In Pennsylvania, a 70-year-old law is exacerbating barriers to employment for people with criminal histories. The Private Detective Act imposes a strict lifetime ban on working in the security industry—including as unarmed guards found in many stores and businesses—for anyone with most criminal convictions, well after they have served their sentence. On June 27th, two…
PHILADELPHIA, PA. – Two Philadelphia workers have filed a class action against Walmart, alleging that the company regularly failed to follow Philadelphia’s Fair Workweek Law. The workers are represented by Community Legal Services of Philadelphia and co-counsel from Lichten & Liss-Riordan P.C., Werman Salas, and Willig, Williams & Davidson. The class action complaint was…
Pennsylvania’s wage laws have not been updated in decades. Meanwhile workplace practices have changed, with more subcontracting of work and more misclassification of workers as “independent contractors.” And the wage theft epidemic rages on. The PA Department of Labor and Industry (PALI) can and must issue regulations interpreting our existing laws to address the realities…
Many people in Pennsylvania have trained for a career, or have thought about pursuing a new profession, only to be stopped by unfair rules that prevent people from getting licensed because of an unrelated criminal record. Starting in 2021, if you are applying for most types of job licenses or certifications in Pennsylvania and you…
Working parents may be eligible for paid time off to care for children who are stuck at home because of school or childcare provider closures due to COVID-19. If your employer has not advised you about your options for leave, paid or unpaid, ask for them together with coworkers so everyone can get the info!…
Información en Español Printable flyer Great news! A new unemployment benefit called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (“PUA”) is available to workers who are not eligible for regular Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation (UC) – including gig workers, freelancers, independent contractors, employees of religious institutions, and self-employed individuals. You may be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) if your…
Haga clic aquí para descargar el folleto ¡Buenas noticias! … Un nuevo beneficio de desempleo que se llama Asistencia por Desempleo Pandémico (PUA, por sus siglas en inglés) está disponible para los trabajadores que no son elegibles para Compensación por Desempleo regular (UC, por sus siglas en inglés), incluyendo: trabajadores por proyecto (“gig” workers) y…
When he was a teenager, Malik, now 25, was mistakenly arrested and erroneously charged in five different cases for a string of robberies. The District Attorney’s office withdrew all of the charges against him once they realized the wrong person had been arrested. Even though Malik was not involved in the incidents in any way, the five cases-each with many serious charges-remained on his record. Malik’s record painted a picture of a career criminal, and he struggled to find work for several years. He was rejected from employment at hotels, airports, and construction jobs. When Malik came to Community Legal Services for help, his attorney was able to quickly file petitions to expunge the withdrawn charges. Within a matter of months, Malik had a clean record and was able to find a steady job at a warehouse.
Nathaneal Rodriquez, a restaurant worker and aspiring musician, always had a passion for food. “I grew up in a household where we were all cooking together,” the 33-year-old says. He honed his cooking skills by working in food services during his time in the Marines. When Nathaneal came back to Philadelphia, he worked diligently at several restaurants in the city, all under the same owner.
CLS’ Employment Unit has represented hundreds of restaurant workers over the years, recovering stolen wages and enforcing labor laws. The vast majority of our clients facing exploitation in the restaurant business have been undocumented immigrant workers, although our clients fit many other demographic profiles.Wage theft is a common practice by employers looking to cut costs in this low regulation, low union density industry. We have helped clients with a wide variety of issues, including people who were not paid their last few paychecks, were denied overtime despite working more than 40 hours in a week, had their tips stolen by their employers, had improper deductions from their paychecks, had to pay for dine-and-dash customers, suffered discrimination, and were injured on the job but not given proper medical attention.
