Employment News

More than a million U.S. workers would become eligible for overtime pay under a new rule proposed this month by the U.S. Department of Labor. Currently, employees must earn less than $455 a week — or $23,660 a year — to qualify for time-and-a-half pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week. The DOL wants to raise that threshold to $679 a week, or $35,308 a year, including a larger swath of the population in the requirements for overtime pay. The public has about two months to comment on … [Read more...]

California courts have been making clear that employers cannot take advantage of workers, even in ways the companies may consider minor. Workers needn’t blindly comply with whatever the company that signs their paychecks requires. The law lays out specific rights for workers — even scrimping on free time by a few minutes is grounds for legal action. To help illustrate your rights under the law, we’re offering an overview of some recent cases, including a couple in which the court decided the … [Read more...]

Already this year, Walmart faces a class-action lawsuit over claims that it didn’t clearly alert job seekers about planned background checks; a California federal judge in mid-January certified a class of 5 million job applicants. And in early January, Delta Air Lines agreed to shell out $2.3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over similar claims, also filed in California. Last year, Frito-Lay, Omnicare, and Pepsico likewise settled background check disclosure form lawsuits for amounts … [Read more...]

Uber’s attempt to keep its drivers’ complaints out of court may set up the ride service for its biggest legal potholes yet — and help those drivers get some of the compensation they deserve. For several years, drivers in this new gig economy have tried to get fair payment from Uber, such as enough to cover gas and vehicle maintenance in addition to fair wages. A key sticking point: Uber classifies them as independent contractors rather than employees. Another beef: until mid-2017, Uber didn’t … [Read more...]

California Gov. Edmund Brown in late September signed bills aimed at protecting consumers in the ever-changing arena of guarding their personal information. Knowing your rights is half the battle; stay abreast of these changes so you can detect when your information is at risk and what you can do about it. Alexa, keep the bad guys out: California breaks new ground to guard consumer privacy Technology is evolving at breakneck speed, and California wants to make sure new tech doesn’t … [Read more...]