The Salt Lake City Olympics, 2002

In February of 2002 traveled to Salt Lake City and worked for a company providing security during the Winter Olympics.  We provided uniformed & plain clothed, armed & unarmed private security services to designated critical infrastructure in and around Olympic venues.  While I was away for 30 days my wife Kimberley ran Delta Protective Services, our California based private security & investigative business.

I arrived about a week before the Olympics began so I, along with a crew of about 50 other graduates from Executive Security International, could prepare. This week was spent receiving mandated Utah State security and firearm training and performing advance work on our assigned job sites. I also helped determine the best way to organized and deploy our team of agents.

Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT)

The Grand America, NBC & Other Assignments

Another of our assignments was for downtown hotels. I got an opportunity to work at the Hilton & the Grand America. I also worked a detail for MacDonald’s Restaurants but my favorite assignment was working the NBC detail within the Grand America hotel. The hours were grueling but the job was rewarding.

During the course of my thirty days at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics I was only able to take two days off, the first of which was only after working twenty straight 12-hour shifts!  During my first day off I had the privilege to attend an Olympic Medal awards ceremony! The other day off I took sight-seeing around the beautiful Salt Lake City area.

Executive Security International - A Team of Professionals

My coworkers were a top-notch team of security professionals! Most were, like myself, graduates of Executive Security International and had received the best training available. This coupled with their extensive experience in domestic and international protection created an outstanding working environment. The people of Salt Lake City were great hosts and the volunteer spirit of the community was unmatched. This is such a beautiful city! I was often awestruck at the sights around me, especially the stark contrast of a big American city at the base of the magnificent Rocky Mountains in the depths of winter.

Not On MY Watch

The learning opportunities for anyone working this event were phenomenal. The lessons learned on a daily basis and the relationships made last a lifetime. I am grateful for my involvement in this historic event and am proud that there were no significant security related incidents during the 2002 Winter Olympics. This was certainly do to the “Not on MY watch” attitude of all the security, protective and law enforcement personnel during this historic event.

Special Event Security

We recently became aware of a news item that has potential staggering implication for the safety & security of your business information including personnel & financial records; literally anything that has ever been run through your copier.

The risk comes from the hard drive that is an integral part of any digital copier. Typically, an image of each and every document that has been run through the machine may be stored on this hard drive. This includes documents that were copied, printed, faxed or scanned.

At the end of your lease when the machine leaves your possession these document images remain on the hard drive within the copier and are easily accessed by anyone with the correct software, available for free on the internet. This information is potentially damaging to your business and a boon for anyone involved in information theft. In cases of protected information like medical records & credit reports your business may be in violation of statues and subject to fines.

Delta Protective Services is taking the necessary steps to ensure that your information on our business machines is properly protected and will NEVER be released accidentally.

The issue of employers classifying security officer and protective agents as “independent contractors” continues to be on ongoing problem in California and is, generally speaking, illegal.

To see an article about California State Licensing Requirements click here: http://deltaprotectiveservices.com/licensing-requirements-private-security/

Despite this many employers do this to avoid overtime, payroll taxes and workers compensations premiums and many security & protective personnel, desperate for income or just trying to “break into” the field, accept these positions despite the risks. Some of these employers are based in California but many are based outside California and operate intermittently within the State. Since California offers no “grace period”, any security work done must be conducted by employees of a State licensed company and not by independent contractors.

This law will hopefully encourage some unscrupulous employers to change their illegal practices in the hiring of security & protective personnel and help level the playing field for businesses following the letter of the law.

SENATE BILL 459 INCREASES PENALTIES FOR EMPLOYERS AT FAULT

On October 9, 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 459, the “Worker Classification Bill,” regarding independent contractors. The law significantly increases the risks and penalties for misclassifying workers as independent contractors by imposing substantial penalties on employers found to have engaged in misclassification, as well as on advisors (other than attorneys) who advise an employer to engage in such treatment. The new law also includes what many have characterized as a “Scarlet Letter” provision that will require the offending employer to make a public confession of its unlawful behavior.

The new law, which was authored by Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, a Democrat from Alameda County, applies to “willful misclassification” of a worker as an independent contractor. The law states:

“Willful misclassification" means avoiding employee status for an individual by voluntarily and knowingly misclassifying that individual as an independent contractor.

The law provides no standards for what is “voluntary and knowing.” Since an employer is presumably aware when it engages an individual as an independent contractor rather than as an employee, the above definition provides little defensive assistance to an employer. Even in the unlikely event that an employer does not have actual knowledge of the treatment, the “knowing” standard would likely be interpreted to include constructive knowledge, which, in turn, includes what the employer “should have known.”

Violators are subject to civil penalties between $5,000 to $15,000 per violation, in addition to any other penalties or fines permitted by law. Violators who are found to have engaged in a “pattern or practice” of violations are subject to a larger civil penalty of $10,000 to $25,000 for each violation. The law also provides no definition of “pattern or practice,” leading to the possibility that the higher penalties might be assessed where an employer has misclassified more than a single individual.

Employers found to have engaged in any violation must post a prominently displayed notice on the employer’s Internet website advising employees and the general public of its violation. This is the so-called “Scarlet Letter,” a reference to the badge of shame worn by the principal character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famed novel. Employers without a website must have the notice “displayed prominently in an area that is accessible to all employees and the general public at each location where a violation occurred.” The notice, which must (i) remain for one year and (ii) be signed by a corporate officer, must state, in essence, the following:

The employer “has committed a serious violation of the law by engaging in the willful misclassification of employees.”

The employer has “changed its business practices to avoid committing further violations” of the law.

“Any employee who believes that he or she is being misclassified as an independent contractor may contact the Labor and Workforce Development Agency” [and the notice must list the agency’s mailing address, email address and telephone number].

This “notice is being posted pursuant to a state order.”

Although the California Labor Commissioner is charged with enforcement of this new law, individuals may file their own complaints judicially. As a practical matter, by creating a private right of action with significant penalties, class action litigation potentially presents a greater threat than government enforcement.

Ironically, Governor Brown’s signature came just days after the Internal Revenue Service announced its new Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP). The VCSP provides forgiveness of most of the amounts that would otherwise be due at the federal level for those employers that reclassify independent contractors as employees. Acceptance of the VCSP may be seen as a trap because it could make defense of non-IRS actions almost impossible. However, if the classification of workers as independent contractors is not well-founded, the new California law provides still another reason to make changes.

The law is codified as Sections 226.8 and 2753 of the California Labor Code.