Recent labor law decisions benefit workers

"Last four" only on paychecks

Your employer is required to list various information on your paycheck. Until this year, California law required employers to print your entire Social Security number on your paycheck.

Due to employee concerns about "identity theft," the law has been changed. As of January 1, 2008, your paycheck can lawfully contain only the last four digits of your Social Security number (or other applicable identification number).

SF health care security ordinance litigation

In 2006, San Francisco enacted a law called the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance. Beginning January 1, 2008, the ordinance requires most employers to either pay for their employees' health coverage or pay the city a fee for each hour worked by each covered employee. The money collected by the city will be used to pay for health insurance for people without coverage.

With some exceptions, covered employees include individuals who work in the city, work at least ten hours a week for the employer, and have worked for the employer for at least 90 days. The ordinance sets out a number of approved ways the employer can provide the health care for covered employees, such as reimbursing employees for their own private insurance or making payments to a health savings account or employee benefit plan. Employers must pay each covered employee or the city between one and two dollars for each hour worked, depending on the size of the employer.

A restaurant association sued the city seeking to overturn the ordinance. Many San Francisco unions and the San Francisco Labor Council participated in the case on the side of the city. In late December, a federal districtcourt struck down the ordinanceon the grounds that the city had infringed on Congress' authority to regulate employee benefit plans.

Fewer than two weeks later, however, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily overruled the district court's decision, allowing the ordinance to take effect. The court will issue a permanent ruling shortly. In the meantime, the ordinance is in effect, and employers that fail to provide adequate health coverage for their workers are required to contribute to the city's health care fund, helping to ensure that uninsured San Francisco residents receive health coverage.

The health care spending required of employers under the San Francisco ordinance is far below what most employers covered under Teamster contracts are required to pay, so the ordinance should have no immediate impact on Teamster members.

However, the long term benefits maybe great. By forcing non-union employers who do not provide health care to start paying for basic benefits, this ordinance will begin to level the playing field between good employers that provide benefits and those that don't. In addition, it should reduce the large amount that Teamster health plans currently pay to cover the uninsured.