Manufacturing company Pacific Steel has had tough times of late. Along with the downtown in the global steel market, Pacific Steel is currently dealing with two legal problems. First, it had to fire about a third of its employees (200 overall) during the holiday season due to trouble complying with immigration laws. A federal audit revealed that quite a few of Pacific Steel’s workers were in the country illegally. The company had no choice but to let them ago.
Second, Pacific Steel is now facing a class action lawsuit over alleged violations of labor laws. An employee who worked for the company from 1967 until retiring in 2000 brought the lawsuit on behalf of 100 former or current workers for Pacific Steel’s failure to provide proper lunch and rest breaks to employees. The lawsuit alleges that Pacific Steel forced employees to work six hours or longer before they could take a break. California law requires 30 minute meal breaks for every five hours of work. The plaintiffs are requesting about $20,000 per worker, a figure they arrived at by calculating an hour of pay for every day they went without a proper break.
Failing to comply with labor laws and regulations is costly for companies. On top of lawsuits from employees, companies also risk severe penalties from government agencies when they fail to comply with laws. Have you taken part in managing a business? What steps do you take to ensure that your business is in compliance with all of the labor laws and regulations out there?
Klein Trial Lawyers – Los Angeles business litigation lawyers