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☆ Republicans' plans to cut the budget could mean millions lost in back pay, more dangerous workplaces, and jobs sent overseas, the White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The White House is once again attacking the Freedom Caucus for its plan to cut spending. Per a fact sheet, the White House said the Caucus' plan would result in lost wages and harmful working conditions. Through cutting back on investigations and inspections, the White House estimates that the House Freedom Caucus' plans would cost 135,000 workers an average of $1,000 in back pay. Reversing spending in the Inflation Reduction Act – the cutting of which is one of the House Freedom Caucus' core tenets — would move millions of jobs for those projects overseas, the White House said. —House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) March 10, 2023Last week, the Freedom Caucus unveiled their broad plan to address the debt ceiling through major spending cuts.

☆ 2 Florida restaurants kept staff tips to cover dine-and-dash customers and illegally charged workers for their uniforms, the DOL says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two restaurants in Florida kept servers' tips to cover dine-and-dash customers, the DOL said. A total of $190,730 in back wages and liquidated damages was recovered for the workers, per the DOL. Employers are not allowed to keep staff tips under any circumstances under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The two restaurants – Red Mesa Restaurant and Red Mesa Cantina – had also deducted the cost of employees' uniforms from their wages, meaning that some were paid less than the minimum wage. Red Mesa Restaurant and Red Mesa Cantina also failed to pay the correct overtime rate of 1 ½ times workers' normal hourly pay for hours worked over 40 in a week.

☆ A worker died in a ship's cargo hold in Florida after 2 tons of paper crushed him against a wall, Department of Labor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A worker was crushed to death by two tons of paper being hoisted onto a ship, OSHA said. OSHA said the crane operator hadn't been able to see the signalman guiding the load movement. The crane operator didn't have a clear view of employees in the hold below, OSHA said. When the ship pitched with a wave, one of the loads crushed a worker against the vessel's wall, OSHA said. Premier Bulk Stevedoring was cited for one repeat and two serious violations and OSHA has proposed $43,750 in penalties.

☆ TikTok's finance influencers are selling the idea that you can become a 'recession millionaire' if the market tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

It also reinforces the idea that the stock market isn't the same the thing as the economy. During the Great Recession, many millennial investors were too young — or didn't have sufficient income — to capitalize on the market downturn. If a recession is on the horizon, Nelson says it would likely provide millennial investors a better buying opportunity. Seo says too many investors hold off on investing until they think the stock market has "bottomed-out." With inflation eroding Americans' savings, many people may simply not have the extra money to throw into the stock market.

☆ Biden’s First Veto Is Revealing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Republicans in Congress are forcing President Biden to issue his first veto, and they’re getting bipartisan help. The Senate and House this week voted to overturn a Labor Department rule that lets retirement fund managers use worker savings for political causes. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Jon Tester on Wednesday joined Republicans to pass a resolution repudiating the DOL rule. As Mr. Manchin explained, the rule lets retirement plan fiduciaries consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors and “prioritizes politics over getting the best returns for millions of Americans’ retirement investments.”

☆ Biden’s ESG Veto Is Revealing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ 2 Senate Democrats join GOP in rejecting socially conscious investing rule, rushing it back to Biden for a promised veto
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The US Senate voted down a Biden-backed socially conscious investing rule 50-46. Two Democratic senators up for reelection in 2024 joined Republicans in opposing ESG. Wednesday's defectors, both of whom are facing tough reelection bids this cycle in states Donald Trump won by double digits in 2020, include Democratic Sens. The absence of Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania left Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer three votes down before deliberations even started.

U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws. It has created an interagency task force on child labor, and plans to target industries where violations are most likely to occur for investigations. The Hearthside investigation is the latest in an uptick of similar probes. Reuters last year published a series of stories on child labor including revelations about the use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai, including a direct subsidiary of the Korean auto giant, in the U.S. state of Alabama.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. Labor Department probes Hearthside Food Solutions for possible child labor violations -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Labor has opened an investigation against Hearthside Food Solutions, a U.S. food contractor that makes and packages products for well-known snack and cereal brands, for reportedly employing underage workers and violating child labor laws, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. "We can confirm that we have opened an investigation," a spokesman for the Department of Labor told Reuters. The Hearthside investigation is the latest in an uptick of probes the department is conducting on child labor in factories around the country. Reuters last year published a series of stories on child labor including revelations about the use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter and Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws. It has created an interagency task force on child labor, and plans to target industries where violations are most likely to occur for investigations. The Hearthside investigation is the latest in a rise in similar probes. Reuters last year published a series of stories on child labor including revelations about the use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai, including a direct subsidiary of the Korean auto giant, in the U.S. state of Alabama.

