posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 2:15 PM
by
Rod Satterwhite
Losing Neverland
We've talked about the potential problems with wage and hour issues in California for quite a while. But this takes the cake. In a stunning flex of governmental enforcement muscle, the California Department of Industrial Relations has issued a Stop Order and a $69,000 penalty against Michael Jackson for not providing workers compensation coverage for his employees at Neverland Ranch. (Hat tip to the ever-vigilant folks at The Smoking Gun for posting copies of the actual notices.) The singer also received notice that he had failed, since December 19, 2005, to pay wages to over 30 employees at the facility. According to the notice, he has until today, March 14, 2006, to make the more than $300,000 in payments, or "DLSE will pursue appropriate legal action against you on behalf of the People of the State of California to recover the wages due and penalties under the Labor Code." Who's bad now?
California employment law can be tricky, especially when it comes to matters like paying wages to terminated employees, paying for accrued but unused vacation time, and coordinating leave issues under California leave laws. It's especially important for non-California employers to get a handle on these laws if they have facilities or even a few employees within the state, because many of these requirements have no minimum employee coverage limits.
Even so, am I the only one enjoying watching the Neverland saga unfold? Didn't they eventually get Al Capone on tax evasion charges?