California Labor Law Also Applies to Seniors

Sacramento, CA Greg and his wife aren’t holding their breath regarding a California labor lawsuit. Rather, they want to raise awareness that seniors working part-time as camp hosts in California campgrounds are being taking advantage of, and both federal laws and the California labor code are being violated.

Greg and his wife Cathy retired a few years ago and like many seniors found part-time employment to supplement their Social Security checks. They were employed as seasonal caretakers for two separate companies with similar policies. The first year they were hired by California Land Management in Palo Alto, a company that manages federal parks.

“They give you so many hours per week to work and give you a campsite to live at so you can take care of the campground,” Greg explains. “We were only hired to take care of the campground - check the campers in, collect their money and clean up after they leave.”

Everything was fine for about a week. The couple (in their mid-60s) were promised they only had to work 30 hours a week at the most, but soon they were putting in more than 40 hours a week. “The manager gave us a time card but he refused to take them if we didn’t fill them out they way they want it,” says Greg. “He wouldn’t accept our time cards if we clocked in more than 40 hours.”

This year they worked for another company. “Before we signed on, we made sure they understood we only wanted to work 30 hours per week,” says Greg. “Again, it was OK for the first week but they got us to do more work. We cleaned bathrooms along with the usual job, and there was a lot more paperwork involved collecting fees. They wanted us to repair stuff; we had to paint the building that was not agreed on ahead of time. At this place we didn’t even get time cards.

“When I complained, the manager (he runs five campgrounds) got mad at me, took me aside and said we were ‘hiding in our trailer and not working smart.’ In other words he insinuated that we are lazy and stupid. So we packed up and left. But we couldn’t fill out a time card and we were never paid California overtime, which we kept track of.”

Greg figures he and Cathy are owed one week of work - 30 hours each - and overtime pay. And Greg says they aren’t the only seniors being taken advantage of.

“We know one couple in their late 70s who are working 50 hours per day,” he adds. “And we were told that we couldn’t talk to other ‘camp hosts.’ I figure they don’t want us to file a joint complaint.

“I mostly want to get this story told to help other seniors and stop this practice. It is pretty outrageous, especially because it comes down to the federal government who contracts these companies.”

Greg and Cathy wrote a letter to the main company that runs the campgrounds, the district manager and the forest service, below.

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to inform you that we are unable to continue our employment contract at Big Cove Campground CA with Thousand Trails Management Services due to the [manager’s] verbal harassment, being ordered not to communicate with other employees, a requirement to work overtime and on days off without compensation, and falsification of timecards that we were not allowed to see or sign. Being of Hispanic decent, I believe this is prejudice on the part of the manager.

We are very sorry to be leaving. We loved the campground and the campers. We strived to take superior care of the grounds. Campers and forest service employees often complimented us on our care of the campground. We will continue to look for employment as Camp Hosts and we hope at a future date we can work for Thousand Trails again.

Sincerely,

Greg and Cathy Villalobos