Last week a friend stopped by who’d just been riffed by Microsoft (reduction in force, for the luckily uninitiated). She spoke angrily about the HR woman who answered most of her questions wrong concerning her severance and departure from the company. Initially my friend was told there was no severance beyond six weeks and her …
Recognizing that robust whistleblower protection is critical to preventing another financial crisis, Congress included in the Dodd-Frank financial services reform bill (H.R. 4173) numerous provisions designed to encourage whistleblowing and to provide robust protection from retaliation. These provisions create monetary awards for whistleblowers who provide original information to the SEC or CFTC, strengthen the whistleblower …
Dodd-Frank Bill Provides Robust Whistleblower Protections Read More »
Griping about Albany is always in style: pundits denounce late budgets, lax ethics rules, and special interest shenanigans. And they’ve got a point. But in the end-of-session frenzy, state legislators are also taking far more positive action: raising workplace standards for some of the state’s most exploited workers, many of whom (no surprise) live and …
Hooray for Albany? Legislature Acts to Boost Working People and the Economy Read More »
Yesterday afternoon, Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts told the House Education and Labor Committee, “We can and must do a better job of protecting our nation’s miners,” and urged Congress to approve legislation to strengthen mine and workplace safety laws. The bill, the Miner Safety and Health Act (H.R. 5663), focuses on mine safety, …
Deficit-mania has struck Washington again, with most Democrats and the Obama administration essentially accepting the propaganda of deficit hawks while also calling for extending unemployment insurance benefits. The result? The Senate failed again to pass a relatively bare-bones “stand-alone” benefits extension bill that doesn’t even include a COBRA extension, or aid to the states to …
Deficit Craze Stiffs Jobless Again — 3 Million Could Lose Benefits in July Read More »
The Lebron-a-thon reminded me of an old Vietnam era joke. One soldier turns to another and asks, “What’s the difference between the Marines and the Boy Scouts?” The second soldier shakes his head saying he doesn’t know. The first smiles and says, “The Boy Scouts have adult leadership.” The Lebron-a-polooza proved one thing, a group …
The King Has No Clothes, Lebron’s Lessons For Work Read More »
Domestic workers in New York have won historic changes to the state’s labor law to include protections for their jobs. Final votes on Thursday ended weeks of wrangling between state Assembly and Senate leaders and Governor David Paterson, who said he would sign the bill. The law guarantees domestic workers time-and-half pay for more than …
Domestic Workers in New York Win First-Ever Job Protections Read More »
Will government workers join the race to the bottom? I was stopped dead in my tracks and felt a cold chill run down my spine while reading the current issue of The Atlantic. Its cover story is “The 14 3/4 Most Powerful Ideas of the Year,” which is a Top 10 list that makes fun …
The ‘Blame the Teacher’ Movement, and the Public-Sector Union Crisis Read More »
In response to the hottest legislative issue in City Hall right now, the Daily News ran two opinion pieces on a bill that would guarantee living wages to all workers at city-subsidized development projects. This would mean that if a developer receives city tax breaks or other assistance to build a mall, for example, the …
Living Wage Law Would Create Benefits for Business, City’s Economy Read More »
Have you ever felt like you were an imposition on the staff of a retail chain? That somehow you were getting in the way of what they were meant to do—namely talk on the phone to their friends or discuss the social goings on of their fellow employees? You’re not alone (and yes, I’m a …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
