SB 769 and the budget; Ralphs NLRB problems

• The Sacramento Bee has a report on the effect of the SB 769(aka "Sue Your Boss" or "Bounty Hunter" statute) compromise in the budget (which has passed the Assembly).

The compromise forbids employees from filing lawsuits against companies that do not post signs explaining workers' rights. The exceptions are posters regarding payroll and worker-injury laws.
For more serious problems, including violations of the wage and hour laws, a worker can still sue - but the employer is given a grace period to fix the problem first. The worker must inform the employer and the state of the problem, and if nothing's done, the worker can go to court. Depending on the type of violation, the grace period can last 150 days, Dunn said.

According to the report, this is a version of Dunn's own amendment to SB 769, SB 1809. 

• The San Jose Mercury news reports less than half the anticipated number of workers have taken advantage of the Family Leave Act.

• Ralph's apparently hired back some of its striking workers during the strike, the OC Register reports.

The allegations were first raised by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which sued Ralphs in January, alleging that the company had illegally rehired more than 200 employees under false names and Social Security numbers after the workers were locked out in October.
Ralphs later confirmed that it was cooperating with a U.S. Justice Department probe of the allegations and that a federal grand jury had been convened to hear them.
The union's suit was dropped as part of the February settlement that ended the lockout. However, a National Labor Relations Board inquiry into the allegations is continuing.

The fallout from the grocery strike continues...