Posts tagged overtime pay
Commentary: Biden’s Independent Contractor Rule Threatens the Evolution of Work
March 15, 2024 // So what's the advantage of reclassifying independent workers as employees? The same as the disadvantage: It makes it harder for workers to be their own boss, to choose their own schedules, to represent themselves, to set their priorities as they see fit. If you believe in the evolution of the workplace and worker self-determination, this is bad. But if you believe in a one-size-fits-all work model where individuals are employed by traditional businesses and represented by traditional unions, this is great.
New Law Redefines Employees and Contractors
March 7, 2024 // Data suggest worker misclassification may be the exception rather than the rule in many industries. Surveys consistently show that most independent contractors prefer their independence. Around 79% of them prefer their arrangement over a traditional job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while fewer than one in 10 contractors want a traditional work arrangement. "Since a lot of older Americans do seek out these flexible forms of work as they near retirement — or after — this rule will likely lead to reduced work opportunities for them." Implemented in 2020 when acting U.S. Labor Secretary Su was California's labor commissioner, California's Assembly Bill 5, or AB5, similarly set out to protect workers by getting more people on the payrolls. But many Californians working as legitimate contractors suddenly lost income after businesses and nonprofits stopped working with them as freelancers and didn't hire them as employees.
How the New Independent Contractor Rule Could Impact the Senior Care Gig Economy
February 27, 2024 // einer notes that the rule’s implementation follows a general movement throughout the country that is making it much harder for employers or businesses to classify workers as independent contractors. “However, since it’s a rule and not a statute, courts don’t necessarily have to follow it,” he says, although federal courts are inclined to follow guidance and rules issued by USDOL. “When the USDOL conducts an audit, they’re going to follow their own rules and guidance,” Weiner says. “Once you’re under an investigation by USDOL, you’re under their control. But because this rule has yet to go into effect, we don’t know necessarily what the overall real-world implications are.”
UCSB dining hall employees campaign to unionize amid poor conditions, low pay, harassment
May 23, 2023 // UCSB Residential Dining operates four dining commons — Carrillo, De La Guerra, Ortega and Portola — that serve over two million meals a year and employ a part-time student staff of under 500. The Nexus spoke to five Student Dining Labor Union (SDLU) organizers, including second-year sociology and history of public policy double major and lead organizer Cole McCarthy and second-year financial math and statistics and data science double major Christopher Pang. The other students spoke on condition of anonymity. The push for unionization quietly began in April 2022 with the meeting of a small cohort of Ortega Dining Commons workers. McCarthy said the effort “developed rapid support” and expanded to the other three dining halls.
Unionized Public Education is Destroying California
March 13, 2023 // The teachers’ union in California supported a ballot initiative that guarantees at least 38 percent of the state general fund is spent on K-14 public education. This guarantees that any new government program – such as last year’s single payer healthcare proposal that would have added hundreds of billions to the state budget – will pour more money into public education. This creates an incentive for California’s teachers’ unions to push for huge increases to the size of the state government, because they’ll get 38 percent of the pie no matter how big it gets. Because California’s public schools receive state funds based on attendance, the teachers’ union is also incentivized to support anything that will increase the student age population. Hence they have an incentive to support anything that will facilitate mass immigration, whether or not that puts a strain on housing and other services. If those students are from low-income households or don’t speak English as their first language, the per student allocations are increased.
Rideshare, retailers brace for tough U.S. independent contractor rule
September 28, 2022 // The meetings at the White House were one-sided, with officials at OIRA letting groups speak and not participating or asking follow-up questions, several employer sources said. They are interpreting that as a sign the Biden administration's mind is made up. Some of the groups have been trying, and failing, to convince the White House that any broad rule would hurt workers who want to remain independent and have flexibility...More than one-third of U.S. workers, or nearly 60 million people, performed some sort of freelance work.
Punching In: High Court Signals Coming Curbs on Agency Deference
August 2, 2022 // The Supreme Court earlier this summer affirmed that agencies can’t regulate “major questions” with significant economic or political implications unless Congress explicitly gives them the power to do so, Given the court’s recently expanded view of what presents a “major question,” some attorneys say the conservative-majority court may next take a swipe at Chevron deference all together. And with the Biden administration’s ambitious regulatory agenda, the DOL’s moves to define an approach to independent contractor status, alter how prevailing wages are calculated, expand overtime pay protections, or issue most any other regulation could be more vulnerable to litigation if that happens. A revised version of President Joe Biden’s $94 billion bailout for union-backed pension plans will take effect next week, outlining a realistic path for hundreds of cash-strapped plans to pay benefits for the next 30 years. Michael Lotito, co-chair of Littler Mendelson PC’s Workplace Policy Institute,
What a Surge in Union Organizing Means for Food and Farm Workers
March 25, 2022 // By organizing with the Warehouse Workers for Justice, many were able to get their jobs back and have their demands met. “What’s really interesting is that there’s a huge movement right now for worker centers and unions to work together ... to essentially surround the industry,” Oliva said. “So if an employer busts the union, the worker center emerges. If the worker center is unable to organize the workers, the union organizes them.”
How should lawmakers promote the flexible work arrangements workers and families need?
March 12, 2022 // “Workers should be free to seek employment opportunities that use their unique skills to contribute to society, and businesses should have the flexibility to offer choices to diverse potential workers and clients.”