Have a general question about employment law? Want to share a story? I welcome all comments and questions. I can't give legal advice here about specific situations but will be glad to discuss general issues and try to point you in the right direction. If you need legal advice, contact an employment lawyer in your state. Remember, anything you post here will be seen publicly, and I will comment publicly on it. It will not be confidential. Govern yourself accordingly. If you want to communicate with me confidentially as Donna Ballman, Florida lawyer rather than as Donna Ballman, blogger, my firm's website is here.

Friday, May 15, 2015

San Francisco Enacts Employee Bill Of Rights - What Rights Would You Put In?

San Francisco's employees now have rights, at least in the retail sector. The city has enacted a Retail Workers'  Bill Of Rights that includes rights such as:
  • Offering extra hours to existing employees before hiring new employees or using subcontractors or temps;
  • New owners must retain existing employees for at least 90 days;
  • Provide a written estimate of the shifts and schedules employees will work before they start;
  • Post schedules 2 weeks in advance;
  • Provide advance notice of schedule changes and pay up to 4 hours for last minute shift cancellations;
  • Provide on-call pay for all on-call shifts, whether or not actually called into work;
  • Give part-time employees the same hourly rate and access to PTO as full-time employees.
While this is a good start, and should help those in the retail sector, what about other employees? In states like our pro-employer state of Florida, we need our own bill of rights for employees. Here's some of what I'd put in a Florida Employees' Bill of Rights:
  1. True right to work: No restrictions on working for competitors. Instead, the restrictions would only be on stealing trade secrets.
  2. My free time is my own: No monitoring of employees when they're off the clock, and no firing employees for legal off-duty activities.
  3. Right to work in peace: Bullying doesn't belong in workplaces any more than in schools. Zero tolerance for workplace bullies.
  4. Right to reasonable breaks: Right now we have zero laws that require any work breaks in Florida. It's time we give employees reasonable rest and meal breaks.
  5. Right to a copy of anything you sign: If your employer makes you sign a warning, policy or contract, you should be provided a copy the same day you sign and anytime you request it.
  6. Fair time to review contracts: Prospective employees should be provided copies of any and all contracts and agreements they will be expected to sign before they accept the offer. 
  7. Consideration for contracts: Ban all sign-or-be-fired contracts and instead require reasonable consideration for any employment contract.

So, what would you put in your employee bill of rights? 

2 comments:

  1. the knowledge I get in your blog is very helpful specially to all employees like me..
    Great data for State Farm

    ReplyDelete
  2. A workplace without bullying would be a wonderful dream.

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments and general questions but this isn't the place to ask confidential legal questions. If you need an employee-side employment lawyer, try http://exchange.nela.org/findalawyer to locate one in your state.