L.A. City Council passes law to give retail workers with erratic hours more stability
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A new law in Los Angeles will allow retail workers with a high number of hours outside of regular working hours to get paid overtime. One such law is proposed by Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who has had his career interrupted by erratic behavior he claims his boss, L.A.’s own city attorney, Michael Feuer, has told him to keep up because he has so many hours.
Feuer, who represents the city’s retail workers, has a history of claiming they don’t deserve their hours and even going so far as to say that their jobs are not as secure as they are.
Rosendahl’s bill, which was passed unanimously on Tuesday night, would give retail and fast food workers who work more than 40 hours a week the same overtime protections as their colleagues in other industries.
“When a law isn’t enforced, it’s not a law. It’s an injustice,” Rosendahl said. “This is a law for the people of L.A.”
It’s very rare in L.A. that an ordinance like this makes it on the agenda of a city council meeting, but a week prior to the meeting, Rosendahl and Councilwoman Nury Martinez took their law to the Assembly and are hoping it will be added to the state’s list of laws by November.
Since the law was passed, two retail workers have gone public with their stories of working overtime in hopes that they will get extra protection, which they say they deserve. Many of the customers who drive by the restaurants, fast food and small stores that workers stand in line to buy their meals are also angry at the lack of security in one of their favorite jobs, and are threatening to not come into the store.
“Workers shouldn’t be forced to work more than 40 hours,” said one of the workers, who wishes to remain anonymous
