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SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Redwood Empire Vineyard Management Inc. of Geyserville has agreed to pay seven farmworkers $33,548 in lost wages and offer them reinstatement to resolve an unfair labor practice complaint filed by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board.
The complaint by the board, or ALRB, alleged that Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, or REVM, retaliated against workers by issuing written warnings and failing to rehire them because they engaged in protected activity, including a workers’ rights protest, worker marches and other activities together with the local organization North Bay Jobs with Justice.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement with the ALRB, REVM will also rescind language in their employment contracts they require employees to sign stating that those who tried to negotiate higher wages would be immediately fired.
The company additionally agreed to rescind warnings issued against two workers, and to respect the rights of farmworkers to join together and speak up to seek improvements to working conditions without retaliation.
As agreed, ALRB agents will go to REVM’s worksite to read a Notice to agricultural workers about their rights under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, or ALRA.
This notice will be posted at the workplace for 60 days and mailed to current and former employees. ALRB Agents will also provide training to REVM supervisors about their responsibilities under the ALRA.
The ALRB enforces the Agricultural labor Relations Act, which states that “it is the policy of the State of California to encourage and protect the right of agricultural employees to full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives of in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”
The ALRB is headquartered in Sacramento and maintains field offices in Santa Rosa, Salinas, Oxnard, Visalia, and Indio.
Those wishing to access ALRB services may call any ALRB office including the Santa Rosa office at 707-527-3256, or a statewide toll-free phone number, (800) 449-3699. More information is available at www.alrb.ca.gov.
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- Written by: Editor
The Employment Development Department, or EDD, just released a simpler online application for disability benefits — another step in modernizing California’s benefit programs and improving the customer experience.
"We're simplifying California’s disability application to serve our customers better," said EDD Director Nancy Farias. "We’re designing and delivering systems that are easier for everyone to understand and access."
Disability Insurance can be a complex public benefit program, with detailed eligibility requirements and required medical certifications. As a result, the application was often considered complex and confusing.
In response, EDD asked customers, employees, and advocates for ideas to make the application easier.
The new, online application includes:
- Revised instructions and questions that are easier to answer — using less technical terms.
• Help text with simple explanations right when they are needed.
• Reorganized questions to improve the overall application experience.
• Improved navigation through complex topics like the medical authorization and declaration signature pages.
• Relabeled page headings and titles to improve the customer experience.
For example, there are times when workers may want their benefits to start at a different time than when their actual disability began. But many customers said they had difficulty providing a date in response to, "Date you want your Disability Insurance claim to begin if different than the date your disability began." This prompt has been replaced with a simpler, yes-or-no question, "Do you want your claim to start on a different date?" If yes, customers are then prompted to provide a date.
EDD reorganized the application and revised the headings to guide customers through the application process and gather all information needed for application review. Some customers didn’t realize that an application for disability benefits was not complete until a medical certification, also known as Part B – Physician/Practitioner’s Certification, was submitted to the Department.
The updated online application includes more visible reminders at the beginning and end of the application process to help the customer understand this required step.
These improvements — and many others — will help EDD process applications more quickly and pay customers faster.
EDD’s commitment to enhance the way Californians engage with its programs and services is all part of EDDNext, an ongoing modernization effort to completely transform the EDD customer and employee experience.
EDDNext efforts include updating benefit applications, contact centers, the claims process, policies, procedures, and forms, to make the EDD experience easier and faster. It involves working with customer service experts, such as Amazon Web Services and Salesforce, to ensure EDDNext is forward-thinking and embraces the best technology and practices.
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- Written by: Editor
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