TheWage

Bayada Asks Pa. to Overturn Home Care Worker Wage Protections

thewage — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:07:24 +0000

Bayada Nurses Inc. argued its appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court this week, asking the judges to find that workers who provide companionship care to the elderly and infirm are exempt from the state minimum wage. The key question is whether the state law’s exemption extends to workers who are jointly employed by agencies like Bayada.

New Jersey Proposes Prevailing Wage for Food Service Workers

thewage — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:18:58 +0000

New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill to extend prevailing wage requirements to all state authorities, county and local governments, and food service contractors. The proposal is stalled as lawmakers worry about the cost, but the bill would help thousands of low-paid workers in public schools (raising their pay from an average of $9.75/hr to $12.15/hr plus $3.35 in benefits).

Ohio Bill Proposes to Improve Enforcement

thewage — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:25:50 +0000

Lawmakers in Ohio are soon introducing a bill that would authorize the Ohio Department of Commerce to investigate claims for unpaid wages in excess of the minimum wage (up to $100,000). At present, the agency is only empowered to seek back wages up to the state’s minimum wage, not the full wage that a worker is owed.

Brooklyn Restaurants Forced to Pay

thewage — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:29:49 +0000

Yesterday, the New York State Department of Labor announced the results of an April audit of 23 restaurants in the upscale Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. The agency found employment law violations in all but two of the restaurants. Workers were paid less than minimum wage — with some delivery workers earning less than $3.00 per hour. In all, the agency found 207 workers who were owed $912,237 across the 25 restaurants. (The New York State minimum wage is $7.25, or $4.65 for workers who earn tips.)

For the last three years, New York’s state labor department has been at the forefront of proactive enforcement efforts. They send teams of investigators to inspect workplaces in industries known to have rampant violations, even if no complaints have been filed. These investigators often work off-hours — during the hours that workers are most likely to be at work. These efforts can add up to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in back wages and penalties for workers, and they send the signal to employers across an industry that minimum wage and overtime laws will be enforced. The agency announced a similar sweep of 84 car washes around the state in 2008.

Jury Finds Tyson Owes Workers for Donning and Doffing

thewage — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:40:43 +0000

A federal jury in Birmingham, Alabama has found Tyson Foods guilty of failing to pay its workers for the time they spend “donning and doffing” (putting on and removing) their safety and sanitary gear. The US Department of Labor represented the workers in two trials. (The first — begun in February 2009 — was declared a mistrial.)