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☆ Elon Musk faces upward of $130 million in legal costs to fight laid-off Twitter workers over severance pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk last month offered thousands of laid-off Twitter workers a limited severance deal. In addition, laid-off Twitter employees also filed a handful of class-action lawsuits in federal court. Instead, Musk is offering laid-off workers one month of base pay as severance. It also effectively prohibits them from ever speaking about Musk, Twitter, or their experience at the company. Even those relatively few Twitter workers who signed off on Musk's severance agreement could speak freely about the company going forward.

☆ A group of laid off Twitter employees finally got paltry severance agreements. Now they must decide whether to sign, or pursue legal action against Elon Musk's company.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

After two months of waiting, laid off Twitter employees got severance agreements from Elon Musk. By comparison, laid off workers at Facebook received six months of severance when that company enacted mass layoffs in November. The website also uses Twitter's official blue and white bird logo and the official separation agreements are said to show Musk's signature. As for the separation agreements, they appear to be mostly boilerplate, offering one month of pay to laid off employees as severance. Such clauses are typical for severance agreements.

☆ Elon Musk, who has used fertility treatments to conceive most of his 10 children, just cut a major fertility benefit for Twitter employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The most recent is to a fertility benefit, coverage of which is now reduced by 50%. Musk has used fertility treatments to conceive most of his children. Elon Musk continues to cut costs at Twitter, with the latest move drastically reducing a benefit that helped employees with the cost of fertility treatments and adoption. The benefit is provided through a third party, Carrot, which last week emailed Twitter employees telling them of the change in coverage. Two former employees noted that the change will likely become part of the five lawsuits and group arbitrations that have been filed over Musk's treatment of Twitter employees.

The proposal would require that workers be considered employees, entitled to more benefits and legal protections than contractors, when they are "economically dependent" on a company. Most federal and state labor laws only apply to a company's employees, who can cost employers up to 30% more than independent contractors, studies suggest. Federal law requires agencies to adequately explain their decision to withdraw and replace existing rules. The rule would treat companies as so-called "joint employers" under federal labor law when they have indirect control over working conditions such as scheduling, hiring and firing, and supervision. The 2020 rule barred NLRB staff from putting off elections while related cases alleging illegal labor practices are being litigated.

☆ In Big Tech, getting laid off can mean taking a fancy vacation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Typically in the US, workers receive little to no severance pay as it is not required under federal labor law. When companies do offer it, frequently severance pay is just one to two weeks of pay for every year a person has worked. One laid off worker there was on his way to Japan for vacation when he got the news he was laid off. Other workers tech who have been laid off feel similarly. Another former Twitter worker said colleagues are organizing "all kinds of trips" among those looking to travel.

☆ Food sanitation company accused of employing at least 31 children on graveyard shifts in slaughterhouses
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

A leading sanitation company is accused of employing dozens of children to clean the killing floors of slaughterhouses during graveyard shifts, the Department of Labor announced. The Department of Labor’s Child Labor Regulations designates many roles in slaughterhouse and meatpacking facilities as hazardous for minors. That order requires PSSI to “immediately cease and refrain from employing oppressive child labor” and comply with the Department of Labor’s investigation. Yet, the children working overnight on the kill floor of these slaughterhouses cannot wait,” the complaint states. When they are hired by PSSI, workers sign paperwork assuming the risk of death and injury on the job, NBC News reported last year.

☆ Elon Musk failed to give laid-off Twitter employees previously promised severance packages, lawsuit alleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Laid-off Twitter employees are suing the company saying they were promised a range of severance benefits. The lawsuit says they were assured these benefits would hold after Elon Musk bought Twitter. However, recently laid-off employees say Twitter reneged on the promised severance pay. Twitter employees "reasonably relied" on this promise in the weeks leading up to Musk's purchase and chose not to look for jobs elsewhere, the lawsuit shows. This claim appears to contrast a November 4 tweet from Musk, which said that all exited employees were offered three months' severance.

☆ Jeff Bezos sued by former housekeeper over working conditions, discrimination by other staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, introduces a new lunar landing module called Blue Moon during an event at the Washington Convention Center, May 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. A woman who says she worked as a housekeeper for Jeff Bezos is suing the Amazon founder and companies that manage his properties, claiming she endured "unsafe and unhealthy work conditions" and was subject to racial discrimination by other staff. Mercedes Wedaa said she was hired by Bezos' staff in 2019 to help maintain the billionaire tech magnate's Seattle-area property. The lawsuit claims there was no designated break room or rest area, and no easily accessible bathroom. Wedaa claims she was ultimately fired from her role after she raised complaints about working conditions and discriminatory behavior.

