labor News

Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Seattle Law Allowing Ridesharing Union

A federal judge in Seattle, Wash. has temporarily blocked the city’s first-in-the-nation law allowing drivers of ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft to unionize over pay and working conditions. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik’s ruling came after he heard …

Commission Rules Uber Drivers Employees, Not Contractors

A San Francisco-based driver for smartphone-based ride-hailing service Uber is an employee, not a contractor, according to a ruling by the California Labor Commission. The ruling, filed on Tuesday in state court in San Francisco, said Uber is “involved in …

Ullico to Offer Policies through Alterra America

Ullico Inc. has announced that its subsidiary, Ullico Casualty Group, Inc., will begin writing and renewing multiemployer and government fiduciary liability and union liability policies next week with Alterra American Insurance Co. Proposals and renewals released January 17, 2013 and …

California Labor Commissioner Files $1.6 Million Suit Seeking Wages for Ag Workers

California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su filed a $1.6 million lawsuit in Monterey County Superior Court on Tuesday against a Greenfield farm labor contractor, Salvador Zavala Chavez, dba Zavala Farms, for multiple violations including failure to provide minimum wage and …

Montana High Court Hears Hutterite Labor Case

The Montana Supreme Court did not immediately rule after hearing competing arguments from a Hutterite colony and the state on whether Montana’s requirement that employers carry workers’ compensation insurance can be expanded to religious organizations. The Hutterites in rural Montana …

Nonresident Workers in California Are Subject to California Overtime

California’s overtime requirements apply to work performed in California by non-residents, the state Supreme Court has decided, effectively expanding the use of the state’s Wage and Hour law. The Sullivan v. Oracle case arose from an appeal of a 2008 …

Workplace Deaths Rise in North Carolina; Overall Injury Rate Drops

There were 48 fatal workplace accidents in North Carolina in 2010, a tally that is up from 34 in the previous year but below the five-year average of 53.2. At the same time, the state’s overall injury and illness rate …