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Under newly enacted Labor Code section 181 , the California Labor Commissioner (LC) has cited Amity In-Home Care (Amity) $2.3 million for misclassifying caregivers as independent contractors.
Under newly enacted Labor Code section 181, the California Labor Commissioner (LC) has cited Amity In-Home Care (Amity) $2.3 million for misclassifying caregivers as independent contractors.
On investigation, the LC also discovered Amity had no workers compensation insurance and issued a stop order and $100/worker penalty assessment. The stop order closed the company until it acquired the coverage, but it had to continue paying the workers.
Citations against Amity include: willful worker misclassification penalties ($550,000); unpaid minimum wages ($422,033), plus liquidated damages ($422,033); unpaid overtime ($424,809); rest and meal premiums ($165,162); no workers’ compensation insurance ($81,673); pay stub penalties ($27,400); waiting time penalties for late final pay ($108,094); and other civil penalties ($18,950).
Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower commented: “Misclassifying workers is not a simple paperwork error. It is a deliberate violation of the law that denies employees earned wages, protections, and benefits they are legally owed and entitled to. My office is committed to holding employers accountable and ensuring all workers, especially caregivers, receive the pay they deserve.”
Take-Aways:
An employer can be tempted to hire people as independent contractors to save money or at the worker’s request. However, qualification as an independent contractor is a matter of law, not choice. Managers should consult a qualified attorney before they classify an incoming worker as an independent contractor.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
March 21, 2025
We have many wonderful clients who over decades have built thriving businesses from scratch.
We have many wonderful clients who over decades have built thriving businesses from scratch. There is joy in what they do, good managers working insane hours, with many trusted, well-paid employees who have hung-in for years, through good times and otherwise.
Yet, well more than once, we have seen such life work threatened with destruction by “little” mistakes on routine workplace practices that can pose millions in penalties under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) (2004).
PAGA is the pinnacle (so far) of this state’s ever-growing mass of workplace regulations. The law deputizes private-practice lawyers to sue and collect Labor Code penalties ranging from $100 to $10,000 per employee and per occurrence on at least 50 code sections. Liability generally stems from overlooked technical details, not intentional violations.
For instance, California law requires up to 16 data points on every pay stub (earnings statement). Even one inadvertent omission or inaccurate entry – repeated across the boards – can pose sky-high PAGA penalties.
The sample above is case in point. For that company’s hourly workers, the Labor Code required nine specific listings on the stub, including:
(1) Gross wages earned;
(2) Total hours worked;
(3) All deductions, including taxes, disability insurance, and health and welfare payments;
(4) Net wages earned;
(5) Inclusive dates of the pay period;
(6) Employee name plus last four digits only of social security number or an employee identification number;
(7) Name and address of the legal employing entity;
(8) All applicable hourly rates the employee earned during the pay period and the number of hours worked at each hourly rate; and
(9) Written notice of the amount of available paid sick leave (this last can be in a separate writing provided with the employee’s wage payment).
Their stub looks good, except for one “small” thing. The one-line (redacted) company name in the upper left has only a single line address below it, listing the employer’s city and zip code with four-digit extension, but not the street name and number. Result: potential violation of point 7. For an employer with 300 workers paid weekly and at the minimum $100 penalty per occurrence, this would create a possible $2,322,000 PAGA assessment.
There is no escape if a payroll company prepares the stubs. Almost any vendor’s service agreement places liability for non-compliance on employer-subscriber. See, Payday Mayday, Read the Fine Print: Payroll Companies Not Responsible for Employer Compliance (January 24, 2020)
Take-Aways:
On the premise that sooner or later every driver gets a speeding ticket, PAGA’s stakes require periodic “friendly” internal audits to confirm or remedy workplace practices for full Labor Code compliance. Our firm is performing these reviews for clients on an accelerating pace. The cost of prevention over the possible devastation of a PAGA suit is a business-saving investment.
For more information on our help with such audits, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Tim Bowles
March 14, 2025
First the dream, hard work to follow. On my first contact with young West Africans — July, 2005 in Ghana — with their passionate optimism despite overwhelming illiteracy borne of a brutal, very recent past, I had the notion that, just...
First the dream, hard work to follow.
