Insurance Company Ordered to Pay $50M in OT Suit
May 04, 2005—A federal judge has decided that Farmers Insurance Group must pay $52.5 million
to about 1,000 claims adjusters who alleged the company misclassified them as
exempt from overtime, Bloomberg News reports.
Suit Against Wal-Mart Allowed to Continue
October 12, 2004—A judge in Washington has ruled that a class-action lawsuit which alleges Wal-Mart
forced employees to work unpaid overtime may proceed, the Associated Press reports.
Small Businesses Making a Political Issue of Health Insurance
June 08, 2004—Small businesses employ about half of the nation's 115 million private-sector
workers. Those same small businesses regard the ever-rising cost of health insurance
as the primary threat to their survival. Together, those facts are producing
what USA Today calls "a bumper year for political fights over small-business
health costs."
Wage & Hour Complaints and Investigations—News—Washington
Firm to Pay $1.2M to Settle Unpaid Overtime Allegations
March 30, 2004—Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., of Bellevue, Washington, has agreed to
pay 52 employees $1,204,203 in overtime back wages to settle allegations that
the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Department of
Labor announced.
West with Highest Unemployment in December
January 31, 2003—Regional and state unemployment rates were generally stable in December. Among the four regions, the Midwest had the lowest unemployment rate in December, while the West continued to report the highest rate, 6.3 percent.
WA Workers Can Use Sick Leave for Relatives' Care
December 04, 2002—Under a law that took effect with the new year, employees in Washington state no longer have to lie about calling in sick on those days when they're really home in order to care for ailing family members.
Companies Learn Value of Sabbaticals
August 07, 2002— Sabbaticals, a tradition in the academic world, have been making their way into the corporate world.
Microsoft Employees Are Feeling Lucky
January 04, 2002— Microsoft has been a relatively quiet port in the storm of layoffs and other problems striking most other workplaces in the U.S., according to The New York Times.
Productivity Rses, Labor Cost Growth Slows
November 15, 2001—Just when the economists were grumbling about another possible interest rate hike by the Fed, worker productivity galloped in to the rescue.
