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FMLA only covers companies with 50 or more employees. A friend was fired in the US when she told her boss she was pregnant and discovered this limitation. Her

by maire 3y ago

FMLA only covers companies with 50 or more employees. A friend was fired in the US when she told her boss she was pregnant and discovered this limitation. Her previous work experience was in France so she did not realize this could happen.

euroderf 3y ago
I perceive yet another motivation for companies to aggressively classify employees as contractors.
SoftTalker 3y ago
Yes this is one of the risks of working for a very small employer. A lot of the normal rules don't apply. But if a company is big enough to have "HR" I'm guessing they likely are bigger than 50 employees.
borski 3y ago
In CA, it’s any employer with 5 employees, thanks to the CFRA. https://www.rigginslaw.com/cfra-vs-fmla-difference-between-cfra-and-fmla/#:~:text=In%20contrast%2C%20the%20CFRA%20is,employ%205%20or%20more%20individuals https://www.rigginslaw.com/cfra-vs-fmla-difference-between-c.... CA really is by far one of the most employee-friendly states, on nearly every issue.
- tnmom 3y ago
  Except taxes.
  - borski 3y ago
    Dno. The roads here are way better than other places with lower taxes, it’s beautiful, the air and water are clean, and so on. Everywhere has plenty of things to complain about. I’d like to spend less in taxes, always. But at least it does feel, objectively, like we live in a mostly lovely place that actually does protect employees, have access to great healthcare, great roads, great charging infrastructure (relative to the rest of the US) and so on.
    - borkt 3y ago
      What part of the state are you in with good roads? Sonoma county here, miserable roads
      - borski 3y ago
        Bay Area, but I’m from NYC, so my standard for “bad road” is relatively high - there are a lot of potholes right now from the rain, but in general they get fixed quickly, the roads are wide and many-lanes, and generally don’t do insane things like loop back on themselves or anything like that.
        kelnos 3y ago
        I disagree with this. I live in SF and the roads range from terrible to just-ok. And not just in the city; US-101 is just kinda ok (despite vaguely-regular maintenance), and many local roads I see in nearby smaller towns and cities (South SF, Daly City, Belmont, San Mateo) are -- at best -- just ok. Similar situation when I drive north toward Sonoma. A major issue in SF proper is that crews are constantly digging up parts of roads to work on pipes or whatever, and then patch them in a haphazard, crappy way. Roads get fully resurfaced rarely. As an example, there's a super nasty patched and re-patched and re-patched and re-patched section of 18th St (between Minnesota and Tennessee) that has been a nightmare for at least 4 years now. A section of Tennessee between 18th and 19th was resurfaced about a year ago (in part because there was building construction along the road that did heavy damage), but just this past week they were digging up a large section in the center of the road to do some work underneath, and when they patched it up, they as usual did a crap job, so the road sucks again. I grew up in New Jersey (80s) and Maryland (90s), and the roads were much better maintained in both of those places, Maryland especially.
        borski 3y ago
        I agree SF has shit roads. I do not find that to be the case almost anywhere else in CA. I’ll put it this way too: while I’m mindful of potholes, generally, I have yet to have a single issue popping any of my 21” thin sidewall summer tires on my >5500lb EV. My counterparts in the South have popped between 2 and 10 depending on who you ask. The answer each time is: hit a pothole. Some of that’s driving. Some of it is also just the roads. They’re far from perfect. But they’re better than most other states.
  - aeturnum 3y ago
    Arguably, it's better to pay higher taxes on a job that's protected than lower taxes on a job that you can't count on.
    - chefandy 3y ago
      Yeah. I totally get why people conceptually hate the idea of paying taxes, even if my values lead me to a very different conclusion. That said, most of the arguments I've encountered about places with higher taxes being worse places to live strike me as either glib and uninformed, or in bad faith. That's not a partisan-specific folly by any measure, but it's a folly nonetheless.
    - xyzzyz 3y ago
      It depends on how high the taxes are and what protection is offered exactly. The extra protections I would get in California are not worth nearly enough for it to be worth for me.
      - borski 3y ago
