Archive for the ‘State Labor Law’ Category

NEWS ITEM: At least 30 states have contracted with banks to provide direct-deposit unemployment benefits, some of which come in the form of a debit card. This saves the states the cost of printing checks and mailing them. REALITY: Some banks are abusing the system by charging fees to use these unemployment debit cards. Try [...]

The New Jersey Supreme Court, which earlier this year ruled that striking nurses qualify for unemployment benefits, yesterday came out in favor of free speech rights–for rats! Actually, for one rat–an inflatable, 10-foot-high rat bandied about by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Lawrence Township in 2005. The rat was being used outside a [...]

The New Jersey State Supreme Court, in a 6-1 ruling, has authorized striking nurses to receive unemployment benefits, overturning just about every precedent concerning unemployment insurance. The lone dissenting justice, Roberto Rivera-Soto, called the decision “perverse,” noting that it “upends the common-sense notion that striking employees have left their employment voluntarily and, hence, should be [...]

Unemployment insurance was commenced in 1935 as a bridge between jobs, but this recession seems to be testing the limits of the system and revealing some inherent cracks. First, not all states run their unemployment programs the same or use the same eligibility standards. The result of this disparity nationwide is that some 37 percent [...]

Many have argued that minimum wage laws price certain people out of the job market skill-wise and also lead to layoffs as small businesses cope with their finances and the added burden of higher wages. In this light, it’s notable that fully 40 percent of the 693,000 who lost their jobs in the latest ADP [...]

Some eleven states and two municipalities are raising their minimum wage hourly rates on New Year’s Day 2009, topped by the City of Santa Fe with its $9.92 rate (closely followed by San Francisco at $9.79). Heading the states is Washington at $8.55 an hour. For a full list, check out this site. The federal [...]

Two George Mason University researchers looking into the cost of government regulations on American business conclude that the total burden amounts to a 1.6 percent excise tax on the “typical manufacturer.” Another way of framing the cost is in terms of dollars, which they say amounts to $1,700 per employee. The researchers, W. Mark Crain [...]