United States: Employer Properly Challenged CUIAB’s Determination That Worker Was Not An Independent Contractor

West Hollywood Cmty. Health & Fitness Ctr. v. CUIAB, 2014 WL 6852700 (Cal. Ct. App. 2014)

After leaving his job as a massage therapist at West Hollywood Community Health & Fitness Center (d/b/a “Voda Spa”), Mario Serban applied for unemployment benefits. The Employment Development Department sent Voda Spa a letter indicating that Serban had been an employee (and not an independent contractor) and that he had good cause to leave work, thus rendering him eligible […]

By | January 22nd, 2015 ||

United States: Trial Court Properly Denied Class Certification For Unpaid Meal Break Claims

In re Walgreen Co. Overtime Cases, 231 Cal. App. 4th 437 (2014)

The putative class members in this case moved for class certification on the theory that although Walgreens’s stated policy on meal breaks was proper, its actual practice departed from its stated policy in an illegal and class wide way. The trial court denied class certification, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that the evidence was too weak to support certification, including a […]

By | January 22nd, 2015 ||

Australia: The demise of the Road Transport and Distribution Award?

In a decision with major implications for employers employing delivery drivers, a Full Court of the Federal Court (in Transport Workers Union of Australia v Coles Supermarkets of Australia Pty Ltd [2014] 3 November 2014) determined that:

Coles’ employee delivery drivers or Customer Service Agents (CSAs) are covered by the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2010 (Transport Award);
the CSAs are also covered by the General Retail Industry Award 2010 (Retail Award); and
as the relevant classification […]

By | January 22nd, 2015 ||