Employment News

Californians voted down a proposal to bump up the minimum wage to $18 an hour, but a California minimum wage increase still arrives in the New Year. By less than 1%, California voters rejected Proposition 32, the ballot measure to raise the state minimum wage in January to $18 for large employers and to $17 for employers with 25 or fewer workers. If it had passed, the rate for those smaller employers would have jumped to $18 the following year. As it stands, the state’s minimum wage will … [Read more...]

Wingstop employees who suffered from wage theft will benefit from a $1.7 million settlement — yet more proof that reporting wage theft and standing up against wrongdoing can make employees whole. The California Labor Commission announced the settlement, which pays affected workers $5 for every $1 originally due to them. The case affects about 550 employees of a Wingstop franchisee who owns five locations in Bakersfield. It all started with a tip from one of the chicken restaurants. … [Read more...]

Delayed raises under the California health care worker minimum wage law finally have a start date: Oct. 16. Some of the state’s lowest-paid healthcare workers were supposed to see bumps in their paychecks starting in summer and stair-stepping up over time to $25 an hour, according to a bill passed late last year (SB 525). But a multibillion-dollar budget deficit led California politicians to delay the increases. Some healthcare facilities reportedly already boosted pay, sometimes prompted … [Read more...]

We’ve written before about California heat illness prevention regulations that help protect produce, construction, landscaping and other outdoor workers from dangerously high temperatures. In July, similar protections went into effect for most indoor workplaces, such as restaurants, warehouses, and manufacturing plants. Under the regulations approved by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, in indoor workplaces where the temperature reaches 82 degrees Fahrenheit, employers must … [Read more...]

For years, California retaliation laws made it hard for employees in the state to get justice for workplace retaliation. That’s because workers couldn’t prove their employer’s actions were retaliatory — even if they were fired or demoted soon after they spoke up about problems in their companies.  In fact, the legal standard was so difficult to meet that many employees decided it was better to stay silent. According to a 2022 survey of California workers, 38 percent had experienced a … [Read more...]