|
|
Good News for Misclassified Workers
I was recently chatting with our building's maintenance person about the sale of our building. The new management told him he was being converted from employee to “independent contractor,” although so far as I can tell his job hasn't changed. This kind of summary conversion of employees to contractors in order to save costs and shift traditional employer obligations to workers has become common over the last 20 or more years. The trend has fueled job insecurity, rising inequality, and negative health outcomes for California workers.
The California Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court (Dynamex) has created great hope among worker activists that people like that maintenance worker — whose jobs fit traditional, common sense notions of an employment relationship — will again have the legal rights and benefits of employees.
Dynamex addresses the question of whether a group of truck drivers that the logistics company Dynamex converted into independent contractors should be treated as employees of Dynamex under California wage laws. To make that determination, Dynamex adopts the “ABC” test, under which an employer-employee relationship is presumed unless the hiring company can show each of the following: (A) it does not control or direct the way work is performed; (B) the work is outside the scope of the company’s “usual course of business” (an auto parts store hiring a plumber, for example); and (C) the worker customarily performs the same type of work in an independent trade or business.
While the ruling involves the interpretation of a California wage order, it is expected to apply broadly to all California labor laws where courts must interpret the meaning of employer and employee. While the case does not directly impact the narrower definitions of “employee” under federal laws governing union organizing and employee benefits, it carries with it the possibility that employers will reduce the use of independent contractor arrangements to avoid confusion and potential liability, bringing more workers into traditional employment and the ambit of these federal protections.
This decision is long overdue. For years, companies have taken advantage of inadequate legal tests for independent contractor status that allowed them to restructure work to increase profits by squeezing workers. Legal tests intended to be functional, real-world examinations of the nature of the work relationship have devolved into formalistic rules corporate attorneys use to manipulate away workers' rights with relative ease. The fact that employers have been able to convert employees (or their jobs) into independent contractors virtually at will is all you really need to know about how flawed the system has been.
The business community has mobilized to launch a full-scale assault on the decision. A coalition led by California Chamber of Commerce has written the legislature and the Governor, demanding they take action to nullify the decision. They warn of massive economic damage, an “onslaught of litigation,” and harm to business models backed by “billions of venture capital dollars.” It should be no surprise that Uber, Lyft, and Instacart signed the letter, along with numerous powerful trade associations.
My response to the Chamber? Dynamex is not about a change in the meaning of employee. It is about getting rid of blinders that have prevented the courts from seeing work relationships for what they really are. Business models that depended on courts not seeing and understanding those work relationships need to adjust and comply with the law, because the massive economic damage to workers must stop.
I hear again and again, most frustratingly from well-meaning progressives, about the inevitability of independent contracting as the new normal for workers. The Dynamex drivers, their lawyers, and the California Supreme Court just showed us it doesn’t have to be that way, and I applaud them for it.
Onward, Doug Parker Executive Director
| |
|
 |
Nicole Marquez (Worksafe), Emilia Carbajal (Graton Day Labor Center), and Kris Cho (Worksafe) |
|
A Just Recovery for Sonoma County
On July 19th, Worksafe travelled to Santa Rosa to join more than 50 workers, residents, advocates, and elected officials for a community forum titled "What Is a Just, Equitable, and Sustainable Recovery for Sonoma County?" The gathering, convened by the Alliance for a Just Recovery (AJR), comes ten months after a devastating firestorm swept the area. But the tragedy of the fires has extended far beyond the immediate loss of life and property. The destruction of homes and the lack of rent control policies brought in predatory investors and landlords that exploited the great loss. It exacerbated the already prevalent issues of economic inequality, ecological damage, and racial injustice. Speakers at the forum included workers, immigrants, residents, and representatives from the AJR. All participants emphasized the intersecting themes of environmental, workplace, and housing justice. Participants shared poignant stories of drastic rent hikes and displacement. A Sonoma valley resident of 28 years asked the crowd if they were ready to assist undocumented persons who had been affected, highlighting the barriers that community experienced during and after the fire. The forum included several overlapping calls to action: a petition for rent control in Santa Rosa, the local Fight for $15 campaign, and the drive to register and turnout voters. AJR also stated their values, vision, and tasks: centralizing structural inequality in the recovery process; developing a policy agenda with labor, faith, environmental, and community organizations; organizing residents while working with elected officials; and ensuring the rebuilding process is inclusive and just. The next AJR meeting is slated for Thursday, August 2nd at SEIU Local 1021 (600 B St. Santa Rosa). Click here to find out more! Many thanks to Worksafe's intern, Kris Cho, for contributing this piece. Kris has been an awesome addition to the office this summer and is about to take Brown University by storm. Good luck!
