Congressional Research Service Reports - 37 Matching Results
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- Bangladesh Apparel Factory Collapse: Background in Brief
- This report provides an overview of the recent tragedy in Bangladesh and the Bangladesh economic environment and culture. It also notes the responses to the tragedy, to date, from Congress, the Administration, the ILO, the Bangladesh government, and the private sector.
- The Buy American Act in Brief: Preferences for "Domestic" Supplies and Construction Materials in Federal Procurements
- This report discusses the Buy American Act of 1933, which is the earliest and arguably the best known of various statutes regarding federal procurement of domestic products.
- Compensated Work Sharing Arrangements (Short-Time Compensation) as an Alternative to Layoffs
- This report describes short-term compensation (STC) as a beneficial alternative to layoffs. It also describes the status of STC (or work sharing) in the U.S., particularly as it varies from state to state.
- Constitutional Analysis of Suspicionless Drug Testing Requirements for the Receipt of Governmental Benefits
- This report gives an overview of the issues related to federal or state laws that condition the initial or ongoing receipt of governmental benefits on passing drug tests. These regulations are vulnerable to constitutional challenge, most often due to issues of personal privacy and Fourth Amendment protections against "unreasonable searches."
- Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
- Recent reports that certain entities continued to receive federal government contracts after reincorporating overseas have prompted questions about current and proposed restrictions on contracting with “inverted domestic corporations.” These questions are shaped, in part, by the broader debate over whether such corporations are to be seen as “deserters,” who change their corporate citizenship to avoid paying U.S. taxes, or as evidencing systemic problems in the U.S. tax code. This report provides the answers to 14 frequently asked questions regarding the current restrictions on contracting with inverted domestic corporations, proposed amendments thereto, and the relationship between prohibitions upon contracting with inverted domestic corporations and other provisions of law that restrict dealings with “foreign” contractors.
- Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification
- This report discusses the employment verification program that started out as a pilot program in November 1997 and it is currently authorized until September 30, 2015, in accordance with P.L. 112-176.
- Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08): Status of Benefits Prior to Expiration
- This report summarizes the structure of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) benefits available prior to program expiration at the end of calendar year 2013 and provides the legislative history of the EUC08 program.
- Extending Unemployment Compensation Benefits During Recessions
- This report describes the history of temporary federal extensions to unemployment benefits from 1980 to the present. Among these extensions is the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program created by P.L. 110-252.
- Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practices
- This report discusses the creation of federal holidays, how holidays affect employee pay, and recent holiday legislation.
- Federal Labor Relations Statutes: An Overview
- This report provides a brief history, including major amendments, of each of the three statutes. The discussion of each law begins with an overview of the statute and then discusses in more detail the key statutory provisions of the law and how the law is administered and enforced.
- Federal Labor Relations Statutes: An Overview
- This report provides a brief history and overview of the aims of these statutes: the Railway Labor Act (RLA) enacted in 1926, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS). It also discusses key provisions for each statute.
- The Federal Minimum Wage: In Brief
- This report discusses the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)that have been amended numerous times since 1938, typically for the purpose of expanding coverage or raising the wage rate.
- Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2014 Appropriations
- This report provides an overview of actions taken by Congress to provide FY2014 appropriations for the accounts funded by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
- The National Directory of New Hires
- This report details the National Directory of New Hires - including its background, how data is managed in the directory, and concerns regarding the directory.
- Overview of Labor Enforcement Issues in Free Trade Agreements
- This report identifies two types of labor enforcement issues related to Free Trade Agreements approved by Congress: (1) those that relate to the FTA provisions themselves, including their definitions and their enforceability, and (2) those that relate to executive branch responsibilities, such as resource availability and determining dispute settlement case priorities. This report does not address other labor issues in the various free trade agreements, including cooperative consultation provisions.
- Returning to Full Employment: What Do the Indicators Tell Us?
- This report analyzes recent trends in labor market indicators during the current economic recovery, with a particular focus on the contrast between the unemployment rate and other labor market indicators. It reviews studies seeking to determine how much of the decline in the labor force participation rate is caused by the recession and how much is caused by structural factors (such as the aging of the labor force). It then considers whether the economy might reach full employment at a higher rate of unemployment compared to recent expansions.
- Selected Characteristics of Private and Public Sector Workers
- This report begins with an analysis of the trends in employment in the private and public sectors. The public sector is separated into employees of the federal government, state governments, and local governments. Next, the report analyzes selected characteristics of private and public sector workers.
- Sex Trafficking of Children in the United States: Overview and Issues for Congress
- This report discusses human trafficking that involves the exploitation of individuals for forced labor or commercial sex.
- Social Security: Cost-of-Living Adjustments
- To compensate for the effects of inflation, Social Security recipients usually receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Benefits will be increased by 1.7% in 2015, following an increase of 1.5% in 2014. This report discusses how the COLA is determined.
