Tag: employers

Job Cuts Soar as Employers Look for Ways to Lower Costs

Admin
Frustrated Worker

The number of job cuts by American employers surged in January as companies looked to lower operating costs to adjust to harsh economic conditions, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

The number of positions cut by employers in January jumped 136%, with 82,307 positions cut compared to the 34,817 cut in December, according to a report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas. The job cuts come amid a wider U.S. layoff trend due to broader economic struggles, like inflation and adjustments from automation.

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Virginia Lawmakers Push Richer Employer-Provided Benefits to Workers

The Center Square
Working Mom

Calling her state and America behind “the entire industrialized world,” a Virginia senator is one of two lawmakers pushing legislation to implement an employer-provided benefit to workers.

“Virginia and our entire nation are woefully behind the entire industrialized world when it comes to helping workers when their families need them,” Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, said Monday explaining a paid famil and medical leave program.

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Biden Admin Releases New Labor Rule Cracking Down on Independent Contractors

Admin
Remote Worker

The Department of Labor announced Tuesday the final version of a rule that will force companies to recognize some workers as employees instead of independent contractors.

The new rule goes into effect on March 11 and rescinds a previous rule establishing independent contractors as a separate class of workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act that was put in place in January 2021 under the Trump administration, according to the DOL release. The rule could raise labor costs by up to 30% for employers who utilize independent contractors, such as app-based services like Uber or Lyft, which offer a freelancing model, as employers would have to adhere to minimum wage and overtime laws, according to Reuters.

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Arizona Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations Pushes Form Letters Aimed at Silencing Support for Israel

M.D. Kittle

The Arizona branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has prepared form letters to help Arab- and Muslim-Americans shut down expressions of support for Israel from their colleagues at workplaces and schools.

“Your team, here at CAIR-AZ, has prepared templatized documents to advocate for you and your loved ones at work and school. Your voice is powerful. Use these letters to keep that power in your hands. Please reach out to CAIR-AZ if you feel you have been discriminated against,” said Azza Abuseif, executive director of the Mesa-based chapter.

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Proposed Federal Regulation Could Force Employers to Pay for Time Off for Abortions

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A new proposal from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) could require paid time off for women to get abortions and may even require employers to pay for travel related to the procedure, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The EEOC proposed new guidelines in August to enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) that was signed into law in December 2022, with the new guidelines classifying abortion as a related medical condition, according to the proposal from the EEOC. While the rule can’t require employers to pay directly for an abortion, the classification could open the door for employers to be required to give paid time off for an abortion and possibly even for employers to pay for travel expenses if the woman’s state does not permit an abortion, experts told the DCNF.

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WMC Survey of Businesses Finds Alarming Number of Wisconsin K-12 Graduates Aren’t Prepared for the Workforce

M.D. Kittle

As Wisconsin businesses struggle through a worker shortage crisis, it appears Wisconsin’s public schools are failing to prepare students for the workforce.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce’s latest employer survey finds 73 percent of responding businesses said ‘no’ when asked if students graduating from the Badger State’s K-12 education system are prepared for the workforce.

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New Report Shows Wisconsin Getting Older, Worsening Labor Shortage Crisis

M.D. Kittle

A new report finds Wisconsin’s median age is rising, a bad sign for the Badger State’s labor shortage crisis, a workforce expert said.

And Governor Tony Evers has been a sleep at the switch in meeting the crisis, according to Rachel Ver Velde, senior director of Workforce, Education & Employment Policy at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the combined state chamber and manufacturers’ association. 

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Increasing Healthcare Costs Put Connecticut Employers in Difficult Position

The Center Square

As the cost for health benefits rises in Connecticut, businesses and nonprofits are evaluating budgets to determine how much they can contribute to benefits for employees.

