They Want Your Phone? So Your Car Can Do What?

Has this happened to you?  Have you bought a car recently, and you were asked to allow them to put an app on your phone?  Maybe you were told the app would be great for you, so you can unlock it from your phone.

First of all, why would you want to do that? Wouldn’t you be a little worried that you might activate the app accidentally, and unlock your car by mistake?

Not only that, but guess what you will probably get with that gift?  Free boxes of cookies, dozens of them!  A Bake Sale!  Of the kind that will track you wherever you go.  You know the type, the ones that ask you, “How did you like shopping at NeverGoingThereAgainStore?”  Or, “How would your rate LatestCrummySequelEver?”

Why would this happen at all?  Maybe because employees are now being pushed to get you to have apps on your phone that will force you to get ads you never wanted.  Isn’t television bad enough?  Direct TV?  Streaming?  Cabling?  The Next Big Thing?

Or are you one of those employees now being required to force this on your customers?  Whether it’s for a car or a television, a boat or a tractor?  Are your commissions being cut if you don’t ‘sell’ these apps?  Know anyone who’s been fired because they didn’t want to stick the customer with another pain in the butt – where they park their phone?

If you’re a customer, or if you’re the salesperson, and you’re unhappy about this, perhaps something can be done.  Try emailing us at tom@falveylaw.com.  Or call 626-795-0205.

You’re accused of theft or worse! Not True? Here’s what to do!

Let’s say the following happens:

  1. You’re accused of having stolen something. Or …
  2. You failed to lock a door, a window, a safe, and money, drugs, product were stolen. Or …
  3. You harassed someone in full view of everyone. Or …
  4. You broke a serious company rule! How could you?? Or …
  5. The time you put down was wrong. You didn’t get to work on time, or you left early.

Chances are, if the accusation is strong enough, you’ll be told to leave that very day, and given a final check.

NOTE: Before you do what we suggest, you should probably wait you get your final check. Remember, you don’t have to sign any release to get that check. If you’re owed wages, you’re owed wages. In California, they have to pay you right then. You don’t have to admit any wrongdoing to get that check, either.

BUT … If what your boss, your manager, your supervisor or HR said is simply not true, here’s what you might considering doing.

(Once you are paid.) Think if there might be a company video or audio recordings that would show what actually happened. If so, then do this: In writing, an email would be best, say you want to see them.

Also, say, if you believe it, that those tapes would prove you were not at fault and you want to review them right away. AND, be sure to ask your employer that those tapes be saved, and ask for copies of them as well.

The company may well say they don’t have to give you those tapes. Or they may not answer you at all. But if they do exist, your employer may now be on the hook. Your employer might have a serious problem if those tapes favor your position, because you asked for them, and they didn’t want to provide them.

If that happens? Maybe you’d want to call a law firm that represents employees who are wrongly let go – fired – terminated – tossed out.

Feel free to call us at 626-795-0205. Or write us at Tom@falveylaw.com.

Forced Kickbacks at Work??? Yeah, Sadly, It Can Happen

Some bosses actually expect their employees to ‘give’ them something for the right to keep a job. Or to get enough hours of work. What’s going on there? They want a kickback. They’re demanding a payment you’re forced to make every month or so. Something for the team lead for him or to keep you on the job.

If it’s happened to you, it might have been some portion of your pay, say $50 or more a payday. Or it might be something else, like tickets to a ballgame. Or something like a case of beer, or a bottle of tequila.

That’s not supposed to happen. You know it. They know it. But you also know if you stop agreeing to ‘giving the boss a gift’ – which is no gift at all – you might get fired. Or find yourself being given a much shorter workweek or workday.

Hopefully, this never happens to you. Is this happening to you right now? If so, start keeping track of it somehow. Write down the dates on a calendar, or a notebook. Or maybe even record it on your phone, perhaps. But be sure to keep it to yourself.

If it starts getting bad, and you complain about it and are let go, maybe you have a chance at getting paid back for what happened to you. You might let us know, show us what you’ve written down or have on your cellphone.

If this has gone on during the past few years, did you complain about it? If so, did you lose your job or work? Perhaps something can still be done to make it more fair.

Plain and simple, having to pay a kickback or bribe to a manager or supervisor to keep a job shouldn’t happen. Call us at 626-795-0205 or 818-547-5200 if that is – or was going on in the past.

