Congressional Research Service Reports - 415 Matching Results
Search Results
- Unemployment Benefits: Legislative Issues in the 108th Congress
- This report discusses the federal-state unemployment compensation (UC) system, which pays benefits to covered workers who become involuntarily unemployed for economic reasons and meet state-established eligibility rules.
- The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)
- This report introduces the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) and the concerns out of which it grew, from the perspective of labor policy (not of immigration policy). American agricultural employers have long utilized foreign workers on a temporary basis, regarding them as an important manpower resource. Often employed at low wages and under adverse conditions, such alien workers, some argue, may compete unfairly with U.S. workers. To mitigate any "adverse effect" for the domestic workforce, a system of wage floors was developed that applies, variously, both to alien and citizen workers.
- The Davis-Bacon Act: Issues and Legislation During the 108th Congress
- This report discusses the debate surrounding the Davis-Bacon Act (1931, as amended), which requires, among other things, that not less than the locally-prevailing wage be paid to workers employed in federal contract construction. Through recent decades, the Act has become a continuing source of contention, particularly regarding its impacts, whether it should be modified, strengthened, or repealed, and if it is being administered effectively.
- Social Security Reform: Economic Issues
- This report tackles the issue of Social Security reform from an economic perspective that focuses not merely on reform that achieves programmatic sustainability (sustainability within the trust fund), but reform that achieves sustainability for the government and economy as a whole. The President has indicated that Social Security reform will be a major issue in the 109th Congress. For some time comprehensive reform has been an issue of debate in Congress, but no major action has occurred.
- The Effects on U.S. Farm Workers of an Agricultural Guest Worker Program
- This report discusses the debate concerning an agricultural guest worker program and the impact such a program might have on U.S. workers. Guest worker programs are meant to assure employers (e.g., fruit, vegetable, and horticultural specialty growers) of an adequate supply of labor when and where it is needed, while not adding permanent residents to the U.S. population. They include mechanisms -- such as the H-2A program's labor certification process -- intended to avoid adversely affecting the wages and working conditions of similarly-employed U.S. workers.
- The Gender Wage Gap and Pay Equity: Is Comparable Worth the Next Step?
- This report examines the trend in the male-female wage gap and the explanations offered for its existence. Remedies proposed for the gender wage gap's amelioration are addressed, with an in-depth focus on the comparable worth approach to achieving "pay equity" or "fair pay" between women and men.
- Retirement Savings and Household Wealth in 2000: Analysis of Census Bureau Data
- This report examines recent trends in retirement saving and the policy implications. The aging of the American population and the impending retirement of the "baby boom" will place significant strains over the next several decades on both Social Security and on retirees' own financial resources. With continued increases in average life expectancies, retirees in the 21st century will have to stretch their savings and other assets over longer periods of retirement than were experienced by their parents and grandparents.
- Farm Labor Shortages and Immigration Policy
- This report mainly provides information about the Farm Labor Shortages and Immigration Policy.
- Compensatory Time vs. Cash Wages: Amending the Fair Labor Standards Act?
- Since the mid-1980s, certain employer-oriented groups and individuals have urged amendment of the Fair Labor Standards Act to alter current overtime pay requirements. This report contains information on the structure of the issue, compensatory time proposals of the 108th Congress, issues in the debate, and more relating to the issue.
- Fruits, Vegetables, and Other Specialty Crops: A Primer on Government Programs
- This report describes the federal programs of importance to the specialty crop sector, and provides the most recent funding information available for them.
- The Fair Labor Standards Act: A Historical Sketch of the Overtime Pay Requirements of Section 13(a)(1)
- No Description Available.
- DR-CAFTA Labor Rights Issues
- This report provides information about the Labor Rights Issues for DR-CAFTA. Congress had linked labor protections to trade promotion vehicles for at least two decades with purposes in mind.
- The Fair Labor Standards Act: Minimum Wage in the 109th Congress
- No Description Available.
- China: Labor Conditions and Unrest
- This report discusses the China's Labor condition and Chinese government attempt to implement laws and programs that protect labor rights and provide social welfare benefits while punishing labor rights activists and independent union organizer.
- The Workforce Investment Act (WIA): Program-by-Program Overview and FY2007 Funding of Title I Training Programs
- This report tracks current appropriations and related legislation for Title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) (P.L. 105-220). Following a brief summary of each WIA program, the report presents the status of legislative proposals contained in the Administration’s FY2007 budget request and compares WIA funding in the FY2006 appropriation, the FY2007 budget request, and the FY2007 House and Senate Appropriations Committee reports.
- Unauthorized Employment in the United States: Issues and Options
- As Congress considers immigration reform and ways to address the unauthorized alien population, the issue of unauthorized employment is the focus of much discussion. This report discusses options for addressing unauthorized employment in the United States.
- Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean
- This report describes the nature and scope of the problem of trafficking in persons in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report then describes U.S. efforts to deal with trafficking in persons in the region, as well as discusses the successes and failures of some recent country and regional anti-trafficking efforts. The report concludes by raising several issues for policy consideration that may be helpful as the 109th Congress continues to address human trafficking as part of its authorization, appropriations, and oversight activities.
- The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA): Reauthorization of Job Training Programs in the 109th Congress
- This report discusses the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), P.L. 105-220, which is the nation’s chief job training legislation, authorizes several job training programs, including Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker Activities; and Job Corps.
- Worker Safety in the Construction Industry: The Crane and Derrick Standard
- This report first examines the incidence of fatal and nonfatal on-the-job injuries in the private sector. It next analyzes the causes of fatalities in the construction industry and the involvement of cranes in those deaths. The report then addresses the status of a proposed rule to update the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) crane and derrick standard. It closes with an overview of jurisdictions having safety regulations for cranes more stringent, in whole or part, than the existing federal standard.
- The Family and Medical Leave Act: Recent Legislative and Regulatory Activity
- This report begins with a brief overview of the major features of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its regulations The various proposals that have been made to amend the act since its inception more than a decade ago are then categorized and discussed. It closes with a review of legislative and regulatory activity.
- Proposed Colombia Free Trade Agreement: Labor Issues
- This report examines three labor issues and arguments related to the pending U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (CFTA, H.R. 5724): violence against trade unionists; impunity (accountability for or punishment of the perpetrators); and worker rights protections for Colombians.
- State and Local Restrictions on Employing, Renting Property to, or Providing Services for Unauthorized Aliens: Legal Issues and Recent Judicial Developments
- This report discusses the constitutional issues raised in relation to state and local laws intended to deter the presence of unauthorized aliens, along with the implications that federal civil rights statutes might have on the implementation and enforcement of measures restricting such persons' ability to obtain employment, housing, or other state and local benefits or services.
- Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Officials: Process for Adjusting Pay and Current Salaries
- Leaders and Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Vice President, individuals in positions on the Executive Schedule (EX), and federal justices and judges receive an annual pay adjustment under the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, P.L. 101-194. This report includes five tables which provide the January 2004, January 2005, January 2006, and January 2007 salaries for federal officials, members of the Senior Executive Service (SES), and employees in senior-level (SL), scientific and professional (ST), and GS-15 positions in the Washington, DC, and the “Rest of the United States” locality pay areas.
- The Fair Labor Standards Act: A Historical Sketch of the Overtime Pay Requirements of Section 13(a)(1)
- No Description Available.
- Homeland Security and Labor-Management Relations: NTEU v. Chertoff
- This report provides a summary of the opinions of the district court and court of appeals and subsequent developments.
- Pay Discrimination Claims Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: A Legal Analysis of the Supreme Court’s Decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc.
- This report discusses Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc., a recent case in which the Supreme Court considered the timeliness of a sex discrimination claim filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
- Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2004 (S. 2290, 108th Congress)
- No Description Available.
- Farm Labor: The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)
- This report is written from the perspective of labor policy and details the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), related to farm labor, under which a guest worker must be paid state or federal minimum wage.
- U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement
- This report examines the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement which was originally intended to be part of a broader U.S.-Andean free trade agreement (FTA), but after negotiators failed to reach agreement, Peru and the U.S. decided to move forward on a bilateral basis. The PTPA is a comprehensive trade agreement that, if ratified, would eliminate tariffs and other barriers in goods and services trade between two countries. The labor provisions may be among the more controversial of the agreement.
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Services in Private Schools under P.L. 108-446
- This report examines the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, P.L. 108-446, which makes several changes to the previous law regarding children with disabilities in private schools. Generally, children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools are to be provided special education and related services to the extent consistent with the number and location of such children in the school district served by a LEA pursuant to several requirements. These requirements include new provisions relating to direct services to parentally placed private school children with disabilities, the calculation of the proportionate amount of funds, and a requirement for record keeping.
- Unauthorized Aliens Residing in the United States: Estimates Since 1986
- This report discusses a rise in the unauthorized resident ("illegal") alien population from 1986 to 2010. It looks at reasons that illegal aliens stay resort to breaking the law and how illegal aliens affect the workforce in certain industries.