“Consider how much the cost of health care in America degrades our competitive position – businesses and taxpayers in no other country must bear this huge cost; it puts America at a 7-10% cost disadvantage relative to other countries,” Fred Carstensen, director of Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut, told The Center Square. “And at the same time, the average health of Americans (and life expectancy) is poorer than in most other developed countries – making us less productive. The costs we impose on ourselves with this health care system are seemingly endless.”

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Proposal Would Let Connecticut Agencies Sue Employers and Bestow Proceeds on Unions

Bradley Vasoli
Michael Winkler

A bill in the Connecticut House of Representatives would allow the state to effectively nullify worker-employer agreements designed to prevent lawsuits and let state officials bestow some monetary awards on unions.

The legislation, sponsored by State Representative Michael Winkler (D-Vernon), would evade what it refers to as “forced arbitration agreements” and “allow employees to sue employers on behalf of the state after having waived their personal rights to sue.” 

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Supreme Court’s Conservative Justices Seem Skeptical of Biden Admin’s Workplace COVID Vaccine Rules

Admin

The Supreme Court on Friday hearing oral arguments on two major Biden administration efforts to increase the country’s vaccination rate against COVID-19 — starting with the mandate requiring large-scale employers to require workers to be vaccinated or tested.

In the first case, the National Federation of Independent Business, et al., Applicants v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, et al.

OSHA is more specifically requiring businesses with 100 or more workers either require them to be vaccinated or et tested weekly and wear masks while working, with exceptions for those who work outdoors.

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State Rep. Quang Nguyen Introduces Bill to Protect Religious Arizonans from Liability If an Employer Requires the COVID-19 Vaccine

Rachel Alexander

Religious employees in Arizona who suffer an injury due to being required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by their employer will have a remedy if a proposed bill makes it into law. State Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott), along with several co-sponsors, introduced HB 2043 that makes employers liable for a “significant injury” to an employee resulting from the vaccine if the employer denies them a religious exemption. 

“This is one of the most important bills I’m introducing this coming session,” Nguyen said in a statement. “The reality is COVID-19 is going to be with us for a long time. Public and private health mandates are not a good solution and could instead cause harm in some cases. If businesses and employers are intent on mandating vaccinations as a condition of employment, they should be held accountable if their employees face serious harm or illness.”

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Arizona Reps. Gosar, Biggs, and Lesko Join Brief Demanding SCOTUS Block Biden’s Vaccine Mandate on Large Private Employers

Rachel Alexander

Three Arizona members of Congress are joining in on a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-04-Ariz.), Andy Biggs (R-05-Ariz.), and Debbie Lesko (R-08-Ariz.) along with 180 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate filed an amicus curiae brief in NFIB v. OSHA challenging the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to implement the mandate.

The members of Congress argued that the mandate violates federalism, encroaching on the states’ authority. “[T]he sudden ‘discovery’ of authority under the OSH Act confirms that it was never intended to displace state authority in this area.” They assert, “Congress did not give that power to an agency bureaucrat.”

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Commentary: Financial Stability Is Key to Being Able to Leave Job for Refusing Vaccine Mandate

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Joshua Mawhorter

Until recently, I was a California teacher working in two charter schools, one as a full-time classroom teacher of Government/Economics and sometimes U.S. History, and the other as a part-time independent study teacher who assists families with a program primarily based around homeschooling. I have taught for about five years and love teaching.

Last week, I was fired from one school and put on unpaid administrative leave at the other because of my refusal either to take and demonstrate proof of the COVID-19 vaccine or test weekly. I even filed a religious exemption stating the following that was rejected:

“As a committed follower of Christ, I religiously and philosophically cannot submit to either a government vaccine mandate or weekly testing.

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DHS Stops ‘Mass’ ICE Worksite Raids of Undocumented Workers, Will Instead Target Employers

Admin

The Department of Homeland Security issued a memorandum that will stop “mass” Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids of undocumented workers at job sites and instead target employers, the agency announced Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to prosecute “employers who exploit the vulnerability of undocumented workers,” DHS Secretay Alejandro Mayorkas said in the memorandum. He added that the raids negatively impact workers who may already be subjected to low wages and unsafe working conditions.

