Employee Rights Blog

Unemployment Rate - Updated Monthly

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:50:27 +0000

The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to its lowest level in nearly three years last month, as the economy added more jobs than it had since April. According to data that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released today, the January unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent from 8.5 in December while the economy gained [...]

Mass Layoffs Report - Updated Monthly

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:02:48 +0000

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that employers completed 1,384 mass layoffs in December, causing 145,648 newly laid-off workers to file initial claims for unemployment benefits. Both mass layoffs and associated initial claims increased from November. Monthly mass layoffs increased by 52 while the number of workers who filed initial claims for unemployment benefits [...]

Can I Take Family or Medical Leave for Flu?

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:03:24 +0000

Generally, eligible employees may take job-protected leave from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for their own illnesses or those of sick family members; but, whether or not the flu is covered under the FMLA depends on its seriousness according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor [...]

Minimum Wage 2012

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:51:13 +0000

The eight states listed below increased the hourly minimum wage to the dollar amounts shown, on the effective date of January 1, 2012. Arizona $7.65 Colorado $7.64 Florida $7.67 Montana $7.65 Ohio $7.70 Oregon $8.80 Vermont $8.46 Washington $9.04 The hourly rates are for the “standard” minimum wage. Per federal minimum wage law, states may allow employers to pay lower than the standard based [...]

Emergency & Extended Unemployment Benefits 2012 Update

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:58:44 +0000

President Obama signed a new law that extends eligibility for the current unemployment benefit extensions explained below, for two more months into 2012. A House-Senate conference committee will negotiate extending the benefits through 2012. Update 1/27: According to an article in The Hill, GOP leaders are pushing the committee to restrict eligibility for unemployment benefit extensions. [...]

Hiring Outlook

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:11:51 +0000

According to the most recent results of an often-cited survey by ManpowerGroup, “U.S. employers expect hiring to increase slightly in the first quarter” of 2012. Manpower conducted over 18,000 interviews with U.S. employers in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the top-100 metropolitan statistical areas regarding their job hiring intentions in Quarter 1 [...]

Does my employer owe me severance pay?

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:43:38 +0000

Perhaps you’ll be surprised to learn that there is no federal law that specifically requires employers to provide severance pay to employees when employment relationships end. For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is considered to be the “main pay law” because it regulates employment wage and hour matters at the federal level, does [...]

Mass Layoffs Report - Updated Quarterly

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:43:01 +0000

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that employers conducted 1,226 mass layoffs in the third quarter (July-September) of 2011, causing 184,493 workers to lose their jobs for at least 31 days. Third-quarter (Q3) mass layoffs and worker job losses this year were the fewest since Q3 of 2007. Both numbers have now decreased from [...]

Retirement Age for Social Security

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:47:48 +0000

When President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act of 1935 into law, the retirement age for all U.S. workers was 65 to qualify for full Social Security retirement benefits. That’s no longer the case thanks to Social Security’s financial woes, partly from Americans living longer than ever before past the age of 65. Legislation passed in [...]

Holiday Hiring Myth - Holiday Job Search Myth

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:12:41 +0000

It’s a myth that employers bring hiring to a screeching halt, solely because the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays are approaching. Sadly, job seekers who are desperate for jobs, but believe the myth, stop job searching as the holiday season approaches, a time when they typically need money the most. It’s true that hiring often slows [...]

Holiday Jobs Hiring Forecast

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:28:24 +0000

If you’ve been thinking about landing a temporary holiday job to afford Christmas gifts or simply to pay your bills, now is the time to apply. Applicant screening typically starts in October and recent forecasts indicate that retailers might hire up to 627,600 holiday workers in 2011, give or take. This year’s annual holiday hiring forecast [...]

What is Race Discrimination in Employment?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:28:43 +0000

Race discrimination in employment occurs when an employer, employment agency or union demonstrates prejudice against an employee or job applicant in some aspect of employment, solely on the basis of race or skin color. Subsequently, race discrimination in employment is also referred to as color discrimination; other terms for it include race-based discrimination and racial discrimination. Race [...]

About the Labor Day Holiday

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:20:07 +0000

Labor Day, a U.S. national holiday that honors workers, occurs each year on the first Monday of September. Labor Day 2011 falls on Monday, September 5. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), exactly who founded the Labor Day holiday is unclear. Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, General Secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters [...]

Hurricane Unemployment Benefits - Updated

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:33:20 +0000

If you lose your job, work hours or self-employment income directly due to Hurricane Irene, then you might be eligible to collect unemployment benefits through a special federal program called Disaster Unemployment Assistance. Editor’s Note: EmployeeIssues.com has updated this post since Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storms Irene and Lee struck the East Coast. See the Updates [...]

What is Wrongful Termination?

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:50:03 +0000

Some employees who have yet to go through the unpleasant experience of involuntary employment termination, falsely assume that every unfair employment discharge amounts to wrongful termination. Wrongful termination is an unfair employment discharge; but, unfortunately for employees, not every unfair employment discharge amounts to wrongful termination, at least not that of the actionable kind. That’s because employment [...]

Child Labor in Summer Jobs

Tue, 10 May 2011 18:05:29 +0000

The time for teenagers to seek summer jobs has arrived. Subsequently, hiring employers, along with job-seeking teenagers and their parents, would be wise to become familiar with the restrictions imposed by state and federal child labor laws. In summary, federal child labor law: Sets the minimum legal work age at 14 Limits the work hours that employers may [...]

Tornado Cleanup Jobs

Tue, 10 May 2011 01:30:38 +0000

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that it had granted millions of dollars to Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee to create temporary disaster recovery jobs, such as tornado cleanup jobs. Update: Employee Rights Blog originally published “Tornado Cleanup Jobs” for the state of Mississippi, and then added Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, [...]

Disaster Unemployment Assistance - Storm, Tornado, Wind, Flood

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 18:17:11 +0000

Disaster Unemployment Assistance might be (or soon might be) available to eligible employees and self-employed individuals who’ve recently lost their jobs or income, because of damage caused by severe storms and resulting straight-line winds, tornadoes or floods. Editor’s Note: Employee Rights Blog has added more information to this post since initially published. See Update below. Disaster Unemployment [...]

Is a Severance Agreement Legal?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:59:33 +0000

There was a time when conscientious employers provided severance pay to help employees survive layoffs. But, these days, employers who provide severance pay at all are more likely to do so as a “bribe” of sorts, to encourage departing employees to sign severance agreements that waive their rights to sue the employers. For layoffs, the most [...]

Resignation Notice and Pay

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:02:11 +0000

One of the most common questions to which employees want an answer after quitting their jobs, is whether or not their employers had the right to immediately terminate their employment without paying them through their resignation notice periods. It’s not unusual for employers to send resigning employees packing soon after the employees hand in their resignation [...]