You were just fired! No Reason Given! Now What?

Depending on your circumstances, you should definitely consider whether you should file a workers’ compensation claim, a disability claim, and/or a claim for unemployment benefits.

You might also be entitled to unpaid overtime, minimum wages, sick leave and vacation benefits. Maybe you’re even owed money for expenses you incurred, such as your purchase or cleaning of uniforms, shoes, and/or special equipment.

But one of the things you should also do is to try to figure out – not so easy, admittedly – why you might have been fired out of the blue. If it was an illegal reason, you might have avenues to pursue to make it right.

With a few exceptions, for example, if you’re subject to a union collective bargaining agreement, you can probably be fired without cause, at any time – as long as the firing is legal.

But one can also be fired for illegal reasons. For example, it might well be illegal, and you could sue for wrongful termination and more, if you were fired because of your age, race, nationality, gender, and/or religion. The same might be true if you were terminated because you might have a physical or mental disability.

If you’re pregnant when you’re fired, that might be something to consider as another illegal reason for your being let go. If you complain about unpaid wages, overtime due you, or an unsafe or unclean working area or environment, that’s another reason when you’re firing might be illegal.

Similarly, if your employer fired you in retaliation for some reason, e.g., defending a co-employee, or pointing out some safety or problem within the company, that might be reason to seek legal relief and damages.

If you’re unsure, but still feel you shouldn’t have been fired? Maybe you should contact us so we could try to talk through what might have happened. Feel free to write tom@falveylaw.com, or call us at 818-547-5200 or 626-795-0205 if you’d like to see what might be done.

Thanks very much. If any of this applies to your, your family or friends, we hope to hear from you.

Donning and Doffing Protective Clothing – Your Time Matters!

Does the work you perform require you to put on a uniform before you actually start work?

If that’s the case, it’s probably because your employer knows that it has to follow OSHA rules, and protect you from injury.

Is that’s the case? Is your job is so dangerous you need the physical protection of a uniform? Then you may well be entitled to be paid for the time it takes to put that uniform on to start work and take it off when work concludes.

Are you told to clock in after you have the uniform on? It may well be that you’re being denied pay for the time you’re donning and doffing that protective clothing.

Whether you are doing this now, or did it in the past few years, or if you know someone who is going through this situation, maybe you’d like to give us a call. We’d be glad to talk with you.

Thanks very much. We hope this helps you or someone you know.

OVERTIME! 40 hours is not the ‘tell’ in California!

Does your boss tell you, “Overtime begins after 40 hours”? If you work in California, that’s sort of how it works, SOMETIMES – but not all the time.

Here’s how it really works. Overtime BEGINS after you’ve worked 8 hours in a day, OR 40 hours in a week. AND, depending on whether you work 6 or 7 days a week, different overtime factors may come into play!

Guess what else! If you work a 9-5:30 shift, and are scheduled for a half-hour meal break, AND you are forced to miss that meal break, because you can’t leave your workplace, or your work is too demanding, then you’ve worked overtime!

What if you worked overtime for that half hour for every day of the week for 50 weeks a year for 4 years? That would be 3/4 of an hour’s pay for 4 years, or 3/4 of what you make in a year!

Say your earned $10/hr. So you missed .5 hours of overtime at $15/hr. So you missed out on $7.50 each day, $37.50 each week, and in 4 years (200 weeks), you are owed – plus interest, $7,500. What if you earn $20/hour in that scenario? $15,000!

And that doesn’t even include meal break penalties, which are an hour’s pay for each day you miss such a meal break. Meal breaks go back 3 years. So that would be $10 x 5 days a week x 150 weeks, which would be another $7,500!

Were you fired recently? Let go in a reduction in force? Told your job had been eliminated? Maybe you’re owed overtime! Call us! 818-547-5200 or 626-674-5509. Or email us at tom@falveylaw.com.

PRETEXT – What They “Make Up” for Why You Got Fired!

Has this happened to you? Or a family member, or close friend?

You (or they) have worked at a job for a number of years. Then suddenly someone claims inventory or equipment is missing, and they hang it on you – even if you normally didn’t work at that location and/or were only there one day?

If you didn’t do it, if someone else did, then what they’re doing is using a PRETEXT – a phony reason – to get rid of you.

