In Simmons v. United Mortgage and Loan Investment, LLC, the Fourth Circuit ruled for plaintiffs and reversed the district court in this wage and hour case.  The plaintiffs are Charlotte-based Junior Asset Managers for a mortgage company who were not paid overtime even though they worked more than 40 hours per week.  They brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (NCWHA) based on the failure to pay overtime.  The primary issue is whether the plaintiffs will be able to pursue their case as a collective and class action on behalf the other underpaid workers at the company.  The defendants tried to short-circuit the collective/class action process by tendering a limited settlement offer before other workers could be notified of the case.  The Fourth Circuit rejected this tactic, finding the settlement too indefinite to moot the case.  The Court remanded the case to the trial court to consider plaintiff’s motion to certify the collective action and plaintiffs’ amendments to the NCWHA claims.  Ann Groninger, Burton Craige, and Narendra Ghosh are representing the plaintiffs.

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Categories: Judicial Decisions, News of the Firm Tags: Ann Groninger, Appeals, Burton Craige, Charlotte, Class Action, Collective Action, Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, Fourth Circuit, Labor and Employment, Narendra Ghosh, NCWHA, North Carolina Wage and Hour Act, Overtime, Results, Wage and Hour, Wages

The New York Times highlights a disturbing trend that has occurred during the Great Recession: the greater percentage of workers being hired as temporary employees instead of permanent ones.  Temporary workers often get lower wages, have little or no benefits, less job security, and less chance of promotion and a lasting career.

This is obviously bad news in the short term, but the possibility that this could be a long term feature of the economy is even more troubling.  Unfortunately, Japan provides an example of exacting this occurring.

To make matters worse, unemployed workers who get employed by shifting careers often end up with lower wages and a less satisfying job.   This all goes to the show that the Great Recession is not just a dire crisis for the unemployed, but also a crisis for many employer workers as well.

Categories: General News Tags: Great Recession, Japan, Labor and Employment, New York Times, Temporary Jobs, Wages

Even if Congress manages to extend emergency unemployment benefits for more the millions of workers who could receive them, about four million others will see their benefits end over the next year, unless an entirely new program is created.  This is according to a report recently issued by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.  So, the crisis facing some now is going to be experienced by even more later, unless serious job-creating actions are taken.

You would think that the latest, terrible monthly jobs report would convince those in power that the Great Recession continues unabated, doing terrible damage to working families.  Those unemployed for long periods face especially long odds of finding work in today’s economy.  And, even for those with good jobs, wages are continuing to be cut as even profitable employers take advantage of the ongoing crisis for workers.

Misguided worries about the budget deficit are allowing Republicans and the Deficit Commission to pursue Social-Security-cutting, Medicare-slashing, job-destroying agenda instead of a program that can end the Great Recession and put people back to work.  A new course of action is needed, and responsible policy options are out there.  For instance, check out the program set out by Our Fiscal Security, a collaborative effort of Demos, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), and The Century Foundation (TCF).

Categories: General News Tags: Congress, Deficit Commission, Great Recession, Jobs, Labor and Employment, Medicare, Monthly Job Report, Our Fiscal Security, Social Security, Unemployment, Unemployment Benefits, Unemployment Extension, Unions, Wages

Several recent articles highlight both the continuing pressure on workers’ wages as well how decreasing wages helped cause the Great Recession in the first place.

This article points to a troubling reality that even for those unemployed people fortunate to find a new job, that new job often means a decrease in wages and living standards.

This article describes how the entire annual increase in health care costs is being borne by employees with employer health insurance instead of being borne by the employers.  This is but one example of the skyrocketing cost of health care over the years has eaten away at any wages gains for the working class.

Finally, this extremely insighful op-ed by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich describes how the generation-long erosion of working class wages helped fuel the debt boom that ended in the Great Recession.  Unless and until serious measures are enacted to improve the wages of the working class, we will not experience a sustainable recovery or return to general prosperity.

Categories: General News Tags: Great Recession, Health Care, Health Insurance, Labor and Employment, New York Times, Robert Reich, Wages

A strike at the Mott’s apple juice plant in New York highlights a significant issue besides the pay for these particular workers, as noted by this New York Times article: “The union movement and many outsiders view the strike as a high-stakes confrontation between a company that wants to cut its labor costs, even as it is earning record profits, and workers who are determined to resist demands for wage and benefit givebacks.”

The parent company here, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, is not alone in making large profits even as workers earn less and less.  Our economy, however, cannot start growing again on a sustainable basis unless workers’ wages increase.  The Great Recession shows that families need higher wages to prosper in the long run instead of relying on more and more debt.

Categories: General News Tags: Great Recession, Labor and Employment, New York Times, Strike, Unions, Wages