevent the fruit from being bruised and to keep the plant alive, so it can produce more strawberries. For this reason, farm machines like combine harvesters are not useful in the strawberry farming industry, so manual labor is needed more so than with other crops, such as corn, which can be harvested almost entirely by machines. Continue Reading ›

Report: Tech Jobs On the Rise in Los Angeles

September 12, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

When most people think of technology industry jobs in California, they are thinking of the Silicon Valley and other areas in the northern part of the state; however Los Angles and Southern California are the areas experiencing the most sector growth, according to a recent news article form CBS Los Angeles.

With the increase in tech and tech jobs in our area, many now consider Los Angeles to be leading the nation in terms of tech job employment and economic growth. Part of this is due to the influx of “behemoth” global technology companies into the city of Los Angeles and the Southern California area, along with the emergence of many tech start ups that have decided to make Los Angeles their home.

While many of these startups may ultimately not be successful, the ones that are will need to hire a lot of employees. Many of the most needed jobs are in web development, coding, and software engineering. This is a good fit for the area, with a large number of schools teaching these highly technical subject areas. Continue Reading ›