Wages and Benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Solutions that will reduce health care costs are critical in order to provide quality and affordable coverage for all Americans, witnesses told the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee today. Congress is currently weighing several options that will meet President Obama’s goal of guaranteeing quality and affordable health care insurance coverage to all Americans. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The current economic crisis has heightened the need for legislation that will provide American workers with clear and complete information about Wall Street fees taken from their 401(k)-style accounts, witness told the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee today.

In today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, they highlight the trouble with the current process for forming a union.

If the story of the janitors and groundskeepers at the Carnegie Science Center weren't true, it would seem as if the advocates of the Employee Free Choice Act were making it up.

Those 10 people work for the same employer as the 50 people who clean the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and the Carnegie Libraries. Yet, because of a quirk of history dating to a time when the individual museums were run as if they were separate organizations, the janitorial staffs at the museums and libraries are unionized. The cleaners at the Science Center are not….

The pay is $7.85 an hour. He is without medical insurance and is not granted days off with pay for sick time or vacation….

The janitors at the Oakland museums and the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh make $10 to $14 an hour and are awarded full benefits, including health insurance, vacation time and sick days, according to Gabe Morgan from the union that represents them.

The Employee Free Choice Act would help those 10 workers get the same wages and benefits as the other 50 janitors within the same organization.

Learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act and how it will benefit workers.

Here is another story worth reading. It highlights how workers in Indiana would be helped by the Employee Free Choice Act.

San Francisco's KGO station ran an excellent story about how artists are benefiting from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The recession is affecting artists, dancers and musicians everywhere, including the Bay Area, but hope is on the way. A House committee in Washington is examining how communities everywhere are being affected. $50 million has been set aside to give a boost to the arts and entertainment industry. The arts are big business generating 5.7 million jobs and $166 billion in economic activity each year. The House Education and Labor Committee, chaired by Congressman George Miller (D) of Concord, was told artists are unemployed and need their share of the stimulus package.

Watch the full report here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The government agency responsible for investigating complaints of minimum wage, overtime and child labor violations left workers vulnerable to unscrupulous employers, the U.S. Government Accountability Office told the House Education and Labor Committee today. The GAO’s conclusions were based on the results of an undercover investigation into the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor from July 2008 to March 2009.

“Those most vulnerable to wage theft are likely bearing the brunt of our nation’s economic crisis,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, who requested the investigation. “We owe it to all hard working Americans to ensure that we correct the incompetence of the Bush administration and ensure families are not being cheated out of their wages by unscrupulous employers. This was a massive failure. Former Secretary Chao was absent without leave.”

Corresponding with our committee's hearing today about the GAO’s undercover investigation into wage theft of America’s vulnerable workers, ABC News has an article and corresponding video about how the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour division under the previous administration failed to investigate legitimate complaints by employees. Building upon this investigation the New York Times has an article highlighting the problems with procedures and staff training which cost employees lost wages.

GAO to announce the results of its investigation into the Labor’s complaint intake and enforcement process

The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing to examine the findings of the Government Accountability Office’s undercover investigation into the Labor Department’s ability to enforce and investigate violations of our nation’s minimum wage, overtime and child labor laws.

The committee held a hearing last July that identified failures by the Bush administration to properly protect workers from the problem of “wage theft” by adopting weak enforcement strategies and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division. This agency is responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations. For more information on July’s hearing, click here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A last minute Bush administration regulation could reduce Americans’ retirement security by allowing firms to give conflicted financial advice to workers who participate in their 401(k) plans, witnesses told the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee today. 

The Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25, to examine the findings of the Government Accountability Office’s undercover investigation into the Labor Department’s ability to enforce and investigate violations of our nation’s minimum wage, overtime and child labor laws.

The Committee held a hearing last July that identified failures by the Bush administration to properly protect workers from the problem of “wage theft” by adopting weak enforcement strategies and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division. This agency is responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations. For more information on July’s hearing, click here.

US News and World Reports has an article answering the 8 Questions You May Have About the New COBRA Subsidy. It is a good addendum to our Our Frequently Asked Questions on the COBRA Premium Reduction.

Michelle Andrews wrote:

Anxious readers who had lost their jobs wanted to know how they could apply for the subsidy, which will cover 65 percent of laid-off workers' COBRA health insurance premiums if they choose to continue their health insurance under their former employer's plan. The reason for their concern is no mystery: The federal law known as COBRA that permits them to extend their health insurance also requires them to pay 100 percent of the premium, plus an administrative fee of 2 percent. For people trying to get by on an unemployment insurance check of around $325 a week, shelling out $1,000 or more a month for health insurance is often not feasible. Even a helping hand of 65 percent doesn't make COBRA cheap, but for some the subsidy will at least make coverage affordable.

If you have questions about the COBRA subsidy make sure to visit our FAQ, the article and the Department of Labor's COBRA website.

In today's USA Today, Sandra Block highlights some of the important provisions regarding ensuring continued access to health care for unemployed workers in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

The economic stimulus package signed into law last month seeks to address the high costs by subsidizing COBRA premiums for unemployed workers. Under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, laid-off workers can continue their former employer's health coverage for up to 18 months, but only if they pay the entire premium, plus a 2% administrative fee. Average COBRA premiums exceed $400 a month for individuals, and more than $1,000 a month for families.

