The year-end holidays tend to be a time when employers and employees are either winding down for the year or making one last big push to close the year strongly. California employers should make time this week, though, to ensure they are ready for the new laws which will take effect in California this Friday
Former Uber Driver Gets a Lyft from the Labor Commissioner
A California Labor Commissioner has ruled that one of San Francisco-based Uber’s drivers, Barbara Ann Berwick, is an employee, not an independent contractor. The Labor Commissioner awarded Berwick just over $4,000 for incurred but un-reimbursed business expenses and interest. On a positive note, the Commissioner denied Berwick’s request for wages, liquidated damages, and waiting time penalties.
Traditionally, it is the “right to control” the means and manner of work that is the primary element of the independent contractor test. Here, though, the Labor Commissioner did not rely on the right to control. Instead, she noted that the absence of such control is not necessarily dispositive where the actual details of the work required little or no supervision.
Continue Reading Former Uber Driver Gets a Lyft from the Labor Commissioner
Employer Wins: Independent Contractor Determination Is Binding On California Labor Commissioner
By: Lizbeth V. West
As many California employers are learning the hard way these days, the misclassification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees can have far reaching consequences when an employer is audited by different governmental agencies during either a random audit or an audit that is prompted in response to a claim
Upcoming Seminar – Overtime or No Overtime: How to Properly Analyze the Exempt Status of Employees
Summary of Program
The ever increasing number of claims filed with the Department of Labor and California Labor Commissioner for unpaid overtime, and the increasing number of wage and hour class action lawsuits, highlight the importance of correctly classifying employees as exempt or non-exempt. This seminar is designed to help employers and HR professionals gain