Posts Tagged ‘ California labor law ’

Ever Wonder what Happens when you File a Complaint?

November 24th, 2009. By janem

blanco1 Ever Wonder what Happens when you File a Complaint? At the risk of patting myself—and LawyersAndSettlements.com (LAS)—on the back, I want to share these comments from someone who filed a complaint with LAS. Two years ago I interviewed Blanco Alonzo regarding his unpaid overtime complaint against Maximus corporation. Yesterday I talked with Blanco about a separate issue regarding California labor law violations and he brought me up to speed on the Maximus case…

“You really helped in 2007,” says Blanco. “Right after you interviewed me about my overtime case, about 20 attorneys called, and now I am the lead plaintiff.

“I selected one lawyer based in Texas who had a lead in California. My case is very strong and it is currently being determined whether it will be a class action lawsuit presented at the federal or state level.

“I always think about you because if it wasn’t for you I would never have gotten an attorney in 2007. And now so many cases against Maximus are being pursued after my case became nationally known.

My case number is BC381220 assigned to Judge Jane Johnson in Los Angeles, and it was filed November 26, 2007. We could have already settled but Maximus tried to file bankruptcy. I always read that article you wrote about me and tell people, ‘Jane wrote this case so well’ and I am so happy to communicate with you again. As well, my lawyer said the article was great and they get a lot of clients through LawyersAndSettlements.com.”

Tags: California labor code, California labor law, Maximus, overtime lawsuit
Posted in Employment | No Comments »

Steve Poizner: CA has “extreme labor laws”…huh?

September 28th, 2009. By AbiK

CA state insurance commissioner thinks labor laws need a fix That was a quote taken from potential California gubernatorial candidate (and state Insurance Commissioner) Steve Poizner at the California Republican State Convention on Sept. 26th, as reported on in the Los Angeles Times.

Extreme? How you ask? Well, Poizner seems to think that having California labor laws that require overtime pay to kick in after 8 hours are worked in a given day is a bit extreme. He points out that “almost every other state” only requires overtime to kick in after a full 40-hour week has been worked.

Here’s the part I find interesting though—I’ll let you read the excerpt first:

Third part of my plan is to align our labor laws with the rest of the country. Now, I’ve been an employer; a lot of you have hired folks, a lot of you care about workers just as much as anybody. Why does California have to have extreme labor laws that make us stick out like a sore thumb?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: California labor law, California Overtime, Overtime
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

California Labor Law Board vs California Labor Law Attorney

July 20th, 2009. By janem

So much for that old adage “Go West Young Man”. In these tough economic times, some Californians may be thinking about moving elsewhere, particularly when employers are cutting back on payroll by various means such as implementing furloughs, or not paying overtime. If this has happened to you, the boss may be violating the California Labor Law.

overtime California Labor Law Board vs California Labor Law Attorney

You’ve got two options: either contact the California Labor Board or seek help from a California labor law attorney. “How the heck can I afford an attorney?” you are likely asking, especially when your paycheck has just been slashed. Of course the California labor board gives free advice and that may be a good place to start, but it generally handles cases below $7500 and it doesn’t even attempt to recover the 4th year of California overtime pay under the California Unfair Competition Statute.

A lawyer, on the other hand, will seek to recover up to 4 years of California overtime pay for their clients. And increasingly, many California labor law attorneys work on a contingency basis—meaning you only pay legal fees if your case has been successfully litigated by the lawyer on your behalf. So what are you waiting for? Get all your ducks in a row; get your paperwork together and call a lawyer.

Tags: California labor law
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Week Adjourned: 7.3.09

July 3rd, 2009. By LucyC

Top Class Actions

Whiz-through security fizzes out? As if air travel wasn’t fraught with enough obstacles, delays, and frustrations frequent flyers last Monday found themselves SOL at Clear Airport Security Kiosks across the country. The problem? They’d closed their doors, gone out of business, shut down. See ya bye.

Clear operated the Registered Traveler program in 20 airports, serving a reported 260,000 customers. The company pre-screened frequent fliers taking fingerprints, iris scans and credit information, which it then gave to the US Transportation Security Administration, in order to fast track people through the security line-ups.

So, Verified Identity Pass, the parent company of airport security provider Clear, was hit with a class action lawsuit over reimbursement of its US$199 annual fee, by one very disgruntled customer.

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Tags: California labor law, Clear Airport Security, Marriott, Methodist Hospital, Week Adjourned
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Am I Owed California IT Overtime?

June 5th, 2009. By admin

For those of you in California who work in IT or computer industry, it might be a bit confusing to figure out if you qualify for overtime pay. After all, just being labelled “Exempt” doesn’t necessarily mean much–you could be labelled such and yet still qualify for overtime pay based on a number of “tests”.

LawyersandSettlements.com outlines some of these tests for you, but here’s something you may not be aware of: you may be entitled to back overtime pay–going up to FOUR YEARS back. So even if you’re legitimately Exempt now, you may not have been a couple of years ago.

One of the requirements in determining Exempt status is your level of pay. The chart below shows the minimum pay requirements (2005-2009) that you needed to be at in order to be considered Exempt. While there are other factors that must be looked at to determine if a job is indeed Exempt, your rate of pay is a good place to start.

Year	Hourly Rate	Annual Rate (40 hour week)
2009	$37.94	$79,050
2008 as of Sept.	$36.00	$75,000
2008 prior to Sept.	$36.00	$74,880
2007	$49.77	$103,522
2006	$47.81	$99,445
2005	$45.84	$95,348

Source: Division of Labor Standards Enforcement; History of Rate of Pay for Exemption for Computer Software Employee (California Labor Code Section 515.5(a)(3))

Tags: California IT overtime, California labor law
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »