From: The U.S. Census: County Business Patterns (CBP) is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. This series includes the number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll. This data is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for other statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for administration and planning.
ZIP Code Business Patterns data is available shortly after the release of County Business Patterns. It provides the number of establishments by employment-size classes by detailed industry in the U.S.
Author: Dwight Steward, Ph.D.
Bitcoin being studied by Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
While the legitimacy of the bitcoin is still being debated, a number of major financial institutions are keeping a watchful eye on its development.
Maria A. Arias, Research Analyst, and Yongseok Shin, Senior Economist both of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, recently published a paper titled, “There Are Two Sides to Every Coin—Even to the Bitcoin, a Virtual Currency”, that discussed the bitcoin in more detail.
U.S. Dollar Value of 1 Bitcoin
Misclassification damages and the half time OT premium
Some recent cases on calculating damages in OT misclassification case.
When Salaried Employees Were Misclassified, Damages Properly Calculated At “Half-Time” Rather Than Time And A Half
Suncor increases sand tar oil production; using rail instead of pipeline to move product
The New York Times reports that Suncor, a leading Canadian oil sands producer, will increase production in 2014. The company anticipates using rail instead of pipeline to move oil to its refineries.
The Suncor website provides a detailed description of the oil sands process.
From their website:
Near Fort McMurray, Alta., Suncor recovers bitumen from oil sands through its mining and in situ operations. The bitumen from both operations is then upgraded to refinery-ready feedstock and diesel fuel.
The in situ process uses horizontal wells to reach the oil sands ore. The top well injects steam to heat the reservoir, allowing the bitumen to flow to the lower well where it is collected and piped to upgrading facilities. Graphic:
FLSA Regular Rate Calculations Accounting for Bonuses: Part 2 of 3.
Excerpted from article by: Stephen Bruce, Ph.D., PHR
Example 1: Health care workers
An health care facility for the disabled pays its employees on a biweekly basis. If employees work all the hours that they are scheduled to work in a pay period, they are given a $100 bonus. The employees must work all the hours in the pay period to receive the bonus. Employees are paid $12 per hour and work 56 hours a week. To compute this employee’s regular rate under the 40-hour FLSA overtime standard, the employer adds half of the biweekly bonus ($50) to the employee’s earnings for that week. The employers earnings are the hourly rate times the total hours worked in this example.
The resulting total compensation would be divided by the total hours the employee worked during that week to determine the regular rate. The steps are as follows.
1. Convert the biweekly attendance bonus to a weekly amount:
$100 (biweekly attendance bonus) ÷ 2 (weeks) = $50 (weekly bonus equivalent)
2. Calculate total weekly compensation:
$672 (56 hours @ $12) + $50 weekly bonus equivalent = $722
3. Calculate the regular rate:
$722 total weekly compensation ÷ 56 hours worked = $12.89 (regular rate)
Note: That the regular rate is higher than the person’s base rate in this pay period because of the additional non-discretionary bonus that they received during the pay period.
4. Calculate the overtime premium owed on the regular rate:
$12.89 (regular rate) x ½ = $6.45 (half-time premium)
Note: In this setting the overtime premium refers only to the .5 portion of the total 1.5x overtime.
5. Calculate the overtime rate based on the regular rate:
$12.89 (regular rate) + $6.45 (half-time premium) = $19.34 (overtime rate)
Note: The regular rate is used throughout the calculation and not the individual’s base rate.
6. Calculate total earnings:
40 (straight time hours) x $12.89 (regular rate) = $515.60 (straight time earnings)
16 (overtime hours) x $19.34 (overtime rate) = $309.44 (overtime earnings)
Total earnings for week one = $825.04 ($515.60 + $309.44)
Total earnings for week two = $825.04 ($515.60 + $309.44)
Total earnings for biweekly period = $1,650.08 ($825.04 + $825.04)
Regular rate FLSA calculations accounting for bonuses: Part 1 of 3.
Excerpted from: Stephen Bruce PhD, PHR
According to FLSA Overtime, at the rate of at least time and one half, must be paid on all hours worked over 40 in a workweek at the individual’s “regular rate,” not on the nominal hourly rate. FLSA requires that nondiscretionary bonuses must be included in the regular rate of pay. Non-discretionary bonuses include those that are announced to employees to encourage them to work more steadily, rapidly, or efficiently, and bonuses designed to encourage employees to remain with a facility.
The Department of Labor states that few bonuses are discretionary under the FLSA, and therefore few can be excluded from the regular rate.
So, to calculate the amount of the overtime premium, you must first adjust the pay to include the bonuses and then calculate the overtime premium. In practice, it’s often the case that you award bonuses after a paycheck has been issued, and in that situation, you must go back and recalculate the overtime and pay the difference. It’s usually a small amount, but it still must be paid. Referral bonuses paid for recruitment of new employees are not included in the regular rate of pay if they meet certain conditions (voluntary, not time intensive, after hours among friends and family).
We would like to thank @CAPA for inviting us to speak on FLSA and Wage and Hour violations! It was a great audience!
How long should it take the plaintiff to obtain comparable re-employment?
That is a central question in many wrongful employment termination lawsuits. The plaintiff’s back and front pay earnings claims revolve around the answer to this question. The length of an individual’s job search time depends on a number of factors. These factors include the individual’s work background, type of job, number of other qualified job searchers, and geographical area. The individual’s job search methods and efforts are also important factors.
In our work we study these types of job search factors in conjunction with the number of job searchers and employer demand for the relevant job position.
We have studied the labor market conditions for many job positions. In recent analyses we have studied the labor market for accountants, network computer administrators, and operations managers. The number of statewide job openings and searchers per job openings is shown in the table below. Searchers per job openings ratios that are less than 1.0 indicate that there are more job openings than job searchers for the particular job. Job searcher per job openings ratios greater than 1.0 indicate that there are more job searchers than job openings for the particular job..
Methodology
Number of job openings (Labor demand by employers): Based on the distribution of specific job openings in an industry, city and occupational classification. Data sources include U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics databases: JOLT, CPS, and LAUS.
Number of job searchers (Labor supply by individuals): Based on geographical area(s) labor force, percentage of the labor force in each occupation, unemployment rate, and an unemployment rate adjustment factor associated with the occupation. Data sources include U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics databases: JOLT, CPS, and LAUS.
Learn more read the article.
Economic impact of F1 race week in Austin, Texas
F1 weekend in Austin is fast approaching. To date, the definitive study for the economic impact of F1 on the Austin economy as been performed by Dr. Hoyte of TexasEconomicImpact.com
In total, Dr. Hoyte estimates that out‐of‐state fan spending is expected to reach $201 on the Formula One event. .. he estimates
that this level of direct event spending will generate $11.6 million in tax revenues from the gain
to the state under the applicable taxes allowed to be deposited into the Major Event Trust Fund
in support of this event.
Spotlight on Oil and Gas industry
In 2011 (the latest available year), the U.S. BEA reports that the total value of goods and services produced in the Oil and Gas industry was $30.68 Billion and approximately 170,000 people worked in the industry. The value of the goods and services produced in the Oil and Gas industry more than doubled, even after accounting for inflation since 1998.