☆ Biden administration to crack down on child labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

More than 3,800 children were found to be working at U.S. companies last year in violation of federal law, the Labor Department said Monday in announcing a crackdown on child labor. Some 835 companies were founded to be illegally employing minors last year, the Labor Department said, and more than 600 child labor investigations remain ongoing. In stepping up its efforts to target companies that use child labor, the Labor Department will use new strategies to launch investigations where child labor violations are most likely to occur. The agency called on Congress to increase the maximum penalty for child labor violations, which is currently $15,000. "That's not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies," the Labor Department said in a press release.

One of the plants where children worked, SMART Alabama LLC in rural Luverne, Alabama, is a direct Hyundai subsidiary. STATE AND FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONSFollowing Reuters' first story on child labor at SMART last July, as many as 10 Hyundai suppliers in Alabama have been under investigation by state or federal authorities for child labor violations, Reuters reported in December. In the shareholder letter, Chang reiterated that Hyundai was "discouraging" suppliers from relying on such staffing agencies in the future. He wrote that staffing firms who hired children to work at Hyundai supplier plants had provided false employee documentation. Earlier this month, thirty-three members of Congress urged DOL to seek strong and swift penalties against those responsible for child labor in the Hyundai supply chain.

☆ 4 Florida restaurants with the same owner had to give over $250,000 of back pay to staff after the Department of Labor said they only paid servers tips
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Four Florida restaurants were ordered to pay $253,044 to 93 workers following an investigation. The DOL said the restaurants didn't pay wages to servers or pay other workers overtime. According to court filings viewed by Insider, the restaurants were asked to pay back wages for a period of around three years and 10 months. Tipped workers, like servers, have to take home at least $7.98 an hour in pay from the restaurant, with the rest made up in tips. The four Florida restaurants paid staff straight time for all hours worked, the DOL said.

☆ Sanitation company accused of employing children as young as 13 for 'hazardous' work hired the same child twice
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Britney Nguyen | Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A sanitation company that paid $1.5 million in penalties after being accused of employing children hired one child twice, NBC News reports. The child was hired under two different identities in six months, per NBC News, citing an internal report. The company confirmed to Insider that it demoted the employee who hired the child. "We have been crystal clear that we do not want a single person under the age of 18 working for the company," Swenson said. In its filing, the department accused the company of employing at least 102 children ages 13 to 17 in "hazardous occupations."

☆ Sanitation company pays $1.5 million penalty for hiring children for 'hazardous' factory work like cleaning beef bone saws, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US Labor Department filed a complaint against PSSI following a three-month investigation into unlawful child labor claims in November. PSSI was charged $1.5 million in penalties as a result of the investigation, officials said. The department accused the sanitation contractor of having employees as young as 13 working "hazardous" overnight shifts. The DOL filed a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction against the food safety sanitation service following its investigation. The company added that no children are currently employed, and many hadn't worked for the business in years.

☆ More than 100 children worked in dangerous conditions at slaughterhouse cleaning firm: US Labor Department
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Kieler, Wisconsin, based company employed the children to clean meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws and head splitters. The company said none of the underage workers are employed at the company today, and that “many” of them had worked there years ago. In November, a complaint was filed in the US District Court of Nebraska alleging that Packers Sanitation illegally employed at least 31 children to clean dangerous power equipment. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the company from committing further child labor law violations. In December, Packers agreed to take “significant steps” to comply with labor laws after entering into a consent order and judgment.

☆ Federal officials find more than 100 children working in dangerous jobs for slaughterhouse cleaning firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Packers Sanitation Services has paid a $1.5 million fine for the violations. The Labor Department says the children who were working overnight shifts used "caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws." "Our investigation found Packers Sanitation Services' systems flagged some young workers as minors, but the company ignored the flags. The company signed a consent decree in December with the Labor Department and agreed to abide by child labor laws after federal investigators documented 50 children working at slaughterhouses for it. The compliance specialist will conduct child labor audits, which will be shared with the Labor Department for three years.

☆ An Ohio restaurant 'forced' servers to work 60 hours a week for just $10 in wages plus tips, the Department of Labor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Mexican restaurant in Ohio paid its servers just $10 a week plus tips, a DOL investigation found. Servers were "forced" to cash their paychecks then pay their wages back in cash, the DOL said. They were only allowed to keep tips plus $20 per two-week pay period, the DOL said. Servers, who worked an average of 60 hours a week, were only allowed to keep the tips they earned plus $20 per two-week pay period, the DOL said. The restaurant was ordered to pay $245,509 in back wages to six servers and 12 cooks.

