Silicon Valley has pioneered the so-called sharing economy with apps that help individuals exchange goods and services. But a decision by California regulators threatens the car-hailing Uber and other sharing start-ups.
In this report, we present a number of suggestions for practical reform to patent policy consistent with the original public meaning of the Patent Clause, which will foster more innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth.
The exemption, contained in a budget-related trailer bill, offers a narrower exemption than a broader one Gov. Jerry Brown originally proposed. Lawmakers appeared to be nearing a deal Thursday, after pushing back on Brown’s initial proposal.
That effort, resisted by environmentalists and powerful labor unions, sputtered out two years ago. Since then, Brown and Democratic lawmakers have instead struck deals giving special consideration to certain projects rather than confront the political difficulties of overhauling the law. . . Because the arrangements are tied to the budget, they are not subject to the lengthy public review process required of most proposals in the Capitol.
An Uber driver is an employee, not an independent contractor, the California Labor Commission ruled this month, in a decision that foreshadows a big challenge to Uber’s business model and potential seismic changes to the nation’s classifications of workers.
You’re not alone if you can’t afford your health insurance obligations, whether you’re struggling to pay your monthly premium or facing thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
Brown approved a streamlined environmental review for the 8150 Sunset Blvd. project in Hollywood in April 2014 and the same expedited process for the Warriors project in Mission Bay three months ago.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said Monday that she intends to propose a minimum wage increase for county workers and businesses in unincorporated areas that mirrors the plan recently approved by the city of Los Angeles.
But for some partisans on each side of the debate, that historic moment has been tainted by labor leaders’ last-minute push for an exemption for unionized workplaces. The request for a union waiver — proposed and then abruptly shelved — drew national attention, much of it negative, to the county Federation of Labor and its recently installed top executive, Rusty Hicks.
The total climbed to more than $11.4 billion last year, according to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute, which is up $4.5 billion from the industry 10-year low in 2009, but still $4.7 billion less than 2004’s historic high of $16.1 billion 11 years ago.
Fresno will be one of eleven “pioneering” cities nationwide participating in a new White House-sponsored initiative designed to allow local government to issue new small business licenses within 24 hours.
Some local ordinances in particular include an exemption for employers that enter into a collective bargaining agreement with a union. This “escape clause” is often designed to encourage unionization by making a labor union the potential “low-cost” alternative to new wage mandates, and it raises serious questions about whom these minimum wage laws are actually intended to benefit.
That, too, has been very successful. More than 600 bills were given the “job killer” epithet over the last 18 years and fewer than 50 made it into law. In some years, none did.
When China was booming, scrap dealers focused heavily on that market. Ships that carried furniture and other household goods from China to California returned stuffed with old metal and boxes ready to be converted into new products. That traffic has slowed.
As early as this week, the Labor Department could propose a rule that would raise the current overtime threshold — $23,660 – to as much as $52,000, extending time and a half overtime pay to millions of American workers. The rule has already come under fire from business and Republican opponents who say it will kill jobs and force employers to cut hours for salaried employees.