Bakersfield, CA asked in Employment Law for California

Q: Non employees

The owner of the motel I work at refuses to hire real employees instead he finds homeless people who will work and jump when he says to stay in room for free they have no I.d filled out no paperwork and expect the real employees to train and work with them and give them keys and let them in employee only areas But because they are not on the books they have special rules if they don’t show up on time it’s OK if they don’t do it right it’s OK do I have to train them? Is that legal for him to make us work alongside them like that and then give them different rules than us? Something has to be wrong here … negligence? Creating a hostel work environment? Should I mention thatWe have no manager and the owners live out of the city and leave every Friday and don’t come back until Tuesday there’s no human resources there is nothing I should also mention that the motel is in a very poor area with a very poor reputation and much violence and a murder couple months ago people oding everywhere

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2 Lawyer Answers
Brad S Kane
Brad S Kane
Answered
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: Your employer can fire you if you refuse to train the other employees, even if they are not on the books. You can report your employer to the Labor Commissioner for the illegal employment practices. While your employer cannot legally retaliate against you for making the report, you will need to be prepared to look for another job and look for a lawyer to assist you if your employer does retaliate.

1 user found this answer helpful

Neil Pedersen
Neil Pedersen
Answered
  • Westminster, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: What your employer is doing violates several laws. However making you work alongside of these other employees and making you train them is not unlawful. Any of these other employees (and yes, they are employees) have the legal right to stand up for their rights if they desire to do so. You do not have the right to refuse to do what your employer requests that you do to however. The most you could do is report the unlawful conduct to the Labor Commissioner's Office, and that entity has the power to audit the employer's practices and put a stop to the unlawful activities.

Good luck to you.

1 user found this answer helpful

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