National Employment Law Project

Today’s Bad Idea: Merge Labor and Education Departments

The Trump administration today proposed to merge the Department of Labor into the Department of Education. While some have suggested that the new department be christened the “Department of Child Labor,” the Trump administration has come up with the “Department of Education and the Workforce.” Some may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu at this name …

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California Just Passed Landmark Law to Stop Bosses From Discriminating Against People with Convictions

In an important victory for formerly-incarcerated workers fighting employment discrimination, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1008 into law on October 14, establishing some of the strongest “Ban the Box” legislation in the country. Brown’s signature can be attributed to tireless organizing on the part of formerly incarcerated individuals and their advocates. One of the …

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Eight years after the last minimum wage increase, Democrats want to give 41 million workers a raise

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since July 24, 2009—for eight years. Thanks to Republicans in Congress and the White House, it won’t be going up any time soon, and though many states have raised their minimum wages, 21 states remain stuck at $7.25 an hour. That’s a poverty wage. …

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Groundbreaking Bill in Illinois Would Give Temp Workers Equal Pay and Rights as Direct Hires

Sweeping legislation introduced in the Illinois state legislature last month would dramatically improve pay, benefits and working conditions for almost a million of the state’s temp workers toiling in factories, warehouses and offices. The Responsible Job Creation Act, sponsored by State Rep. Carol Ammons, aims to transform the largely unregulated temporary staffing industry by introducing …

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More U.S. Workers Have Highly Volatile, Unstable Incomes

The U.S stock market may be at record highs and U.S. unemployment at its lowest level since the Great Recession, but income inequality remains stubbornly high. Contributing to this inequality is the fact that while more Americans are working than at any time since August 2007, more people are working part time, erratic and unpredictable …

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Los Angeles bans criminal history checkboxes on job applications

Companies in the nation’s second-largest city must stop requiring job applicants to disclose criminal convictions on hiring forms next year after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a “Ban the Box” law there on Friday. The law does not prevent companies from conducting background checks once they have made a conditional job offer to a …

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Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary is a big ‘screw you’ to the Fight for $15

In an otherwise grim period for the U.S. labor movement, the fast food industry has been a hot spot for organizing activity. For the past four years, the union-backed Fight for 15 movement and allied groups have staged a series of nationwide, day-long strikes and protests in support of higher wages and unionization for fast …

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The Hope From Audacity: Fight for $15 Pulls Off “Most Disruptive” Day of Action Yet

Chicago—The movement known as Fight for $15 started in New York City as a surprise one-day strike. The workers’ demands then were simple and bold. They wanted a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to organize a union. The workers who initiated the campaign could no longer tolerate lengthy debates over penny …

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Madeline Messa

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.