Labor Commissioner Bradstreet to meet & greet with supervisors & staff in Los Angeles today

Angela Bradstreet, DLSE's newest Labor Commissioner, is in Los Angeles today. Earlier, she sent an email expressing her concern over the judge's lashing out at DLSE's practices in Corrales v. Bradstreet.

She wants DLSE to stay within the time guidelines for wages claims: from docketing to conference to hearing to decision. There's only three possible ways that will happen: 1) authorize overtime and get these cases heard, 2) hire the staff to stabilize caseload, and 3) re-prioritize our division. Let's assume that overtime and staffing will be a no-go. That leaves her re-prioritizing this division. Where does she start with transforming a division from micromanaging and dysfunctional to a lean & mean public efficiency unit?

First, she needs to give (statewide) DLC Is equal caseload as well as (statewide) DLC IIs. After all, same classifications make the same pay, but a DLC I in Santa Barbara has a substantially unequal caseload than a DLC I in Los Angeles. The same goes for a DLC II in Redding with having an unequal caseload than a DLC II in Santa Ana. There are no Standards of Performance for DLC Is and DLC IIs in this agency. The current DLSE managers have consistently ignored this problem and none of them have stepped up to fix it. If this cannot be fixed, unequal and unfair distribution of wage claim caseloads only makes the problem worse, and Commissioner Bradstreet will be unable to stop this hemorrhaging. A band-aid is not enough.

The next problem is the cancer called CMS, and I'm only discussing the cancer titled "entertainment work permits." Currently, there is no court mandate that the DLSE issue work permits within 2-3 days. If Commissioner Bradstreet wants to succeed in complying with Corrales deadlines, then something's gotta give, and work permits should be the first to be delayed. Wasting fifteen minutes on a work permit that normally takes 2 minutes is a huge issue when multiplied by 10-25 permits. You want more cases heard? Then eliminate the junk that does nothing to fulfill our core mission.

Compliance with Corrales will only be achieved when extraneous duties are eliminated, and work permits are a good start. After that, then we can find a way to get rid of counter duty and phone duty. I didn't sign up for this job to answer phones for six hours a week, and I didn't sign up for this job to spend 3 hours with entertainment work permits. If you cannot find the money for overtime or staffing, then internal priorities must change. There's only 40 hours in a workweek; I get paid the same if I issue permits, hold hearings, or answer the phone. Do you want me helping you comply with Corrales, or do you want Little Johnny in his Taco Bell commerical? If you want to succeed, then you must motivate the rank and file to help you because the current management (in play) is lazy, apathetic, and unintelligent. In short, they caused the problem you gotta fix, so what does that tell you about their IQ?

This division is currently zero and four: DLSE lost Livadas, DLSE lost Cuadra, DLSE lost Murphy (indirectly), and DLSE lost Corrales. Once Miles Locker returns from his wrongful termination, the DLSE will be zero and five. Once the blogger wins his lawsuit against DLSE Deputy Chief Lupe Almaraz, the DLSE will be zero and six. There's one pattern here: DLSE management is filled with losers. Don't let them infect you with their loser virus; it will not bode well for your senate confirmation hearing. What you do (or do not do) in the next sixty days is critical to your success. Good luck.