Shorter term(<3 years) U.S. treasury securities up a few basis points from last week. Longer term securities down a few basis points from last week.
Longer term U.S. rates higher than last year:
Author: Dwight Steward, Ph.D.
SHRM discusses two interesting Calif. wage and hour cases
SHRM:
Leyva v. Medline Industries Inc., 9th Cir., No. 11-56849 (May 28, 2013), Individualized damages http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/FederalResources/Pages/Individualized-Damages-No-Obstacle-Class-Action.aspxno obstacle to wage and hour class action
Urbino v. Orkin Servs. of Calif. Inc., 9th Cir., No. 11-56944 (Aug. 13, 2013), PAGA claims cannot be aggregated for removal to federal court
Manufacturing returns to U.S. – shortage of workers
Some employers in some industries such as textiles are finding increasing wages in China, shipping, and other costs are making it cost efficient to manufacture again in the U.S. Many of the same employers are finding a shortage of workers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/business/us-textile-factories-return.html?pagewanted=all
Job openings and employment up in Sept.
The Conference Board reported that online job demand was up 209k while ADP reported that private sector employment increased 166k in Sept. 2013. Both are sizable increases that point to current and future employment growth.
Test 2
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Bureau Labor Statistics Data Pt. 2
In October, the average weekly earnings of U.S. workers increased by about $2 to $795.42.
Compared to last year’s average, wages were higher by $9 per week.
Source: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000011
Bureau Labor Statistics Data
In October, the number of employed individuals in the U.S. increased by 80,000 individuals from last month.
Compared to last year’s average, employment was higher by 768,750 individuals.
Source: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PAYEMS
Pennsylvania jury awards $62 Million to plaintiffs in wage and hour class action verdict based on damages calculations by plaintiffs’ economic experts
Braun v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., et.al. 2011 PA Super 121, decided June 10, 2011
Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit in 2003 action to recover unpaid wages they earned for overtime work and missed or shortened meal and break periods. The suit asked for mandatory statutory liquidated damages under the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Act (“WPCL”) claiming that defendants failed to pay them for work they performed, failed to allow employees to take their paid, mandatory, rest breaks; and prohibited them from taking promised, paid, rest breaks.
In October 2006, a jury found for plaintiffs on their rest breaks and off-the-clock work claims and for Wal-Mart on the meal period claims. Based on plaintiffs’ expert witness reports and calculations, it found that Wal-Mart required its employees to work without pay by directing them to not record their hours on its computerized pay system, and that Wal-Mart did not have a good-faith reason for refusing to pay its employees everything they had earned. The trial court awarded damages to plaintiffs totaling $62,253,000, as calculated by plaintiffs’ expert witnesses who analyzed Wal-Mart’s business records and extrapolated this data in their calculations. Based on the experts’ findings that 98.81% of the class experienced at least one rest-break violation, the Court ordered that damages be paid as a single, statutory penalty per class member, thus the $62,253,000 total.
Wal-Mart appealed, arguing that the jury verdict was not subject to liquidated damages as mandated by the WPCL, an argument rejected outright by the Superior Court hearing the appeal, which concluded that the Appellees demonstrated a “systemic loss of contractual break time,” based on these experts’ analysis.
Contributed by: Ron Wainrib, Esq.
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