Where you live continues to be a key determinant of how much you are paid, according to the 2005 Geographic Salary Differentials study from Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent in the
first quarter of 2005, with a bulk of the gain coming from rising costs for
benefits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department
of Labor.
Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire has agreed to settle a Justice Department lawsuit alleging the company violated the Uniformed Services
Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 by failing to advance a returning
member of the Army National Guard on its progressive pay schedule while the guardsman was serving on active military
duty.
In a case involving a dispute over a pay policy, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that workers 40 and older can file lawsuits claiming
an employer's policy--while neutral on its face--has a disproportionate adverse
effect on them, Reuters reports.
In what could become a model for the rest of the federal government, the U.S. departments of Defense and Homeland Security are undergoing major changes in their pay, promotion, and discipline policies.
Employer costs for compensation averaged $23.90 per hour worked in December
2004 in the private sector, with benefits accounting for nearly 29 percent
of those costs, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Labor Department has ordered a Southfield, Michigan, firm that places computer
professionals at locations throughout the United States to pay $4,500,503 in
back wages to 232 non-immigrant computer professionals and $1,222,000 in fines
for immigration-law violations the department says it found during an investigation.
