The LA Times reports that ”in cases involving 17 trucking companies, the state Department of Industrial Relations has ruled in recent months that nearly 40 drivers were improperly designated as contractors, which denied them significant workplace protections. So far, $4.3 million in back pay and penalties has been awarded to drivers.”
After years of complaining about working conditions, truck drivers who move goods at Southern California’s sprawling ports appear to be making headway.
Drivers have filed lawsuits and have flooded the state with hundreds of claims alleging that they were improperly classified as independent contractors rather than employees by trucking companies. As contractors, the drivers don’t get the kind of overtime, workers’ compensation coverage and other guarantees that employees receive.
The state labor commissioner’s office is examining more than 300 claims for wage theft related to misclassification, a dramatic rise from 2011 when drivers filed only two such complaints. In all, more than 500 complaints were filed in 2012 and 2013.