Expert Compliance Insights & Tips for Businesses

July 30, 2009

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Has the Republic Windows Recovery Door Slammed Shut?

Vice President Joe Biden even visited the factory to proclaim a great victory for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the new owners pledged to hire back everyone laid off in December 2008. However, despite plans for Republic Windows and Doors to be back in full operation by May or June 2009, the Chicago-based factory has so far managed to hire only 15 or so of the 240 worke...

July 24, 2009

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Number of Mass Layoffs Recede in June from Record High

Bureau of Labor Statistics mass layoffs WARN

Mass layoffs of 50 or more employees receded in June to 2,763 events, down 170 from May's record high. In all, the June layoffs resulted in 279,231 new filings for unemployment insurance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced on July 23. Thus, over the year so far, the number of mass layoff events has increased by 1,046 and initial claims from those events by 104,483. From the start of...

July 20, 2009

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To Save Their Factory, They Had to Destroy It

explosives at work French labor law

Or some such reasoning, if such a thing (reasoning) can be said to apply to French workers and politics. I've blogged before about how terminated French employees will often hold their bosses hostage until a more suitable severance package is offered. As it turns out, "more suitable" has now been defined as 30,000 euros ($53,000) and hostage-taking has been replaced by explosive-wielding-and-t...

July 17, 2009

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EEOC Says Age Discrimination Claims Are Up 30 Percent

age discimination EEOC

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is so concerned about the rise in age-discrimination filings that it recently held a public hearing on the matter. "Age discrimination is an equal opportunity plague," acting EEOC Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said. "It is not limited to members of a particular class or a particular race. It is not limited to particular industrie...

July 16, 2009

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PATIENTS: Well-Intended Law With No Chance of Passage

health care rationing medical rationing PATIENTS

Anyone paying any attention (in the voting public, that would be no one except for me and a few others) will soon see unmistkable proof that the Democrats running Congress (and our nation, for better or worse--mostly the latter) are planning to ration health care with a vengeance (except for themselves, of course). The proof will come when a bill introduced by Republicans called PATIENTS gets ...

July 14, 2009

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EEOC Reviewing Closed Cases Under Lilly Law

equal pay for equal work Lilly Ledbetter Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is currently reviewing closed cases of wage discrimination complaints to determine if it can reissue right-to-sue notifications to those affected under the provisions of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Grounds for reissuance would be based upon new statute-of-limitations guidelines under the Fair Pay Act. Previously, a complaint had t...

July 14, 2009

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Pfizer Maintains: Who Says Free Enterprise Is Cruel?

health care Pfizer prescription medicine prescriptions

Drug manufacturer Pfizer has launched a program called Maintain to provide free prescription drugs to laid-off Americans who lack insurance. Powerhouse drugs like Lipitor, Norvasc, Caduet and, yes, Viagra, are on the list, though you might be hard pressed to make a medical necessity case for the latter. Cynics will counter that it's all "great PR," and I can see the New York...

July 12, 2009

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Do Recessions Make the (Cheatin') Heart Grow Stronger?

cheating spouses office sex recessions and love recessions and lust

According to Vault's Office Romance Survey, the answer is no. More people are playing office romances closer to the vest in these tough economic times, no doubt fearful they could be escorted out the office door instead of into the boudoir. However, good times or bad, those cheatin' hearts (and other body parts) do indeed abound, as the results of the survey show. Those who don't play around a...

July 8, 2009

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The Public Option Could Bankrupt the Whole System

health care Health Care Reform public option

I found this great graph on a site called The Glittering Eye that shows exactly what will happen to costs when the public option takes over. Note how the U.S. costs for health care are stable and relatively equal to other countries up to the age of 65 when the current public option, Medicare, kicks in. Gee, once health care in America becomes subsidized at age 65, people flock to their docto...

July 2, 2009

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Wal-Mart Finds Another Way to Crush the Competition

health care health care mandate WalMart

It was big news when Wal-Mart came out this week in favor of an employer mandate for health care, meaning that all employers (unless exempted by size) would have to provide health care for their workers or pay a tax to the government. Not only did Wal-Mart endorse the employer mandate now under discussion in Congress, but it also did so in concert with the Service Employees International Union...

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