California Labor Complaints - 2008

The California Department of Fair Employment & Housing released its statistics for 2008 last month, and there are some ominous signs that all employers should know:

1. Complaints to the DFEH increased by more than 15% in 2008 (3,000 more complaints);
2. Disability claims were most frequently filed, followed by retaliation, sexual harassment and age discrimination;
3. In fact, disability claims comprised more than 36% of all claims;
4. Prosecutions of employers increased by 28 percent.

California also has a disproportionate ratio of total employee complaints - one out of every 5 complaints in the country is from California.

Time to get your house in order!

And a good analysis of these statistics is found from Christopher Olmstead of Barker Olmsted & Barnier.