More workers are filing claims with the state alleging employers are retaliating against them for engaging in legally protected activities, such as seeking overtime pay or reporting wage theft or discrimination. The state’s waitlist for investigations and hearings is growing, and few workers have won their claims.
, was one of the state’s rare public crackdowns against retaliation — the act of employers firing workers, changing their schedules, cutting their hours or otherwise disciplining them for making legitimate complaints about working conditions.
California workers last year filed an average of 706 claims of workplace retaliation per month with the state’s Labor Commissioner’s Office, which enforces many labor laws including those banning wage theft. Those who do complain of retaliation may wait years before the state investigates or hears their claims.The number of retaliation claims awaiting investigation grew more than five-fold from 2018 through 2021 — to 3,378 cases, according to public reports. By April 2023 the backlog had grown to 4,878 claims, the Labor Commissioner’s Office told CalMatters.
“I thought, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me,’” she said. “There are needs in the home. I have to pay for gas. I have to pay bills.” “I almost screamed throughout the McDonald’s, ‘We won, we won!’” she said. “It was a tremendous joy.”An attorney representing the Sanchezes and the company did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Reached by phone, DRS Hospitality CEO Dean Sanchez — a relative of the former owners whom the state also listed in the case as an R&B Sanchez company representative — declined to comment, saying he was only “an employee at the time all that happened.
This spring the sisters filed a lawsuit against Hong Kong Banjum, the restaurant that employed them as cooks and dishwashers, alleging wage theft. In a court filing, CEO Min Kyung Jeong denied the accusations, saying the sisters were paid for all hours worked and given rest breaks. Jeong and her attorney did not respond to several CalMatters’ emails and phone calls requesting comment.
“We endure so much because we fear that any other job we find would be the same,” Veronica said. “My sister and I don’t have an education. We don’t speak English. And we’re afraid that going somewhere else we’ll be intimidated.” The Koreatown workers alliance, the National Employment Law Center and a group of other worker centers have sponsored a bill they hope will make it easier for workers to win state retaliation claims., would direct the Labor Commissioner’s Office and California courts to assume employers are illegally retaliating if they fire, demote or cut the hours of a worker who in the past 90 days has made a wage claim or a complaint about unequal pay.
“Our concern is when you start to get out 60, 90 days that’s when judges tend to look at other circumstances,” such as whether anything happened in between that time or whether the worker had a pattern of other behavior, Jensen said. Opponents argued then that workers could stave off justified firings by filing labor complaints ahead of time. Davis wrote in his veto letter that the measure would have “a chilling effect on a supervisor’s willingness to legitimately discipline problem employees.”
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Californians can now carry driver's licenses on their phone as part of pilot programThe pilot is limited to 1.5 million people. Several airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, accept mobile licenses as a form of ID.
Leer más »
Californians are moving inland for cheaper housing, and finding extreme heat that keeps getting worseSharon Daniels, 66, had lived in Antioch, California, since 1984.
Leer más »
Will California's new math curriculum improve state's woeful rankings?Californians are woefully deficient in vital math skills. The state is recommending a new math curriculum, but will it help?
Leer más »
Months of North Carolina sexual assaults pinned on suspended interpreter who pretended to be doctor: policeAn suspended North Carolina health department employee allegedly pretended to be a doctor to sexually assault woman in the Charlotte area, police allege.
Leer más »
Person dies after 2 driverless cars block ambulance on way to hospitalAuthorities allege a delay from the self-driving cars is partly to blame for the person's death.
Leer más »
New Orleans teams claim Challenge of Champions meetBrother Martin and Mt. Carmel Academy, both of New Orleans, won the Invitational Boys and Girls Divisions Sunday.
Leer más »