Labor Laws California

State and federal lawmakers are planning to launch hearings into music industry business practices after a series of high-profile lawsuits and newfound activism among recording artists. Sharp criticism of industry customs is resonating in Washington and Sacramento, where officials are preparing to examine what rock stars such as Courtney Love and Don Henley are calling the "unconscionable" contracts and accounting practices of the Big Five music conglomerates.

State and federal lawmakers are planning to launch hearings into music industry business practices after a series of high-profile lawsuits and newfound activism among recording artists. Sharp criticism of industry customs is resonating in Washington and Sacramento, where officials are preparing to examine what rock stars such as Courtney Love and Don Henley are calling the "unconscionable" contracts and accounting practices of the Big Five music conglomerates.

Declaring that state laws fail to punish corporations for lax safety practices, several Los Angeles-area prosecutors called Monday for Gov. Pete Wilson to sign legislation that would stiffen penalties for employers who willfully endanger their workers. A bill sponsored by Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) would raise fines for negligent companies up to $1 million.

Declaring that state laws fail to punish corporations for lax safety practices, several Los Angeles-area prosecutors called Monday for Gov. Pete Wilson to sign legislation that would stiffen penalties for employers who willfully endanger their workers. A bill sponsored by Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) would raise fines for negligent companies up to $1 million.

One of the GOP's highest priorities for this year will be passage of a bill abolishing California's requirement that employers pay their nonunion employees overtime for working more than eight hours in a day, Republican Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle said Friday. Assembly Republicans approved legislation this week repealing state law requiring that workers receive time and a half pay for work in excess of eight hours in a day and double-time pay for work beyond 12 hours.

Ask any of those cute little tykes who grew up before our eyes on "Flipper" and "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" and countless other TV series: Acting careers don't last forever. That's why former child actors and leaders of the Screen Actors Guild were rejoicing Monday over new state regulations they say will improve the education that young performers receive in classrooms set up at television and movie studios.

State Farm Insurance Cos. agreed to pay $135 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it failed to pay overtime to 2,600 claims adjusters in California. The settlement, approved Monday by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, is the latest multimillion-dollar payout in a wave of white-collar overtime lawsuits in California, where the laws governing this area are stricter than in other states.

Federal law says 16-year-olds may not use blowtorches to burn hair from animal carcasses in slaughterhouses. But they are allowed to work as "headskinners." These rules, and thousands more, are found in the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, a complex federal law with a simple goal: Keep kids safe and in school. After almost 60 years of revision, federal child labor laws address everything from the time the sun comes up to the weight of a tractor.

Launching its most ambitious drive to crack down on Southern California's troubled garment industry, state labor investigators said Wednesday that they will inspect 1,000 apparel contractors and manufacturers this year, a sharp boost from 1995. Jose Millan, the state's interim labor commissioner in San Francisco, said the increased effort stems largely from the shocking discovery last year of Thai sewing workers in El Monte who toiled in what authorities called slave-like conditions.

Dear Karen: What's the best approach to take when trying to interest an outside investor in my start-up idea? Answer: The most important thing you can do is target appropriate investors. Don't waste your time with venture capital firms, which almost never fund start-ups. Pursue friends, relatives and business associates who have money and want to help. Also ask them for introductions to local entrepreneurial investors.

Ask any of those cute little tykes who grew up before our eyes on "Flipper" and "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" and countless other TV series: Acting careers don't last forever. That's why former child actors and leaders of the Screen Actors Guild were rejoicing Monday over new state regulations they say will improve the education that young performers receive in classrooms set up at television and movie studios.

One of the GOP's highest priorities for this year will be passage of a bill abolishing California's requirement that employers pay their nonunion employees overtime for working more than eight hours in a day, Republican Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle said Friday. Assembly Republicans approved legislation this week repealing state law requiring that workers receive time and a half pay for work in excess of eight hours in a day and double-time pay for work beyond 12 hours.

House investigators said Monday they may issue a subpoena for Jack Goodall Jr., chief executive of the Jack in the Box fast-food chain, for questioning about a 1990 report alleging that the San Diego firm has the worst record of child labor violations in California. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Burlingame), chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee on employment and housing, will ask the panel to authorize a subpoena for Goodall at a meeting in Washington on Wednesday.

An egg-shaped pinata covered with white tissue paper hangs from a curtain rod in the United Farm Workers office in Moorpark. Written across it are the words "Boycott Egg City" in large black letters. "When we win the strike," vowed Celia Madrigal, a 44-year-old mother of two, "we are going to break the pinata." Madrigal, a $6.