Or does this happen? You’re told they don’t believe it was you, but you have to take a lie-detector test? Then when you refuse, you get fired because only a guilty person wouldn’t take the test?

Maybe the people who really took the goods figured out a way to throw you under the bus and take the heat off themselves. Maybe you lost your job not because of anything you did, but because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Then later, you hear that people are being told that’s the reason you’re gone? You were fired?

If any of these things happened, maybe there’s a remedy. Maybe there’s a way to regain some of what you lost. Maybe you would want to call us to talk about it. If you do, call either 626-795-0205 or 818-547-5200. Thanks for reading, and keeping this in mind.

April 15th – Watch out! Your Tax Withholding May Be Withheld!

You know each week, or every other week, or twice a month, when you get your Earnings Statements? Do you ever look to see how much is being taken out in taxes?

You should!

Some employers have decided a good way to keep their employees’ money is to pocket the taxes they withheld from their paychecks. Have you heard about that recently in the news!!!???

When you go to file your taxes, be sure to ask whoever is doing that for you (or if you’re doing it alone) to check to make sure ALL the money withheld from your paycheck for taxes got to the right taxing authority. In California, that would be the Franchise Tax Board for state taxes, and of course the IRS for federal taxes.

Don’t get cheated on your taxes because of where you work. If you find this happens, contact an attorney who represents employees. If you don’t know any other attorneys in California, maybe you should call me. Hopefully, of course, this trick hasn’t been played on you and won’t happen to you or anyone you know. But if it does, please protect yourself and friends and relatives – and make that call!

Funeral Home Workers – Everyone’s Time Is Valuable

Sooner or later, we’re all faced with having to deal with decisions relating to the possibility of funerals, be it for friends, families, or our own.

The people we meet with at the mortuaries, funeral homes, and cemeteries, are all trained to try to give us the best possible service, all the while engaging in a business which requires success to continue in operation.

So we’re glad, aren’t we, when we do have to travel to such locations, be it memorial parks, graveyards or mausoleums, to find someone who will take the time to try to help us?

If you work for such an institution, you know this to be a fact: Most people are not well-prepared for that first visit. It may take more than one visit. It may require meetings after regular business hours, on week-ends, or even to the person’s home or place of business.

Just because you are doing such a fine service doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be paid for every hour you put in to help all those individuals who require and appreciate your help. If you are employed in this field, irrespective of how your employer pays you, we recommend you track every minute of time spent with visitors and customers, including travel, text, phone and email time, whether at the office or anywhere else.

Your time is valuable. You should be paid in full for that time.

Independent Contractors – The Great Escape for Some Employers

Chances are you – or someone you know – carries the title of Contractor. But think again if you imagine that those contractors have anything to do with any home improvement seen on HGTV.

Lots of large companies are using the job title of “Independent Contractor” as a way out of having to pay wages and benefits. It can happen, for example, in truck driving, delivery, or taxi service. It also crops up for in-house staffs, and even in hotel workers’ classifications.

The biggest out for such employers relates to benefits. These ‘employers’ almost never pay – and thus those Contractor workers don’t get – employer tax coverage, social security benefits, vacation, sick leave, paid time off, overtime or even minimum wage.

But these contractors have no Independence. They can’t choose when they want to work. They have to keep schedules, just like employees. They may even do the same work right along with or next to actual employees who do get those benefits. They may even wear the same uniforms, drive the same type of vehicle, work the same long hours. But they have none of the protections they would if they were employees.

Even worse, the contractors may be required to pay for the tools of the trade, e.g., vehicles, in such a manner that the cost of the vehicle can eat up a major chunk the contractor is supposed to earn for doing this work.

Are you a Contractor (whether called Independent or not) findingi yourself in such a situation? Keep your own record (a daily record of your own, paper or otherwise) of every aspect of your working time. Do you pay for phones, gas, parking, washing, uniforms, shoes, anything like that at all, while working 5-7 days a week, 8-12 hours a day? Write down and save receipts of every penny of expense that comes out of your pocket.

Maybe you can still get some of those benefits. Perhaps you are owed back straight or overtime. You might be owed reimbursement for all those expenses. If any of this applies to you, we recommend you give us, or an attorney representing employees a call.