On my first contact with young West Africans — July, 2005 in Ghana — with their passionate optimism despite overwhelming illiteracy borne of a brutal, very recent past, I had the notion that, just maybe, we might work together to make a difference.
First step: show up, a lot. Suddenly, it’s 20 years later, with so many returns to the region a blur and so many lifted by our persistence and good work, fueled through the crowd-funneled generosity of our many supporters.
And so, in the fading light on a recent Tuesday, I again exit the Robertsfield terminal into the arms of Mother Liberia. Yes, back again, that charcoal-flavored stabbing heat. Jay takes it from here, NGO standard-issue Land Cruiser, into town over highway paved in more places now, rough going in others, standard-issue Africa. Yes, back again people, to chip away at a broken education system and replace its fragments with something meaningful.
Liberia’s education system is not just struggling; it is reeling from the devastation of 14 years of intermittent civil war (1989-2003) that shredded its infrastructure, decimated its teaching workforce, and left an entire generation without stable schooling. Over twenty years later, the scars remain: over half the population cannot read or write at basic levels, some 20,000 teachers to serve a youth population exceeding 1.5 million with a pedagogy that clings to rote memorization, borrowing material to recite it at exam, then handing it back, forgotten.
The 30 noble articles of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) mean nothing in a dwindling spiral of illiteracy.
We are devoted to training instructors in a better approach, L. Ron Hubbard’s Study Technology (“Study Tech”), education geared to ability and competent application. Yet, such a powerful tool means little without things like a power grid that keeps the air conditioning going and students who start the workday already fed. Here, those are luxuries, not givens. And yet, every day, here are these Liberians, showing up and sticking through, with humility and humor. The results? Priceless, for example:
“After completing the ‘Fundamentals of Learning’ and ‘Study Tools for Educators’ course, my career took an incredible turn. Armed with newfound skills in the fundamentals of learning — how to study for full understand and application — I have a fresh perspective on education.
“I am not only empowered personally but able to mentor my fellow youth, helping them to develop and even improve upon what I have learned. I am determined to play a significant role in rebuilding our nation. By advocating for improved teaching methods, we will create a more effective and inclusive education system that benefits everyone.” FMG
There lies the real pay. And so, we show up.
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Tim Bowles
March 7, 2025
On the recent trend to direct workers back to the office, employers should not overlook teleworking as a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee.
On the recent trend to direct workers back to the office, employers should not overlook teleworking as a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued Federal Express Corporation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for its refusal to accommodate a disabled 30-year dispatcher’s request to telework because of physical disabilities affecting her ability to walk.
FedEx cited an “operational need” for all dispatchers to work in-office, which the EEOC rejected, citing that the company had remote dispatching for three years during the pandemic.
EEOC Regional Attorney Kimberly A. Cruz stated:
Allowing an employee to work at home can be a reasonable accommodation where the person’s disability prevents them from successfully performing the job on-site and the job, or parts of the job, can be performed at home without causing significant difficulty or expense. Before denying such accommodation requests, companies must sincerely evaluate whether the accommodations can be made, whether they would require significant difficulty or expense, and/or whether alternative accommodations exist.”
Take-Aways:
Management must engage in an interactive process with disabled employees to find reasonable accommodations short of undue hardship to the employer.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
March 7, 2025
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has issued $529,640 in citations to Smelly Mel’s Plumbing and Sewer Rat Plumbing after a trench collapsed on a San Mateo sewer line construction site, seriously injuring a...
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has issued $529,640 in citations to Smelly Mel’s Plumbing and Sewer Rat Plumbing after a trench collapsed on a San Mateo sewer line construction site, seriously injuring a worker buried under debris.
The citations were for:
Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee stated that: “Trench collapses remain one of the most serious hazards in construction, and employers must take all necessary steps to protect their employees. These citations serve as a reminder that businesses must prioritize worker safety, especially during high-risk operations to avoid tragic accidents.”
Take-Aways:
Employers must not ignore safety, including the state-mandated Illness and Injury Prevention Program (IIPP). Workers’ health and even lives -- and the avoidance of potentially enormous fines -- depend on having proper safety precautions.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
February 28, 2025
California Labor Code section 515.6 exempts certain licensed physicians and surgeons from overtime compensation upon receipt of specified minimum hourly compensation.
