Encino, CA Employment Law Attorney 

Today, more than at any time in the past quarter century, employment law and the lawyers who practice in the field play an important and integral part in protecting workers. Many of the gains made by labor have been jeopardized or eliminated as huge corporations merge, then downsize to remain competitive. There has also been unprecedented greed, contempt of the law and abuse in the corporate world which, although not universal, seems to have permeated the business culture.

The relationship between employer and employee has evolved over the past hundred years of more - from unregulated, wide-spread exploitation of workers in the 19th and early 20th century, to the rise of labor unions which advocated for safer and more humane working conditions and increased governmental regulation. During the past thirty years, the labor movement has been largely in decline. To some extent, this may reflect the substantial gains made on behalf of workers during the 1950's and ‘60's, when workers were generally paid a living wage, had no-cost health insurance, paid vacations and overtime compensation.

Sadly, many of the benefits workers once enjoyed have been sacrificed on the alter of increasing profits and shareholder dividends. The business climate no longer seems to value labor as it once did. Perhaps the best indication of this is the increasing gap between CEO compensation and that of the average worker. In 1990, CEOs were earning approximately 85 times what workers earned. Nine years later, CEO pay surged to more than 400 times the average worker’s wage, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.