Idle Hands = Devil's Playground

What I want to know is why do we pay legislators full-time pay when they only work part-time?  I mean, these guys (and gals) take long vacations/breaks, aren't voting on anything most of the time (because they're out stumping to be re-elected), and are out spending my money on pork barrel legislation.  Then, when they are in session, they go and make laws like:

AB 1897: Employers Jointly Liable with labor Contractors for Violations.  Picture it, Company A contracts with Company B (like Kelly Services or any other temp agency) to hire employees to work at Company A.  Because the temp agency is the employer, if the temp agency doesn't pay a valid wage, the temp employee's only recourse is against the temp agency that hired them.  Under AB 1897, the temp employee can now go after the employer, too (in this case Company A).  The problem is, what is the point of having an temp agency intermediary if the company who uses temp employees are on the hook if the temp agency screws up?  Can you say bye bye to all the temp agencies?  Can you say unemployment is going up up up (thanks to some self-serving legislators).

AB 1522: Paid Sick Leave, up to 3 Days Annually.  So, here we have a law that says if you work 30 days or more in a year, you get 3 (paid) days guaranteed for sick leave. Sounds great (if you're a day laborer). The problem with this is imagine the scenario where people hire day laborers (i.e. illegal aliens/undocumented workers) for a long term project.  Say workers work for 31 days on a project; now they all can call in sick and get 3 extra days paid in FULL!  What a crock.  This isn't 30 consecutive days.  This is 30 total days.  So, what's going to happen is the employer is now going to have to fire everyone on the 29th day and hire a whole new crew.  Sucks for the day laborer who is doing a bang-up job.  Kudos to the guys who get hired on day 30.  Pain to the employer who has to keep track of everyone.

AB 1443: Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Unpaid Interns and Volunteers.  Courts around the state have held that unpaid interns and volunteers are not employees and, as such, are not afforded the same protections as an employee.  That said, really?  Apparently, there are some employers out there who can't differentiate between punching bags and humans so the legislature has to step in and create another stupid law to force people to see more clearly the difference.  Sad that you have to have a law to treat people decently.

Thing is, the California legislators have been up day and night thinking up ways to mess with we the people.  For a more extensive list of new laws, take a peek at Bills Enacted in the 2014 Regular Session and you all have a safe (and sane) New Year!