Somehow grab bars in bathrooms seem downright mundane when the speaker of the assembly and the senate president pro-tem take direct aim at the lodging industry.
This brings visions of private lawsuits by plaintiffs with bounty-hunting lawyers, instead of investigations by the state labor agency.
This is a terrible signal to send. It just interferes with the workplace. This should be left to employers and their workers….[How can employers ensure that workers are properly taking time off?] How do you police any of that? What is an employer going to do, set up a whole office to audit this stuff?
Unfortunately, living wage laws may have an unintended consequence of causing low-wage workers to be replaced by higher skilled, more educated workers. Living wage ordinances hit hardest at new entrants to the labor force.
It's seems like it's not good timing -- that we could be chasing business out of California. We definitely support employees and family issues and want to make sure we create a good working environment. However, putting California businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to other states only means that business will go elsewhere.
We’re certainly not, and I don’t think congress should be, in the business of mandating consumer choice. If you do the math on it, the consumer will never pay for it. We obviously don’t think the CAFE standards are very well thought out.
[According to Chamber of Commerce] the regulations create a new ‘unclassified’ workplace violation, giving the state agency the ability ‘to strong-arm employers for higher penalties.’
I was more scared than angry or frustrated. I've felt like a lot of this stuff coming down from the EPA isn't really well thought out -- they're off in the clouds.
Proponents of the bill never provided any evidence that increasing penalties or allowing more lawsuits would actually reduce injuries or illnesses in the workplace. What is certain is that employers in California will now face far greater penalties for alleged safety and health violations than employers any-where else in the nation. Undoubtedly, this will lead to much greater litigation of Cal/OSHA citations.
Its appropriate name should be the 'Be an Employer, Pay a Massive Penalty' Act.