        And that’s ok! But those protections are worth it for a lot of other people. :)
    - johnnyanmac 3y ago
      It is an honest argument. No point in a secure job that can't even pay rent. But people with families can't exactly engage in multi job hustles and expect to remain a healthy unit.
  - jon_richards 3y ago
    > Though Texas has no state-level personal income tax, it does levy relatively high consumption and property taxes on residents to make up the difference. Ultimately, it has a higher effective state and local tax rate for a median U.S. household at 12.73% than California's 8.97%, according to a new report from WalletHub. Obviously there are more than two states, but it’s not so simple. Plus, someone’s got to pay for everything: > [California] receives $0.99 in federal expenditures per dollar of taxes paid, which is below the national average return for states of $1.22 per dollar paid, according to its review of a 2015 New York Comptroller study.
    - dmitrygr 3y ago
      > for a median U.S. household Please, not more of this nonsense Show me a SWE who makes median ($40,480 in 2023) money or less. That quote does not apply. For people making SWE money, Texas is a LOT better tax-wise
      - fzeroracer 3y ago
        I lived in Texas making six figures as a SWE. Texas was not far better tax wise. Texas does a lot to ding you in ways that aren't taxes, and buying a home that doesn't involve an hour and a half commute one way is unrealistic.
      - wolverine876 3y ago
        > For people making SWE money, Texas is a LOT better tax-wise How do the people of Texas pay for things, then, if not through income taxes?
        tomrod 3y ago
        Property tax, sales tax, toll roads in places they shouldn't be, and so forth.
        acdha 3y ago
        Property and local taxes, and also simply doing less. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state-2022/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state... Californians pay more taxes but they also get better social services, schools, universities, parks, etc.
  - jjallen 3y ago
    Totally agree. When taxes are the highest in the country and take almost 40% of your income and the only people who own houses are the ones that bought them 20-50 years ago that is very employee unfriendly.
    - acdha 3y ago
      Exaggerating like that doesn’t help your argument. California’s top tax rate is 12.3% and you’re only paying just on income over $680k: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2023/2023-540-tax-rate-schedules.pdf https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2023/2023-540-tax-rate-schedule... This means that in practice, California isn’t even in the top 10: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1166970506/tax-burden-by-state-income-property-sales https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1166970506/tax-burden-by-stat... Now, the housing market is not great but again, greatly overstating your case is not an effective strategy, and it isn’t a uniquely California problem even though prop 13 makes it worse there than many other places.
      - ipaddr 3y ago
        These are the rates and includes a over million 1% tax for mental support. California 13.3% Hawaii 11% New York 10.9% New Jersey 10.75% District of Columbia 10.75% Oregon 9.9% Minnesota 9.85% Massachusetts 9% Vermont 8.75% Wisconsin 7.65% Tax burden is a different measurement including property. Parent poster has no property.
        acdha 3y ago
        I don’t know your source. None of the ones I’ve seen support that ranking: https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state-2022/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state... Ah, I see that was copied from the list of top tax rates rather than what most people actually pay: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/fun-facts/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-taxes/L6HPAVqSF https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/fun-facts/states-with-t... So, yes, if you’re making millions per year in taxable income, California’s top rate is higher. That is not a concern for anyone outside of the 99.5th percentile, which is uncommon even in FAANG circles. Tax burden is also the best metric to use because the money has to come from somewhere. If you’re trying to decide where to live, looking at state income tax only is as foolish as only looking at housing purchase prices without also considering your commute, utility, and maintenance expenses.
- berniedurfee 3y ago
  And thank you! Many companies follow CA regulations by default if they do significant business in the state or have even a small footprint there.

