As L.A. county officials begin to acknowledge that many of their workers have been exploited, those very same workers face job termination. An audit has found that at least 64 of the 1,000 workers employed in temporary, student positions by the county have actually been working for more than six years, nearly full-time, with low pay, absolutely no benefits, and little chance for promotion or an improved career path. The longest tenure found was 28 years. Many of these workers would have been eligible for promotions or retirement had they been classified as a regular, rather than a student, worker. Though the county has acknowledged that these workers have been exploited, they say it is in the past, and there is no plan to aid them retroactively. In fact, many of them are likely to lose their jobs, with no severance pay or prospects for new employment.
See "L.A. county temporary student jobs last for decades", Garret Therolf, Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2008