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California Labor Agency Cautions Employers Who Ask for Doctors' Notes to Verify Paid Sick Leave

"[T]he state legislature passed a law late last year providing mandatory paid sick leave to approximately 6.5 million workers without any provision for allowing employers to seek documentation verifying an employee's use of paid sick leave under the law.... [In a recent] public webinar ... the state labor agency took the position that the new law could prevent employers from conditioning the use of paid sick leave on the submission of documentation verifying the leave because such a requirement arguably interferes with the employee's use of paid sick leave."

In Health Care Reform Debate, Single-Payer System is Labor's Only Clear Choice

Excerpt: Single-payer is not a dream. It's legislation -- House Resolution 676, introduced by Congressmen John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich, with dozens of co-authors. It also has the backing of 235 labor organizations in 40 states, including 17 AFL-CIO state federations and 60 county/regional central labor councils.

Emergency Rule: Seattle Employers Cannot Ask for Doctor's Notes for Paid Sick Time

"Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards just issued a temporary emergency rule that prohibits employers from requesting a doctor’s note to verify employees’ use of paid sick leave under Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) ordinance. The emergency rule is in effect from April 8 until June 7, 2020, unless it is revoked earlier or extended through formal rulemaking."

Central States Retirees: A Wave of Organized Wrath

"A 1982 consent decree, designed to rid the Fund of corruption, turned over management of much of its assets to Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs. These firms collected more than a quarter-billion dollars in fees just in 2009-2013. For a while, the Fund was flush -- so flush that the IRS ordered the trustees to either take in less money or pay out more. They started sending retirees a 13th check each year, and later instituted '30-and-Out' and then '25-and-Out.' Retirees made plans accordingly, not knowing that their union president and UPS would impoverish the Fund[.]"

Teamster Retirees Demand Trustees 'Stop the Rush' to Reduce Pensions

"This past month, meetings in Columbus, Ohio, and Kansas City, Missouri, drew 600 and 500 Teamsters and family members, respectively. Milwaukee saw nearly 300 and Cincinnati more than 200. Retirees have formed active 'Committees to Protect Pensions' in 20 cities, with Facebook pages set up in a dozen more.... The pension committees are demanding that trustees of the Teamsters' mammoth Central States Pension Fund, with 407,000 members, stop the rush to achieve solvency on their backs, and find another way to shore up the fund's ailing finances."

Unions Back Plan that Could Kill Off Real Health Care Reform

Excerpt: If Barack Obama wins the fall election, he will be under more pressure to establish universal health insurance than any president in U.S. history. This will be due not only to public disgust with the current health care system, but to the hard work of organizations dedicated to universal health insurance. But the most powerful of these groups, including the AFL-CIO and Service Employees (the major Change to Win health care union) are promoting a solution that won't fix the problem. Their plan would fatten the insurance industry and make it an even more formidable opponent of true reform than it already is.

Massachusetts Health Care Reform Falls Short

Excerpt: Massachusetts recently gained national prominence when a reform bill was signed into law. Unfortunately, the 'breakthrough' solution that has been trumpeted as reaching near universal coverage is a false promise.

U.S. Labor Department Extends Comment Period on Proposed Rules on Filings Required by Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements

Interested parties now have until March 19, 2012, to submit comments on the proposed rule ... Those who have already submitted comments or plan to submit comments should note that there was an error in the preamble published in the Federal Register ... that incorrectly listed the EBSA email address.... [C]omments sent electronically [via email] prior to February 22, 2012, should be resent to the correct email address[.]

Labor Department Stiffens Incentive Pay for Flex Workweek Employees

The new regulations, which amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, will likely lead employers using this method to eliminate all incentive rewards such as commissions, bonuses or prizes, a labor attorney notes.

Department of Labor's Model Notices on New COBRA Subsidy (PDF)

4 pages. Excerpt: On its web page, the Department of Labor provides three different notices applicable to Federal COBRA coverage. Commentators have noted inconsistencies between the general instructions, the headers on the notices and the provisions of ARRA which has resulted in some confusion as to whom each notice must be distributed. The Department of Labor has informally indicated to Bryan Cave that the notices are intended to be used as follows[.]