California Labor Code section 515.6 exempts certain licensed physicians and surgeons from overtime compensation upon receipt of specified minimum hourly compensation.
California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has announced its rate increases for this minimum, effective January 1, 2025, to $103.75, up from $101.22, reflecting the 2.5% increase in the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
To avoid California overtime premium rates, employers will need to pay such eligible professionals that minimum hourly rate, keeping accurate track of hours worked.
An exempt physician or surgeon must also meet each of the Labor Code section 515.6 skills and duties criteria. Among these, the employee must be “primarily engaged” (more than 50% of the time) in duties requiring licensure.
California Business and Professions Code section 2052 specifies such duties, requiring a medical license for anyone who “diagnoses, treats, operates for, or prescribes for any ailment, blemish, deformity, disease, disfigurement, disorder, injury, or other physical or mental condition of any person.”
Physicians and surgeons paid on a salary basis will not qualify for this exemption, but may otherwise qualify for the administrative, executive or professional exemptions from overtime. Each category possesses its own distinct requirements.
See also:
For more information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
Cindy Bamforth
February 19, 2025
When Cal/OSHA inspected Safeway’s large warehouse in Tracy, CA, it found “significant safety violations” meriting $182,000 in penalties.
When Cal/OSHA inspected Safeway’s large warehouse in Tracy, CA, it found “significant safety violations” meriting $182,000 in penalties.
The eight serious violations and 19 others put 1,700 workers in danger from:
Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee stated: “It is critical that employers recognize the physical demands and potential dangers faced by warehouse workers and take measures to protect their safety. Our inspection revealed that Safeway’s demanding warehouse quotas put its workers at risk of serious injury.”
Take-Aways:
Employers must make safety protocols and practices a priority, to protect their workers and to avoid penalties. They should have an Injury and Illness Prevention Program, including for indoor and outdoor heat illness prevention and should follow it.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
February 14, 2025
Castle Hills Master Association Inc. (Castle Hill), the Texas employer of a disabled pregnant worker, failed to accommodate her time-off request for doctor-prescribed bed rest because she was ineligible for Family and Medical Leave or...
Castle Hills Master Association Inc. (Castle Hill), the Texas employer of a disabled pregnant worker, failed to accommodate her time-off request for doctor-prescribed bed rest because she was ineligible for Family and Medical Leave or short-term state disability benefits. Instead, the property management company terminated her.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed court charges against Castle Hill for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The parties settled the case. Castle Hill is paying the pregnant worker $55,000 and will take measures to ensure employment opportunities for disabled individuals. It will also create protocols for handling reasonable accommodations for disabilities and train all employees on the protocols and ADA.
Dallas EEOC District Regional Attorney Robert A. Canino said, “It is important for employers to remember their duty to provide reasonable accommodation under the ADA, including the accommodation of leave, even when the employee does not qualify for FMLA or other employer-sponsored leave benefits.”
Take-Aways:
Employers should know and follow federal and state laws on reasonable accommodation of employee disabilities and engage in an interactive process to address accommodation needs. Presuming a person with disabilities has no rights if he or she has exhausted any state or federal leave time or cannot collect state benefits can be a very expensive error.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
February 6, 2025
California Labor Code section 515.5 exempts certain computer software professionals from overtime compensation upon receipt of specified minimum compensation.
California Labor Code section 515.5 exempts certain computer software professionals from overtime compensation upon receipt of specified minimum compensation.
California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has announced its rate increases for this minimum, effective January 1, 2025, to $56.97, up from $55.58. Alternatively, an otherwise qualified salaried employee is eligible on minimum annual compensation of $118,657.43, up from $115,763.35, payable at least once monthly at no less than $9,888.13.
An exempt computer professional must also meet each of the Labor Code section 515.5 high-level skills and duties criteria. Among these, the employee must be “primarily engaged” (more than 50% of the time) in intellectual or creative work requiring the exercise of discretion and independent judgment such as:
Although these workers need not be paid overtime premium under California law, employers should further ensure they meet the comparable federal law exemption, which includes a less restrictive definition of “primary” duty, a lower hourly/salaried threshold, and similar skills and duties tests.
Such computer professionals may also qualify for the administrative, executive or “learned profession” exemptions from overtime. Each category possesses its own distinct qualifications.
For more information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Cindy Bamforth
January 28, 2025