Judge blocks Obama’s white-collar overtime rule

A policy from President Barack Obama's administration that would have given more white-collar workers overtime starting Dec. 1 was blocked nationwide by a federal judge in Texas. The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas granted a nationwide preliminary injunction that prevents the Department of Labor from implementing the changes while the regulation's legality is examined in more detail by the court.

Perspective: Put REINS on excessive regulations

Over the last few years, I have heard time and time again about the new rules and regulations that are being piled on the backs of our nation's small businesses and their hard working employees. They aren't wrong that this it has been a regulatory avalanche: an average of 81 new major rules have been announced by the Obama Administration annually, including a total of 43 major regulations with more than $100 billion in cost.

One Arizona Group Goes To Court For The Disabled – More Than 1,500 Times

Kimber Lanning, who owns a music shop in Phoenix, was surprised when she was served with papers earlier this year that alleged she had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act over signs marking van-accessible parking spaces. Hers were a couple of inches below the required five feet off the ground.

Human trafficker gets one year in prison for failure to pay taxes, wages

On Oct. 17, 2016, Isamary Diaz, 56, of Phoenix was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison with one year of supervised release for failure to file accurate tax returns in order to cover up the fact she was employing illegal aliens she helped smuggle into the country to work in her five Phoenix area restaurants.

U.S. Labor Department: States Are Failing Injured Workers

A U.S. Department of Labor report released today details the bleak fate facing the nation's injured workers, noting that those hurt on the job are at "great risk of falling into poverty" because state workers' compensation systems are failing to provide them with adequate benefits. The report lays the groundwork for renewed federal oversight of state workers' comp programs, providing a detailed history of the government's past efforts to step in when states fell short.

Wells Fargo made me work overtime — without extra pay

Wells Fargo's notorious pressure-cooker culture led the bank to force some hourly employees to work late without overtime pay, former workers say. The mandatory overtime took place during "call nights," where workers would call customers to sell them additional products like credit cards in an effort to meet the unrealistic sales goals.

Liberals, Media Allies Might Face Some Serious Opposition on Financial Regulation

New York State's Department of Labor recently made headlines with its rules mandating that employers paying their workforces with prepaid debit cards ensure that employees have "unlimited, free withdrawals" from at least one nearby ATM. This must be the case even if the employees have no bank accounts.

Four-Year Campaign Results In Historic-Win For Tax Whistleblowers

On August 3, 2016 the U.S. Tax Court ruled that tax whistleblowers were entitled to a reward based on monies collected in criminal fines and penalties . This landmark decision reversed the position of the Department of Treasury that severely limited the "collected proceeds" upon which a whistleblower reward could be based.The decision ruled that two anonymous whistleblowers, identified only as Whistleblower 21276-13W and Whistleblower 21277-13W were entitled to a reward of $17,791,607.00, based in part on $54 million obtained in criminal fines and civil forfeitures for which the IRS had illegally claimed were outside the whistleblower reward program.

U.S. Supreme Court Makes It Easier to File Constructive Discharge…

In what many consider an important decision, the Supreme Court has now made it easier for federal workers to file discrimination lawsuits if they quit their jobs due to intolerable work conditions. In the legal niche of employment law, constructive discharge, also called constructive dismissal or constructive termination, happens when an employee resigns from a position due to a hostile workplace environment created by the employer.

Your 401(k) Fees Are Attracting More Attention-From Lawyers

Here's a term you really don't want used to describe your 401 : "One of the most expensive plans in America." That's what law firm Nichols Kaster calls the $1.3 billion retirement plan at the center of a proposed class action against Fujitsu Technology and Business of America Inc. In a lawsuit filed recently in San Jose federal court, the attorneys alleged a cornucopia of fiduciary breaches tied to excessive fees, record keeping, and the components of the company's target-date funds.

Whisleblowers Expose Ongoing Culture Of Abuse In Country’s Largest Juvenile Justice System

As Los Angeles County reforms the largest juvenile justice system in the country, a new, damning video shows that the culture of abuse within that system remains intact. In surveillance footage leaked by whistleblowers inside a detention center, four probation officers are seen pummeling a teenager in a holding room.

Retrain miners to do what?

U.S. Department of Labor officials announced they are sending another $4.3 million in federal money to West Virginia for out-of-work miners. National Dislocated Worker Grant funding will be given to WorkForce West Virginia, which it says it will use to continue service for 1,700 Mountain State residents already enrolled in the program, and about 300 newly displaced coal miners.