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| U.S. labor unions, having helped Barack Obama win the presidency, entertain high hopes he will enact their agenda to bolster their negotiating power with employers and increase their numbers after decades of decline. A cornerstone of labor's agenda is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act that unions argue restores balance to its negotiations with employers, but is described as "Armageddon" by a leading business group. |
| (Source: Reuters, 2008-11-09) |
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| With the U.S. jobless rate at a 14-1/2-year high, more workers being shown the door are expected to explore court action against their former employers, according to lawyers on both sides of labor disputes. Among the expected complaints will be arguments from dismissed workers that they are owed wages and benefits, or complaints they did not get adequate warning their jobs were about to disappear, lawyers say. |
| (Source: Reuters, 2008-11-11) |
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| U.S. firms cut back their employees' working hours in the third quarter at the fastest rate in six years, keeping productivity growth rising faster than expected, according to Labor Department data. Productivity in the nonfarm business sector increased at a 1.1 percent annualized rate as output fell 1.7 percent and hours worked dropped 2.7 percent. |
| (Source: MarketWatch (free reg. req'd), 2008-11-06) |
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| More than one in four American adults have encountered employment discrimination, according to a new survey by FindLaw.com. The survey, which asked 1,000 adults if they believe they have ever experienced discrimination by an employer in job interviews, hiring, pay or promotions, found race topped the list (39 percent), followed by age (34 percent), gender (30 percent), religion and sexual orientation (seven percent) and other (26 percent). |
| (Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal, 2008-11-06) |
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| On a typical day, more than 400 juvenile workers are injured on the job. Enforcement has waned, despite new evidence that many employers are ignoring child labor laws. U.S. Department of Labor investigations have dropped by nearly half since fiscal year 2000. |
| (Source: The Charlotte Observer (free reg. req'd), 2008-11-10) |
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| The Air Line Pilots Association and Delta Air Lines have submitted federal filings that are sparking labor conflict just days after Delta closed its merger with Northwest Airlines. The pilots union submitted an application to the National Mediation Board seeking a determination that Delta and Northwest make up a single carrier. Delta agreed with that request in its own filing. |
| (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (free reg. req'd), 2008-11-11) |
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| Here's a new twist on the old story about women being paid less than men: Female chief executive officers are getting higher base salaries than their male peers. But in total compensation, the women executives lag the men, according to the Corporate Library. |
| (Source: The Kansas City Star (free reg. req'd), 2008-11-07) |
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| Since the beginning of the millennium, the number of working Americans with employer-sponsored health-care plans has dropped each year, according to a report prepared by the Washington-D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, non-partisan think tank. In 2000, 68.3 percent of Americans under 65 had employment-based health coverage, the report, said. By 2007, the rate had fallen to 62.9 percent -- a decline representing more than three million people nationwide. |
| (Source: Northern Colorado Business Report, 2008-11-07) |
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| A prominent biologist at the University of California, Irvine could be placed on unpaid leave because he refuses to take sexual harassment prevention training. Alexander McPherson, 64, calls the mandatory training a "sham" and considers his refusal an act of "civil disobedience." |
| (Source: Fox News, 2008-11-06) |
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| Jenifer Brown |
On April 1, 2009, Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS, formerly INS) will begin accepting H-1B temporary worker petitions for the 2010 Fiscal Year. If approved, H-1B status would become effective October 1, 2009.
On the first date of eligible filing for the past two years, CIS has received more than twice the annual number of applications made available for H-1B workers and implemented a lottery system to randomly select cases for processing. The same result is anticipated next year.
Read the entire article on H-1B temporary worker petitions. |
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Vitamin D and Chronic Low Back Pain
A recent study suggests that people with chronic low back pain are often deficient in vitamin D. Because vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption and bone growth, there is some logic to this finding. One study also showed that people with chronic low back pain improved after taking vitamin D for three months. This obviously is not going to revolutionize the treatment of low back injuries, but bear in mind that many of your employees may have rather inadequate nutrition and many adults get inadequate amounts of vitamin D.
You might discuss this with your company doctor at the next opportunity and see if a vitamin supplement might be part of a treatment program. Find more information.
Please contact Kathleen Shortridge or Ann Stewart if you have questions on this topic or any other worker's comp issue.
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