☆ Mayor of Brazil meatpacking hub probed amid wave of electoral coercion cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The sources said that Santa Catarina state labor prosecutors are running the investigation into Mayor Joao Rodrigues of Chapeco, a hotbed for Brazil's meatpacking industry. It will not if Bolsonaro remains president," Rodrigues said in a video seen by Reuters, addressing the local business community before stating his name and title. Brazil has seen a wave of complaints about Brazilian companies putting illegal political pressure on employees, amid the final stretch of a highly polarized presidential campaign. Electoral law prohibits Brazilians from promising benefits or making threats to steer votes toward or away from a particular candidate. In the final moments of the 55-second video, Rodrigues tells business leaders "to get to work."

The Amazon logo is seen outside its JFK8 distribution center in Staten Island, New York, U.S. November 25, 2020. In a filing, Attorney General Letitia James agreed not to seek review of a May state court decision that had found federal law preempted her claims that Amazon violated state labor statutes. She had alleged in Feb. 2021 that Amazon had retaliated against two New York City workers protesting warehouse safety conditions. As part of the agreement, Amazon withdrew its own lawsuit against New York state, which had alleged James overstepped her bounds in pandemic dealings with the retailer. The court’s prior dismissal of the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit, and today’s agreement to end the litigation altogether, is the right outcome given our actions in response to the pandemic."

Gig company stocks were hammered by the news, with Uber (UBER.N), Lyft (LYFT.O) and DoorDash (DASH.N) all falling at least 10%. The proposal would require that workers be considered employees, entitled to more benefits and legal protections than contractors, when they are "economically dependent" on a company. Millions of Americans are working "gig" jobs and this labor has become vital to some transportation, restaurant, construction, health care and other industries. "Misclassification deprives workers of their federal labor protections, including their right to be paid their full, legally earned wages," Walsh said. Seth Harris, President Joe Biden's former top labor adviser, said the rule will not directly impact how courts determine whether workers are employees or independent contractors.

Gig company stocks were hammered on the news, with Uber (UBER.N), Lyft (LYFT.O) and DoorDash (DASH.N) all falling at least 10%. Employees can cost companies up to 30% more than independent contractors, studies suggest. U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in a statement said businesses often misclassify vulnerable workers as independent contractors. Those groups have said that any broad rule would hurt workers who want to remain independent and have flexibility. Worker advocacy groups have said that companies are increasingly misclassifying employees as independent contractors, depriving workers of fair pay and benefits to pad their profits.

This makes employees much more expensive for companies to use than independent contractors - up to 30% more, according to some studies. Business groups have maintained that independent contracting helps to create jobs and gives workers more flexibility and opportunities to operate their own businesses. The proposal is similar to legal guidance issued during the Obama administration that was withdrawn by the Labor Department under former President Donald Trump, a Republican. HOW WOULD THE RULE AFFECT WORKERS? At the same time, limiting independent contracting could lead some companies to slash the number of workers they hire, eliminating some jobs altogether.

☆ The Biden administration wants to make it easier for gig workers to be full-time so Uber drivers and home health workers could qualify for benefits and better pay
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Jason Lalljee | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Labor Department announced a proposal making it easier for gig workers to be classified as employees. That proposal comes after years of pushback from gig work companies like Uber and Lyft. It's no secret that gig work has been spreading, as the rise of on-demand apps necessitated the rise of on-demand workers. Part of the expansion of unemployment benefits, which also included an additional $600 and then $300 a week, made gig workers eligible for benefits for the first time. The Labor Department announcement comes after years of organizing from labor activists pushing for gig workers to be classified as full employees.

This makes employees much more expensive for companies to use than independent contractors - up to 30% more, according to some studies. Business groups have maintained that independent contracting helps to create jobs and gives workers more flexibility and opportunities to operate their own businesses. The Labor Department has not revealed any details of the proposal, but is widely expected to restrict independent contracting. Last year, U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told reuters that many gig workers should be classified as employees. Groups representing trucking companies, gig economy firms and freelance workers have unsuccessfully challenged California's 2019 law adopting the "ABC test."

A decade-old scandal at a Massachusetts crime lab — which led authorities to dismiss tens of thousands of drug convictions — may involve wrongdoing by more people than was previously known, according to a recent court order. At least one person was referred to the state attorney general’s office in 2015 for potential prosecution, Judge John T. Lu wrote last week. The ruling stokes lingering doubts about statements by the state inspector general’s office over the past eight years that Dookhan was the “sole bad actor” at the Hinton lab. Bizuayehu Tesfaye / APDookhan’s misconduct at the Hinton lab was exposed in 2012, after she had worked there for nearly a decade. A spokesman for the inspector general’s office declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

☆ A Kremlin ally died falling down the stairs, report says — the latest in a series of unexplained deaths among prominent Russians
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Moscow Aviation Institute's former rector died in an accident on Wednesday, the facility said. Local media said Anatoly Gerashchenko, 72, died falling down several flights of stairs. It's the latest in a string of accidental or untimely deaths of top Russian figures. The Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) university announced the death of Anatoly Gerashchenko, 72, saying he died "as a result of an accident." An unnamed source told Russian newspaper Izvestia that he died on the university's grounds, by falling "from a great height" down several flights of stairs.

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