| |
| CAAA: Bringing Justice to Injured Workers
| |
Since 1966, the association has had one mission: to help injured workers obtain full and just benefits under California’s workers’ compensation laws so they can heal and get back to work. While the association is mostly comprised of attorneys, the real focus is on the worker. They know that many workers struggle to navigate the complexities of the workers’ comp system and are too often denied medical treatment after being injured on the job. CAAA helps ensure everyday people and those less fortunate are able to obtain the benefits they deserve, return to work when they’re healed, and continue making a life for themselves. CAAA uses a multi-pronged approach aimed at improving the system by supporting sound policy and regulation, improving implementation of existing law, promoting skills through education, and preserving the high ethical standards of attorneys representing injured workers. Recently, the association has sponsored legislation to end gender bias in the workplace, eliminate race, gender, or national origin as determining factors in disability rulings, and prevent federal immigration agents from unlawfully targeting people in state buildings. Worksafe is so proud to count CAAA as an ally and sponsor. We stand with them as they continue to fight for all California workers and help families cope with the trauma of work injury. To join their efforts to ensure justice for workers, visit www.caaa.org.
| |
Have You Signed the 'Our Turn' Pledge?
Worksafe is proud to be a part of a new collaborative effort to prevent sexual abuse and harassment on the job. The Our Turn network is bringing together workers, community, labor, nonprofit, legal, and academic activists who are commited to bringing #MeToo into the workplace. As a member of the Our Turn Steering Committee, Worksafe invites you to sign the Our Turn Pledge. By taking the pledge, participants commit to: - Support workers who take action individually and collectively;
- Encourage organizing in the workplace to prevent, identify and eliminate abuse, harassment, coercion and intimidation;
- Advocate for laws and public policies that protect workers’ rights
- Elevate the stories of workers who have fought back against abuse and harassment, especially people of color, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community
- Educate ourselves and our coworkers about the best way to support workers who are standing up for safety and dignity in the workplace; and
- Hold government agencies and all employers accountable for sexual harassment and violence perpetrated in the workplaces they oversee.
More than 200 organizations and individuals have already signed on – will you join us?
| |
Join the Worksafe Team!
Are you a worker justice warrior with a love for logistics and a penchant for powerful prose? Do you know someone who is? Worksafe is seeking a Communications & Administrative Assistant for our Oakland office! The Communications & Administrative Assistant is responsible for creating engaging communications and delivering skilled administrative support. This person will ensure the daily functioning and health of our organization by maintaining our administrative systems. They will also assist with internal and external communications across multiple platforms, for a variety of audiences. As with many small nonprofits, people on the Worksafe team wear multiple hats, and the job functions of the Communications & Administrative Assistant reflect that need for versatility. The ideal candidate has a passion for social justice, excellent writing skills, strong computer skills, an eye for technical accuracy, and a willingness to perform critical support functions of the organization.
Check out the full job description here and apply by August 10 for priority consideration!
| |
Be sure to check out Dying at Work in California 2018 – Worksafe’s seventh annual report on the state of safety and health protections for California workers. Please read and share.
| |
|
|
|