- The Fair Labor Standards Act: Minimum Wage in the 108th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Minimum Wage, Overtime Pay, and Child Labor: An Inventory of Proposals in the 109th Congress to Amend the Fair Labor Standards Act
- This report discusses potential changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act that may occur during the 109th Congress.
- Immigration: Legislative Issues on Nonimmigrant Professional Specialty (H-1B) Workers
- This report discusses the latest legislative developments regarding immigration policy for professional workers. It provides analysis for H-1B admissions and legislative issues in the 110th Congress.
- Job Loss: Causes and Policy Implications
- Job loss is one of the most important macroeconomic problems facing policymakers, both in terms of its economic and social cost. This report discusses factors that cause job loss and the policy implications.
- Social Security: The Cost-of-Living Adjustment in January 2003
- This report discusses the Cost-of-living Adjustments to Social Security in 2003. To compensate for the effects of inflation, Social Security recipients receive a cos-of-living adjustment (COLA) in January of each year. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), updates monthly by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is the measure used to compute the change.
- Labor Union Recognition Procedures: Use of Secret Ballots and Card Checks
- This report begins with a summary of legislation that would, if enacted, change existing union recognition procedures. The report then reviews the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the different ways that workers may form or join a union. The report then examines the potential impact of changes in union recognition procedures. Finally, the report considers whether there is an economic rationale for protecting the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act: Toyota Motor Manufacturing v. Williams
- The Supreme Court, in Toyota Motor Manufacturing v. Williams, held that to be an individual with a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) an individual must have substantial limitations on abilities that are central to daily life,rather than only to those abilities used in the workplace. In an unanimous opinion written by Justice O’Connor, the Court interpreted the definition of individual with disability narrowly to exclude individuals who are limited only in the performance of manual tasks associated with their job. This report will briefly discuss Williams and its implications for the ADA.
- Causes of Unemployment: A Cross-Country Analysis
- This report examines data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to explore what differences in microeconomic structures and policies explain the causes of unemployment across various countries.
- The Workforce Investment Act (WIA): Program-by-Program Overview and Funding of Title I Training Programs
- This report tracks current appropriations and related legislation for Title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) (P.L. 105-220). Following a brief summary of each WIA program, the report presents the status of legislative proposals contained in the Administration’s FY2007 budget request and compares WIA funding in the FY2006 appropriation, the FY2007 budget request, and the FY2007 House and Senate Appropriations Committee reports.
- Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers: Protective Statutes
- This report is a summary and a survey, spelling out the considerations that Congress found were necessary to face. It begins in the 1960s with the advent of FLCRA, and proceeds through the enactment of MSPA and to the end of the century. But, it is also a summary of developments in the history of the two statutes, written from the perspective of a labor economist. It may, from time to time, be revised as new developments occur.
- NAFTA at Ten: Lessons from Recent Studies
- This report evaluates multiple studies, whose assessments of NAFTA, by and large, are analytical in nature, use established methodologies, caveat their own work to reflect limitations of the research, and draw on academic rather than special interest research.
- Federal Contract Labor Standards Statutes: An Overview
- This report provides information about the Federal Contract Labor Standards Statutes.It also presents a brief historical introduction to the three federal labor contract statutes.
- Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and Chile: Labor Issues
- This report discusses the United States free trade agreements with Singapore and Chile that include labor provisions.
- Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and Chile: Labor Issues
- This report discusses the United States free trade agreements with Singapore and Chile that include labor provisions.
- Veterans Benefits: Federal Employment Assistance
- This report will provide an overview of these federal employment and training programs targeted to veterans, and federal policies to assist veterans in obtaining federal employment.
- Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends
- This report describes the change in the age of distribution of the U.S. population that will occur between 2000 and 2020 and summarizing the historical data on the labor force participation of older workers. This discussion is followed by an analysis of data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey on employment and receipt of pension income in recent years among persons age 55 and older.
- The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611): Potential Labor Market Effects of the Guest Worker Program
- No Description Available.
- Labor Practices in the Meat Packing and Poultry Processing Industry: An Overview
- This report is intended as an introduction to the meat packing/processing industry, the unions that have been active in that field, and labor-management practices among the packers and their employees.
- The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)
- This report introduces the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) and the concerns out of which it grew, from the perspective of labor policy (not of immigration policy). American agricultural employers have long utilized foreign workers on a temporary basis, regarding them as an important manpower resource. Often employed at low wages and under adverse conditions, such alien workers, some argue, may compete unfairly with U.S. workers. To mitigate any "adverse effect" for the domestic workforce, a system of wage floors was developed that applies, variously, both to alien and citizen workers.