by maire 3y ago

euroderf 3y ago

I perceive yet another motivation for companies to aggressively classify employees as contractors.

SoftTalker 3y ago

Yes this is one of the risks of working for a very small employer. A lot of the normal rules don't apply. But if a company is big enough to have "HR" I'm guessing they likely are bigger than 50 employees.

borski 3y ago

In CA, it’s any employer with 5 employees, thanks to the CFRA. https://www.rigginslaw.com/cfra-vs-fmla-difference-between-cfra-and-fmla/#:~:text=In%20contrast%2C%20the%20CFRA%20is,employ%205%20or%20more%20individuals https://www.rigginslaw.com/cfra-vs-fmla-difference-between-c.... CA really is by far one of the most employee-friendly states, on nearly every issue.

tnmom 3y ago
Except taxes.
- borski 3y ago
  Dno. The roads here are way better than other places with lower taxes, it’s beautiful, the air and water are clean, and so on. Everywhere has plenty of things to complain about. I’d like to spend less in taxes, always. But at least it does feel, objectively, like we live in a mostly lovely place that actually does protect employees, have access to great healthcare, great roads, great charging infrastructure (relative to the rest of the US) and so on.
  - borkt 3y ago
    What part of the state are you in with good roads? Sonoma county here, miserable roads
    - borski 3y ago
      Bay Area, but I’m from NYC, so my standard for “bad road” is relatively high - there are a lot of potholes right now from the rain, but in general they get fixed quickly, the roads are wide and many-lanes, and generally don’t do insane things like loop back on themselves or anything like that.
      - kelnos 3y ago
        I disagree with this. I live in SF and the roads range from terrible to just-ok. And not just in the city; US-101 is just kinda ok (despite vaguely-regular maintenance), and many local roads I see in nearby smaller towns and cities (South SF, Daly City, Belmont, San Mateo) are -- at best -- just ok. Similar situation when I drive north toward Sonoma. A major issue in SF proper is that crews are constantly digging up parts of roads to work on pipes or whatever, and then patch them in a haphazard, crappy way. Roads get fully resurfaced rarely. As an example, there's a super nasty patched and re-patched and re-patched and re-patched section of 18th St (between Minnesota and Tennessee) that has been a nightmare for at least 4 years now. A section of Tennessee between 18th and 19th was resurfaced about a year ago (in part because there was building construction along the road that did heavy damage), but just this past week they were digging up a large section in the center of the road to do some work underneath, and when they patched it up, they as usual did a crap job, so the road sucks again. I grew up in New Jersey (80s) and Maryland (90s), and the roads were much better maintained in both of those places, Maryland especially.
        borski 3y ago
        I agree SF has shit roads. I do not find that to be the case almost anywhere else in CA. I’ll put it this way too: while I’m mindful of potholes, generally, I have yet to have a single issue popping any of my 21” thin sidewall summer tires on my >5500lb EV. My counterparts in the South have popped between 2 and 10 depending on who you ask. The answer each time is: hit a pothole. Some of that’s driving. Some of it is also just the roads. They’re far from perfect. But they’re better than most other states.
- aeturnum 3y ago
  Arguably, it's better to pay higher taxes on a job that's protected than lower taxes on a job that you can't count on.
  - chefandy 3y ago
    Yeah. I totally get why people conceptually hate the idea of paying taxes, even if my values lead me to a very different conclusion. That said, most of the arguments I've encountered about places with higher taxes being worse places to live strike me as either glib and uninformed, or in bad faith. That's not a partisan-specific folly by any measure, but it's a folly nonetheless.
  - xyzzyz 3y ago
    It depends on how high the taxes are and what protection is offered exactly. The extra protections I would get in California are not worth nearly enough for it to be worth for me.
    - borski 3y ago
      And that’s ok! But those protections are worth it for a lot of other people. :)
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    It is an honest argument. No point in a secure job that can't even pay rent. But people with families can't exactly engage in multi job hustles and expect to remain a healthy unit.
- jon_richards 3y ago
  > Though Texas has no state-level personal income tax, it does levy relatively high consumption and property taxes on residents to make up the difference. Ultimately, it has a higher effective state and local tax rate for a median U.S. household at 12.73% than California's 8.97%, according to a new report from WalletHub. Obviously there are more than two states, but it’s not so simple. Plus, someone’s got to pay for everything: > [California] receives $0.99 in federal expenditures per dollar of taxes paid, which is below the national average return for states of $1.22 per dollar paid, according to its review of a 2015 New York Comptroller study.
  - dmitrygr 3y ago
    > for a median U.S. household Please, not more of this nonsense Show me a SWE who makes median ($40,480 in 2023) money or less. That quote does not apply. For people making SWE money, Texas is a LOT better tax-wise
    - fzeroracer 3y ago
      I lived in Texas making six figures as a SWE. Texas was not far better tax wise. Texas does a lot to ding you in ways that aren't taxes, and buying a home that doesn't involve an hour and a half commute one way is unrealistic.
    - wolverine876 3y ago
      > For people making SWE money, Texas is a LOT better tax-wise How do the people of Texas pay for things, then, if not through income taxes?
      - tomrod 3y ago
        Property tax, sales tax, toll roads in places they shouldn't be, and so forth.
      - acdha 3y ago
        Property and local taxes, and also simply doing less. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state-2022/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state... Californians pay more taxes but they also get better social services, schools, universities, parks, etc.
- jjallen 3y ago
  Totally agree. When taxes are the highest in the country and take almost 40% of your income and the only people who own houses are the ones that bought them 20-50 years ago that is very employee unfriendly.
  - acdha 3y ago
    Exaggerating like that doesn’t help your argument. California’s top tax rate is 12.3% and you’re only paying just on income over $680k: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2023/2023-540-tax-rate-schedules.pdf https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2023/2023-540-tax-rate-schedule... This means that in practice, California isn’t even in the top 10: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1166970506/tax-burden-by-state-income-property-sales https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1166970506/tax-burden-by-stat... Now, the housing market is not great but again, greatly overstating your case is not an effective strategy, and it isn’t a uniquely California problem even though prop 13 makes it worse there than many other places.
    - ipaddr 3y ago
      These are the rates and includes a over million 1% tax for mental support. California 13.3% Hawaii 11% New York 10.9% New Jersey 10.75% District of Columbia 10.75% Oregon 9.9% Minnesota 9.85% Massachusetts 9% Vermont 8.75% Wisconsin 7.65% Tax burden is a different measurement including property. Parent poster has no property.
      - acdha 3y ago
        I don’t know your source. None of the ones I’ve seen support that ranking: https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state-2022/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state... Ah, I see that was copied from the list of top tax rates rather than what most people actually pay: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/fun-facts/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-taxes/L6HPAVqSF https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/fun-facts/states-with-t... So, yes, if you’re making millions per year in taxable income, California’s top rate is higher. That is not a concern for anyone outside of the 99.5th percentile, which is uncommon even in FAANG circles. Tax burden is also the best metric to use because the money has to come from somewhere. If you’re trying to decide where to live, looking at state income tax only is as foolish as only looking at housing purchase prices without also considering your commute, utility, and maintenance expenses.
berniedurfee 3y ago
And thank you! Many companies follow CA regulations by default if they do significant business in the state or have even a small footprint there.