Posts tagged Franchise
Court orders Bay Area Subway franchisees to sell stores, pay employees
October 2, 2023 // A federal court ordered the owners of 14 Subway Bay Area locations to pay employees nearly $1 million in damages and back pay and also to sell or shut their businesses, with any sale proceeds going to the Department of Labor. Federal investigators said franchise owners John and Jessica Meza, of Brentwood, directed children as young as 14 to operate dangerous machinery, assigned minors work hours that violated federal law, and failed to pay their employees regularly, including by issuing hundreds of bad checks and illegally keeping tips left by customers. The Labor Department also charged that the Mezas coerced employees in an attempt to prevent them from cooperating with its investigation and that an associate, Hamza Ayesh, played a role in those efforts, including threatening an employee who complained about receiving a bad check. The stores are located in Antioch, Clayton, Concord, San Pablo, Petaluma, Cotati, Napa, Santa Rosa, Windsor and Vallejo.
7-Eleven, Franchisees Renew Battle Over What Defines a Worker
July 26, 2023 // The franchisees say a lower court wrongly concluded that they don’t perform services for the company and refused to apply Massachusetts’ “ABC test” for determining whether those who run the stores are employees or independent contractors, contradicting a 2022 state high court answer to a certified question earlier in the suit’s judicial odyssey. The c-store chain urges the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to leave the lower court’s decision in place. The lawsuit, 7-Eleven’s lawyers said in their appellate brief, is an attempt to turn the state’s independent contractor law “into something it was never intended to be—a tool for business owners, like Plaintiffs, to recover as ‘damages’ three times the value of their business’s operating expenses, including their payroll and the fees they pay for their franchise rights.”
Op-ed: Time to protect worker autonomy
July 21, 2023 //
SEIU: ‘California’s Fourth Branch of Government’
July 13, 2023 // Notably, Manzo said businesses with labor union agreements usually don’t have to labor under the same strict state labor laws they force on other non-union private sector businesses – they receive exemptions in unholy deals with Democrat lawmakers. For more information on California’s Fourth Branch of Government and how to fight it, visit CABIA.org CABIA is calling out unscrupulous trial attorneys, paid politicians, and their allies that want to maintain the status quo in California. Our lawsuit tracker is the only one of its kind that provides public data on the amount of Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) suits law firms file each year. We also publish information on which politicians are backed by trial lawyer advocacy groups and other interests groups that would like to keep PAGA intact.
Commentary: How Much Longer Will Democrats Support the PRO Act?
June 29, 2023 // When the act was introduced in 2019 and 2021, I voted against it both times. Members should not be fooled by the so-called pro-worker rhetoric that has accompanied the PRO Act. You can be pro-worker without hitching your wagon to a poisonous bill that advances an ideological attack on small business owners. So next time your sink backs up or your chimney needs sweeping, think of the PRO Act and those who are pushing it.
BACKGROUNDER: Employee Rights Act
June 26, 2023 // Sponsored by Rick Allen (R-GA) The Employee Rights Act of 2025 safeguards and strengthens the rights of American workers. It guarantees workers’ right to a secret ballot election, ensures they can work directly with their employer if they opt-out of union membership, protects worker privacy, allows workers to choose to fund union politics or not, provides legal clarity for small business owners and independent contractors, and guarantees fair representation for all American workers.
Biden’s ‘American dream’ nominee would unleash a nightmare
June 20, 2023 // As mothers, caregivers, trauma survivors, and entrepreneurs, women seek nontraditional, flexible work for many reasons. They overwhelmingly choose to pursue independent contracting for greater flexibility ; more control over their schedule, work location, and financial future; and better work-life balance over traditional jobs. Su lacks direct experience running a small business. Leaning on her parents’ or extended family’s small business experience is not enough. Leading the Labor Department would place critical management responsibilities, plus regulatory authority over businesses of all sizes, in her hands. Her record in California exposed other severe leadership weaknesses .
It’s a Gloomy Outlook for Jobs Under Biden. Here’s the Formula to Change That.
May 19, 2023 // For the sake of personal and societal happiness, for the sake of the financial well-being of American families, for the sake of solving America’s dire fiscal situation, and for the sake of preserving the foundation of American society, policymakers need to recognize the value and rewards of work. By protecting individuals’ rights to pursue the type of work and compensation that is best for them, expanding alternative education and job-training opportunities, and not forcing workers into unions, policymakers can expand opportunities for people to achieve meaningful and rewarding work. Work truly affects every aspect of American life. Our economy, our personal financial and physical well-being, our nation’s fiscal sustainability, and even our national security depend on it.
Why Congress Should Follow Tennessee’s Lead on Labor Reform
April 26, 2023 // And now, federal legislation aims to give them a similar guarantee. The Employee Rights Act, introduced by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), envisions secret-ballot elections becoming the norm for almost all private-sector employees, in all states. It also secures workers’ privacy, giving them a choice about what information is shared with a union. For example, instead of workers having all their personal information—their cell phone number, their home address, and personal email—handed over to the union, workers can select a single piece of information to share. The legislation also modernizes outdated labor laws. With more than one-third of Americans now identifying as independent workers, this reform is sorely needed. The Employee Rights Act protects entrepreneurs by standardizing the federal definition of independent workers. This safeguards workers from being treated as employees for the purpose of unionization.
What is the Employee Rights Act, and how would it advance worker freedom?
April 21, 2023 // Unlike the PRO Act – which, imbued with a dated and rigid workplace vision that is increasingly displacing American workers – the ERA would empower workers to seize more opportunity and take greater control of their futures.