- State Minimum Wages: An Overview
- This report begins with a brief discussion of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage coverage. It then provides a summary of state minimum wage laws, followed by an examination of rates and mechanisms of adjustments in states with minimum wage levels above the FLSA rate. The report also discusses the interaction of federal and state minimum wages over time.
- Tax Rates and Economic Growth
- This report summarizes the evidence on the relationship between tax rates and economic growth, referring in a number of cases to more-detailed CRS reports.
- Taxation of Unemployment Benefits
- Unemployment compensation (UC) benefits have been fully subject to the federal income tax since the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-514). Individuals who receive UC benefits during a year may elect to have the federal (and in some cases state) income tax withheld from their benefits. This report provides an overview of the taxation of UC benefits and legislation related to taxing UC benefits.
- Temporary Professional, Managerial, and Skilled Foreign Workers: Legislation in the 113th Congress
- This report provides legislative analyses of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744), as passed by the Senate, and the Supplying Knowledgebased Immigrants and Lifting Levels of STEM Visas Act (SKILLS Visa Act, H.R. 2131), as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- The Tip Credit Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): In Brief
- This report discusses the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938 (P.L. 75-718), which is the federal legislation that establishes the general minimum wage that must be paid to all covered workers.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers
- This report provides background on the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers (TAA) program, which provides federal assistance to workers who have been adversely affected by foreign trade. The report discusses TAA eligibility and benefits as set by the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011; describes how the program is funded and administered; and presents data on recent application activity and benefit usage.
- 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. It 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 antitrafficking efforts. The report concludes by raising issues that may be helpful for the 113th Congress to consider as it continues to address human trafficking as part of its authorization, appropriations, and oversight activities.
- The Trend in Long-Term Unemployment and Characteristics of Workers Unemployed for Two Years or More
- This report discusses trends in long term unemployment and characteristics such as gender, age, education, marital status of the very long-term for the unemployed.
- U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective
- This report contains a series of charts and tables that depict the position of manufacturing in the United States relative to other countries according to various metrics.
- U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1994-FY2013
- This report provides data from the past 20 years on the size of the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS's) workforce. Further, this report examines trends in its workforce composition, particularly focusing on shifts in the ratio between career and non-career employment.
- Unauthorized Aliens' Access to Federal Benefits: Policy and Issues
- This report focuses on the policy and legislative debate surrounding unauthorized aliens' access to federal benefits. The number of foreign-born people residing in the United States (40.7 million) is at the highest level in our history and, as a portion of the U.S. population, has reached a percentage (13%) not seen since the early 20th century.1 Of the foreign-born residents in the United States, approximately one-third are speculated to be unauthorized residents (often characterized as illegal aliens).
- Unauthorized Aliens in the United States: Policy Discussion
- This report discusses the unauthorized immigrant (illegal alien) population in the United States, which is a key and controversial immigration issue.
- Unauthorized Aliens in the United States: Policy Discussion
- This report discusses the unauthorized immigrant (illegal alien) population in the United States, which is a key and controversial immigration issue.
- Unauthorized Aliens Residing in the United States: Estimates Since 1986
- This report presents data estimating since 1986 the number of unauthorized aliens who have been living in the United States. There have been a variety of estimates of the unauthorized resident alien population over this period, sometimes with substantially different results. This report is limited to analyses of the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics and of the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau so that there are basic standards of comparison over time.
- Unemployment Insurance: Programs and Benefits
- This report describes three kinds of unemployment benefit programs: regular Unemployment Compensation (UC), Extended Benefits (EB), and Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08). The report explains their basic eligibility requirements, benefits, and financing structure.
- Vulnerable Youth: Employment and Job Training Programs
- This report provides an overview of federal employment programs for vulnerable young people. It begins with a discussion of the current challenges in preparing all youth today for the workforce. The report then provides a chronology of job training and employment programs for at-risk youth that began in the 1930s and were expanded or modified from the 1960s through the 1990s. It goes on to discuss the five youth programs authorized under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), and draws comparisons between these programs.
- Vulnerable Youth: Employment and Job Training Programs
- This report provides an overview of federal employment programs for vulnerable young people. It begins with a discussion of the current challenges in preparing all youth today for the workforce. The report then provides a chronology of job training and employment programs for at-risk youth that began in the 1930s and were expanded or modified from the 1960s through the 1990s. It goes on to discuss the five youth programs authorized under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and draws comparisons between these programs. Following this section is a detailed discussion of each of the programs.
- Vulnerable Youth: Federal Mentoring Programs and Issues
- This report begins with an overview of the purpose of mentoring, including a brief discussion on research of structured mentoring programs. It then describes the evolution of federal policies on mentoring since the early 1990s and provides an overview of the components and funding for each of two recent (discontinued) federal mentoring programs, as well as a discussion of other federal mentoring initiatives that are currently funded.