Southwest Airways Settles Allegations It Violated City’s Ill Go away Law

OAKLAND (BCN)

Southwest Airlines has agreed to settle allegations that it violated Oakland’s unwell go away regulation at Oakland Worldwide Airport, city attorneys announced Thursday.

The arrangement calls for the corporation to spend $53,000 in civil penalties, modify its sick depart guidelines, restore sick leave for floor crew employees and allow for ground crew employees to problem right up until Feb. 11 any self-discipline or discharges connected to Southwest’s prior guidelines.

Southwest settled the allegations late past calendar year and it applies to ground crew personnel including ramp agents, operations brokers, freight brokers, provisioning brokers, floor mechanics, plane mechanics, client assistance brokers, material professionals and some floor crew personnel not in the union.

“This settlement really should provide as a observe to all employers in Oakland that we acquire workers’ grievances critically–and that we will implement Oakland workers’ legal rights underneath our regulations,” Town Attorney Barbara Parker reported in a statement.


An investigation into Southwest’s practices started in 2017, when grievances have been manufactured to metropolis officers alleging that Southwest was violating Measure FF, Oakland’s bare minimum wage and unwell go away regulation.

The issues alleged that some airport staff members were not accruing ill leave as is required and that Southwest took absent all banked sick depart on Dec. 31 of each individual 12 months.

Team with the Oakland Office of Place of work and Employment Specifications finished an investigation and turned about the allegations to the city attorney’s office.

Southwest and Oakland began negotiations after metropolis officials exposed the city’s conclusions to the firm.

“The regulation is distinct,” Parker said. “Oakland-primarily based personnel have a suitable to compensated sick leave.”

Oakland ill go away legislation gives workers with a single hour of accrued, paid unwell go away for every single 30 hours worked. For employers with 10 or extra employees, workers can accrue up to 72 several hours of compensated sick go away, which can be carried more than to the following year.

Workforce can use the go away for on their own, near relatives members, domestic companions, and/or another person else they designate.

Employees performing in Oakland for at the very least two hours a 7 days are protected by the unwell leave law.

“Southwest Airlines settled an investigation initiated by the City of Oakland exclusively to stay away from the even more expense of litigation in this complicated economic environment,” the airline reported in a assertion. “The settlement arrangement specifically states that Southwest Airlines neither admits liability nor to any violation of the City’s sick leave ordinance.”

“In the latest years, the Condition of California and numerous nearby jurisdictions, these types of as Oakland, have created or amended quite a few person sick leave legal guidelines into an unwieldy patchwork of regulation with which even the most nicely-intentional companies discover almost extremely hard to comply,” the airline’s statement ongoing. “We think all Workers really should have access to generous ill leave gains, with distinct gains to be articulated by every single employer.”

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