The stimulus package will subsidize 65% of COBRA premiums for employees who were laid off between Sept. 1 and the end of this year. If you delayed signing up for COBRA coverage when you lost your job, you have 60 days to re-enroll after you receive a notice from your employer.

Read the rest of the article for additional important information about eligibility and COBRA expiry.

The hearing will explore how family-friendly policies, such as grants to support state paid leave programs, paid leave, expansions to the Family and Medical Leave Act, and paid sick days make sound economic sense not only in good times, but during recessionary times as well.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, has been invited to speak at a panel on health care at President Obama’s White House summit on fiscal responsibility. The panel also includes Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, among others.

WASHINGTON, DC -- In another harsh blow to workers, yesterday evening the Bush administration issued a new regulation that will lower wages and gut labor protections for agricultural guest workers – changes that will drive down the wages and working conditions for all workers. Today, Democratic lawmakers condemned this latest move and vowed to work with President-Elect Obama to undo a slew of damaging rules the Bush administration is trying to rush through in its final days.

“After eight years of disastrous policies that have steamrolled workers and our economy, this President has done enough harm,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “At a time when too many Americans are seeing their jobs and wages slip away, it’s despicable that this is how the Bush administration is spending its final days. I hope the new administration will work with us to quickly overturn this and other last-minute rules that open the door to more abuse in the guest worker programs and threaten the livelihoods of all workers in this country.”

The American economy could slip into a deeper recession unless immediate action is taken to stem the tide of rising unemployment and falling family incomes, witnesses told the Committee in a hearing today.

Ensuring better access to treatment for people suffering from mental illness, the House of Representatives today passed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (H.R. 6983) by a vote of 376 to 47.

The House is expected to vote today, September 23, on the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. This measure will help ensure better access to treatment for people suffering from mental illness by requiring group health insurance plans that cover mental and addiction health benefits to put those benefits on equal footing with physical ailments.

The House is expected to vote today on the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Committee passed the measure on July 24 to help end the discriminatory practice of paying men and women unequally for performing the same job.  Loopholes created by courts and weak sanctions in the law have allowed many employers to avoid liability for engaging in gender-based pay discrimination. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay.

On Thursday, July 31, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the growing income equality and its effects on the middle class. Stagnant wages have contributed to income inequality. The rapidly rising costs of food and energy have put additional pressures on families already struggling to make ends meet.  Income inequality has been rising since the late 1970’s when the top 1 percent of wage earners earned less than 10 percent of all income. But since then, these top earners have increasingly accounted for a larger portion of the income pie:  By 2006, the top 1 percent earned more than 20 percent of our nation’s wealth.

“The Growing Income Gap in the American Middle Class”
Thursday, July 31, 2008, 10:00 a.m. EDT

Today, the national minimum wage increases by 70 cents, from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour.  I am proud to say that this is the second of three increases due to take effect under the Fair Minimum Wage Act, enacted by this Democratic Congress and signed into law on May 25, 2007.

The increase in the minimum wage comes at an important time for the millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. Real incomes have dropped since 2001, while the costs of gasoline, health insurance, and attending college have skyrocketed. With today’s increase, Americans who most urgently need a pay raise will get a badly needed boost.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), testified at a hearing today that findings from two separate investigations indicate that the U.S. Department of Labor is failing to effectively enforce the nation’s wage and hour laws.  The two investigations found that the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department -– the agency responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations -– is failing to fully investigate and properly address violations of the law.  The GAO calculated that actions initiated by the Department on wage and hour violations have dropped from approximately 47,000 in 1997 to fewer than 30,000 in 2007.  Also, the use of fines that punish repeat or egregious offenders declined by nearly 50 percent from 2001 to 2007. 

The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on Tuesday, July 15 to examine the U.S. Department of Labor's record of enforcing the nation's wage and hour laws. The Government Accountability Office highlighted the results of two separate investigations requested by the chairman of the committee, U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), into the Labor Department’s failures to fully investigate and properly address violations of the law.

Seventy years ago last month, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the landmark Fair Labor Standards Act into law. The law has provided generations of Americans with basic rights to minimum wages, overtime pay, and a ban on oppressive child labor. However, critics say that the Bush administration has failed to protect workers from a growing problem of "wage theft" by adopting weak approaches to enforcement and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division, the agency responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations.

The Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, July 15 to examine the U.S. Department of Labor’s record of enforcing the nation’s wage and hour laws. The Government Accountability Office will highlight the results of two separate investigations requested by Chairman George Miller into the Labor Department’s failures to fully investigate and properly address violations of the law. Seventy years ago last month, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the landmark Fair Labor Standards Act into law. The law has provided generations of Americans with basic rights to minimum wages, overtime pay, and a ban on oppressive child labor. However, critics say that the Bush administration has failed to protect workers from a growing problem of “wage theft” by adopting weak approaches to enforcement and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division, the agency responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations.