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Old 05-21-2011, 01:33 PM
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ilbegone ilbegone is offline
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Originally Posted by Ayatollahgondola View Post
Yes sir, and there's more to the plan, although it's a work in progress, some portions are already cast, but not disclosed yet.
One thing though is that we'll be passing out information to the day laborers on how to make claims against the businesses that hire them, and we'll be sure to make that known to the employers.
Worker's comp, minimum wage, and payroll cheaters and skimmers will be the biggies. Safety issues as well, for example every employee is entitled to one quart of cool, clean drinking water every hour and some sort of shade to take breaks under. The provision of sanitary facilities may apply in some cases. Time and a half is due for more than eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, which is modified in a 4-10 schedule. Double time is due after 12 hours.

I don't know how general it is, but in my trade OSHA requires two employees on every crew to be certified in first aid and CPR, it may extend to the construction trades and other employment as well.

It seems that the thing that matters anymore in bureaucratic eyes is not an employee's ability to do a job, but that the employee is certified for a particular task. Forklift operators come to mind, as well as certain employees working for an electrician outfit. There are penalties to be paid for not using certified employees, and it seems that there is an general attempt to make employment idiot proof while putting the burden on the employer to make it so. However, some "certification" is often a very brief dog and pony show which doesn't demonstrate employee skill level, but gets the company off the hook for accidents in exchange for an employee signature as "proof" that the employee is in fact "qualified". As well, there are courses which teach to the test for state qualification testing.

It seems that an OSHA 10 certification might apply broadly across the trades.

Driving trucks requiring a commercial driver's license legally requires a ten year work history, pre employment and random drug tests, employee permission for prospective employer to receive information from former employers concerning drug tests and other employee information legally forbidden for other types of employers to either seek or dispense.

Operating cranes and other similar lift equipment require a certification which is more meaningful. However, two or three years ago I saw an apparent group of foreign nationals working for a palm tree outfit who were utilizing an apparent 60 ton crane in a manner which violated much in the way of safety. The knucklehead operating the crane set up outriggers only on one side, and in the absence of any traffic control at all - not even flags and cones - repeatedly swung the counterweight into traffic. They were trying to remove a tree, and the lazy bastards didn't want to dig very much around the tree, so the "operator" beat the hell out of the boom by repeatedly swinging it against the tree in an attempt to break the roots, setting up a boom collapse (then or damage which would cause failure in the future) with probable injury and fatality. Fortunately, a Cal Trans employee came by and ran them off before someone got hurt, but they probably weren't turned in to Cal OSHA.

There is also wrongful termination. The odd thing is that California is a will to work state, which means that either the employer or the employee can cease employment at any time for no reason at all, and the employee is not guaranteed any hours at all. However, if an employee is fired, the employer had best have an employee policy which is communicated to the employees and enforced as well as keep accurate documentation which justifies the termination, or the employee can sue and win. For example, chronic tardiness is grounds for termination, whereas demonstrable personal dislike by a supervisor for an employee is not. I understand that the Labor Board keeps track of employers whose former employees contact the board concerning wrongful termination, and fines can accrue for a pattern of wrongful termination.

Of course, in these cash strapped times and the budget crisis cash employers would draw interest from the Franchise Tax Board, EDD (unemployment and disability "contributions") and a whole host of other governmental acronyms to collect due revenue - so long as it doesn't cost more to collect than to shine on.

On the other hand, as cut throat and fairly paranoid as Mexican and central American labor is, there may not be a lot of willingness to turn errant employers in without prodding by someone they might trust for free advice and I believe that would be from "Latino Advocates", not someone who is trying to kick them out of the country. But, it's worth a try.[/B]
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Last edited by ilbegone; 05-21-2011 at 02:32 PM.
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