Labor secretary promotes job training, community colleges
U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said May 10 that he wants to promote expanded partnerships with community colleges to support manufacturing jobs that have gone begging in Ventura County and on the Central Coast. Walsh spoke at the annual conference of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, which was held virtually. In Read More →

Federal rule on joint employment rolled back

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Judge’s block of federal overtime exemption rule great for California employers

It’s a rare event when a federal rule sets a higher pay standard than worker-friendly California. That’s part of the reason why I wondered whether a Department of Labor mandate to sharply raise the level for overtime exemption to $47,476 a year on Dec. 1 amounted to a war on small businesses. On Nov. 22, Read More →
Fiduciary rule may get watered down

By Burt Williamson The Department of Labor rule that Jim Wisdom addressed in the July 8-14, 2016 issue of the Pacific Coast Business Times is an attempt by the government to weed out unscrupulous sales people who are only looking to make a commission without concern to the long-term impact on the consumer. That would Read More →

Overtime rules could help California firms keep employees

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New labor rules may create permanent underclass of businesses

America’s small business owners are a resilient group. We’ve put up with increased regulation, the financial crisis, the credit crunch, unsound fiscal policy and political gridlock. But since 2004, the total number of U.S. small businesses has been in decline – there have not been enough new business starts to replace companies that were sold Read More →