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Commentary: Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Could Rise or Fall Based on 2012 Roberts Ruling on Obamacare Individual Mandate

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“Construing the Commerce Clause to permit Congress to regulate individuals precisely because they are doing nothing would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority.”

That was Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion ruling in 2012 that the individual mandate to purchase health insurance in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was unconstitutional under Congress’ Article I, Section 8 power to regulate interstate commerce.

And yet, the mandate was rescued in the very same decision by Roberts, ruling that penalty under the individual mandate was a valid exercise of Congress’ Article I, Section 8 power to collect taxes.

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich and Nearly Half the Attorneys General Send Warning Letter to Biden About Vaccine Mandate, Include Policy Concerns

Rachel Alexander

After filing the first lawsuit in the country against President Joe Biden over his sweeping business COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich next signed onto a letter with 23 other attorneys general to Biden listing their objections, including non-legal ones. The attorneys general stress that the mandate will drive healthcare workers out of hospitals where they are desperately needed. If Biden does not reverse course, the 24 threaten to sue the administration.

“President Biden’s vaccine mandate lacks both legal authority and integrity,” Brnovich said in a statement. “I am proud to stand alongside my colleagues to push back on this assault on state sovereignty and the liberties of Americans.”

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Rep. Bruce Griffey Seeks to Revive E-Verify Legislation by Invoking a Special House Rule

Laura Baigert

In an effort to revive the legislation requiring the use of E-Verify for Tennessee employers with six or more employees, Rep. Bruce Griffey filed the necessary paperwork Thursday to recall the bill in accordance with a House rule.
Rule 53 of the House of Representatives Permanent Rules of Order for the 112th General Assembly allows for a process to recall a bill from committee. If the effort is successful, the bill will be scheduled directly to the House floor for a vote, bypassing the committee process that killed the bill.

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Legislation Killed in House Subcommittee Lowering E-Verify Threshold Would Have Reverted to State Law Between 2011 and 2016

Laura Baigert

A bill that was killed last week in the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee would have reverted to the threshold required for E-Verify in legislation signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam in 2011 and remained in effect until 2016.

Currently, employers are required under state law to use the E-Verify program to confirm work authorization status of their employees, but only if they have 50 or more employees.

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House Republicans Kill Bill Requiring More Fair Use of E-Verify by Tennessee Employers

Laura Baigert

A bill that would create equity amongst Tennessee employers as to the required use of the E-verify system was killed by five Republicans in the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, even as thousands of illegal immigrants surge the southern border.

HB 0801, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris), would require employers in the state with six or more employees to utilize the federal government’s E-verify system in hiring future employees.  Griffey’s bill lowered the threshold from the current law, which required e-verification for employers with 50 or more employees.

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If Elected to Congress State Sen. Mark Green Would Propose Student Loan Payback Program With Employer Contribution Just Like 401Ks

Julie Carr
Steve Gill, Mark Green

Steve Gill and 7th District Republican Congressional nominee State Senator Dr. Mark Green (R-Clarksville) sat down for an extensive interview about Green’s candidacy for Congress , and his position on a broad range of issues important to Tennesseans. The cost of higher education and skyrocketing student debt was among them – in particular the federal government’s overreach into state education and how new college graduates can benefit from a ‘401K’ structured student loan incentive that could end up being a 360 degree win for both employers and their new young employees riddled with debt. STEVE GILL: Education is another issue we hear a lot about in terms of concerns with voters. If you’re in Congress, what would be your education priority how do you deal with education issues?I know most of that is local. DR. MARK GREEN: Sure STEVE GILL: But the federal government imposes 85 percent of the regulation and about 10 percent of the money. How do we balance that a little better? DR. MARK GREEN: The ESSA has got to go. Right? I think it is, all it is is this overbearing federal program that the state’s have to comply to, or comply with. If we can’t…

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