☆ If you're a gig worker, your boss might be using a technicality to underpay you
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Many workers are classified by employers as independent contractors, rather than employees. The Biden administration has proposed a rule making it easier for gig workers to be counted as employees. NELP finds that 10% to 30% of employers — and potentially more — misclassify workers as independent contractors, "which indicates that several million workers nationally may be misclassified." Truck drivers misclassified as independent contractors may lose between $11,076 and $18,053, according to EPI's estimates. The Biden administration is taking aim at misclassification, hoping to crack down on it and offer an easier pathway for independent contractors to be considered employees.

☆ Federal government investigating possible human trafficking of children who cleaned slaughterhouses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Laura Strickler | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

There is no indication DHS is investigating the company that hired the children, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., or PSSI, for human trafficking. The Labor Department’s Child Labor Regulations designate many roles in slaughterhouse and meatpacking facilities as hazardous for minors. The Labor Department says its investigation, which began in August, is ongoing as it scours company records from 50 locations. I don’t anticipate unless there are severe ramifications for this that it will actually change policies.”The Labor Department has issued no penalties or fines to date. Labor DepartmentQuestions about child labor at PSSI in Grand Island and Worthington are not new.

☆ US Labor Department accuses Amazon of failing to keep warehouse workers safe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Amazon has been accused by federal safety regulators of failing to keep warehouse workers safe from workplace hazards at three US facilities, in the latest example of government officials scrutinizing the e-commerce giant’s labor practices. The Department of Labor said Wednesday that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Amazon and issued hazard letters related to injury risks from workers lifting packages after inspecting three warehouse facilities in Deltona, Florida; Waukegan, Illinois; and New Windsor, New York. An Amazon spokesperson said the company “strongly” disagrees with OSHA’s claims and intends to appeal. “We’ve cooperated fully, and the government’s allegations don’t reflect the reality of safety at our sites,” Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, told CNN in a statement Wednesday. But Amazon is also known for carefully tracking worker productivity and for working conditions that have been called “grueling.”“We have to keep up with the pace,” Jennifer Bates, an Amazon warehouse employee who helped organize a union push at an Alabama facility, said in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee in 2021.

☆ Before accepting 'manager' in your title, make sure it's not just a way for your company to avoid paying you overtime
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new study finds that firms may be using fake managerial titles to get out of paying employees overtime. Workers with a manager title, who make over a certain amount weekly, are exempt from overtime. Firms gave many more workers who make that cut-off wage manager titles, according to the study. They found that, during that time, there was a 485% increase in managerial titles for workers just over that overtime threshold. In essence, firms give workers title bumps without tacking on new duties — or higher pay.

☆ A Los Angeles restaurant chain was fined $1.6 million for failing to pay overtime to 83 staff and for keeping false records
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Thai-restaurant chain in LA was fined more than $1.6 million after failing to pay staff overtime. The DOL found that 83 employees at Ocha Classic and Vim Restaurant were owed more than $800,000. The DOL personally fined Boonyindee, who operates six Ocha Classic chains and one Vim Restaurant outlet, an additional $62,000 for the "willful nature" of his violations. According to an LA Times report from last year, diners often queue up for an hour for a table at Ocha Classic. Ocha Classic didn't respond to a request for comment from Insider.

☆ American Airlines retaliated against cabin crew who reported illnesses caused by toxic fumes on aircraft, say federal investigators
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

American Airlines retaliated against employees who reported work-related illnesses, per the DOL. Cabin crew said they were discouraged from reporting illnesses after jet fumes entered the cabin. In a statement, the Department of Labor (DOL) said flight attendants reported worker illnesses to the airline caused by jet fuel fumes seeping into aircraft cabins. But an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) — initiated by a whistleblower tip-off — found that upon reporting these illnesses, the airline retaliated against employees. The effects on passengers of toxic jet fumes entering the cabin are unclear.

Garvey had argued that the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), which protects workers who report securities violations, can apply to securities fraud that occurs overseas but affects U.S. markets. Circuit said SOX's whistleblower protections do not prohibit securities fraud, so any impact on the U.S. was irrelevant in applying the law. Nor did Morgan Stanley, which has denied retaliating against Garvey. An administrative law judge ruled that SOX did not apply to overseas workers, and a review board agreed last year. For Garvey: pro seFor DOL: Reynaldo FuentesFor Morgan Stanley: Michael Kenneally of Morgan Lewis & BockiusOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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