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Collective bargaining in the Transportation Industries: A List of References
This report is a list of references that relate to collective bargaining in various industries
What Does the Gig Economy Mean for Workers?
This report provides an overview of the gig economy -- i.e., the collection of markets that match providers to consumers on a gig (or job) basis in support of on-demand commerce (e.g., Uber, TaskRabbit) -- and identifies legal and policy questions relevant to its workforce.
Labor Standards and International Competition: Section 4(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act
This report briefly sketches the origins of Section 4(e), examines its provisions, and the potential for its implementation.
Immigration of Foreign Workers: Labor Market Tests and Protections
No Description Available.
Ergonomics in the Workplace: Is It Time for an OSHA Standard?
This report debates implementing an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standard for ergonomics. This standard would be motivated by the fact that one third of state employer's costs are related to improper ergonomic design causing illness. The report details that standards suggested in the past have been rejected by Congress.
The U.S. Income Distribution and Mobility: Trends and International Comparisons
This report looks at the causes and effects of the recent United States low unemployment rate.
The Minimum Wage: An Overview of Issues Before the 106th Congress
No Description Available.
An Overview of the Employment-Population Ratio
This report provides an overview of the employment-population ratio. It opens with a discussion of its value as a labor market indicator, noting its key features and limitations. This is followed by an examination of long-term and recent trends. The contribution of demographic and economic factors to recent patterns is explored at the close of the report.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)
The Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) program provides monetary assistance to individuals unemployed as a direct result of a major disaster and who are not eligible for regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits. DUA is funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). DUA is administered by the Department of Labor (DOL) through each state’s UC agency. In the 109th Congress, P.L. 109-176 was signed into law on March 6, 2006, extending the duration of DUA benefits from 26 to 39 weeks for victims of the Hurricane Katrina and Rita disasters.
Unemployment Compensation (UC) and the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF): Funding UC Benefits
No Description Available.
Job Training Programs: Reauthorization and Funding Issues
This paper is divided into the following sections: (1) History of Federal Employment and Training Programs; (2) Reauthorization Issues; (3) Administration Legislative and Budget Proposals; and (4) Congressional Action.
Worker Relocation Assistance: Moving People to Jobs
One characteristic of the dislocated worker problem is that a mismatch exists between the number and kinds of jobs offered by employers and the number and kinds of skills possessed by workers in the same geographic area. At the same time, other geographic areas have unfilled job openings and relatively low unemployment rates. Government-assisted worker relocation is one tool of employment policy that might be used to reduce these regional imbalances in labor supply and demand. This report describes the U.S. experience with both unassisted and Government-assisted worker relocation. It examines the applicability of this experience to the current dislocated worker problem, as well. In addition, the report evaluates the feasibility of establishing a nationwide worker relocation program.
Unemployment Insurance: Available Unemployment Benefits and Legislative Activity
No Description Available.
Navy Ship Deployments: New Approaches - Background and Issues for Congress
No Description Available.
Fruits, Vegetables, and Other Specialty Crops: A Primer on Government Programs
U.S. farmers grow more than 250 types of fruit, vegetable, tree nut, flower, ornamental nursery, and turfgrass crops in addition to the major bulk commodity crops. Although specialty crops are ineligible for the federal commodity price and income support programs, they are eligible for other types of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) support, such as crop insurance, disaster assistance, and, under certain conditions, ad hoc market loss assistance payments. This report describes the federal programs of importance to the specialty crop sector, and provides the most recent funding information available for them.
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.
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.
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.
Inflation and the Real Minimum Wage: A Fact Sheet
Report that discusses the federal minimum wage which is not indexed to the price level.
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.
Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)
In July 2008, a new temporary unemployment benefit, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, began. The most recent legislation, P.L. 111-205, extended the authorization of the EUC08 program, but did not change the structure of the program or augment benefits. This temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. This report discusses the various tiers of the EUC08 program, as well as related legislation. This report will be updated to reflect current congressional action or programmatic changes.
Winter Fuels Outlook 2010-2011
This report discusses findings gleaned through the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) publication titled Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook (STEWFO) for the 2010-2011 winter heating season. STEWFO projects how much American consumers should expect to see heating expenditures rise during the 2010-2011 winter season. These findings take into account the currently slow economic growth, high unemployment numbers, and uncertainty regarding the federal funding of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08)
In July 2008, a new temporary unemployment benefit, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program, began. The most recent legislation, P.L. 111-205, extended the authorization of the EUC08 program, but did not change the structure of the program or augment benefits. This temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. This report discusses the various tiers of the EUC08 program, as well as related legislation. This report will be updated to reflect current congressional action or programmatic changes.
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.
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: A Fact Sheet
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a federal government agency established in 1974 by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) (P.L. 93- 406). It was created to protect the pensions of participants and beneficiaries covered by private sector, defined benefit (DB) plans. These pension plans provide a specified monthly benefit at retirement, usually either a percent of salary or a flat dollar amount multiplied by years of service. Defined contribution plans, such as §401(k) plans, are not insured. The PBGC is chaired by the Secretary of Labor, with the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce serving as board members.
The Strike of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee in Delano, California: Background and its Relationship to Legislative Efforts to Organize Farm Workers.
This report addresses the Strike of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee in Delano, California,Background and its Relationship to Legislative Efforts to Organize Farm Workers.
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 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.
The Fair Labor Standards Act: A Historical Sketch of the Overtime Pay Requirements of Section 13(a)(1)
No Description Available.
Federal Programs Available to Unemployed Workers
There are four groups of federal programs that target unemployed workers: unemployment insurance programs, health care assistance, job search assistance, and training. This report describes these programs, how they interact with each other, and their funding.
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (L-HHS-ED): 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.
Federal Regulation of Working Hours: An Overview Through the 105th Congress
No Description Available.
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.
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 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.
U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective
This report is designed to inform the debate over the health of U.S. manufacturing through a series of charts and tables that depict the position of the United States relative to other countries according to various metrics. Understanding which trends in manufacturing reflect factors that may be unique to the United States and which are related to broader changes in technology or consumer preferences may be helpful in formulating policies intended to aid firms or workers engaged in manufacturing activity.
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.
Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 114th Congress
The 114th Congress continues to consider many issues related to unemployment insurance (UI) programs: Unemployment Compensation (UC), the temporary, now-expired Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08), and Extended Benefits (EB). This report gives a brief overview of the UI programs that may provide benefits to eligible unemployed workers, and briefly summarizes the President's budget proposal for FY2017.
Numerical Limits on Permanent Employment-Based Immigration: Analysis of the Per-country Ceilings
The report opens with brief explanations of the employment-based preference categories and the per-country ceilings governing annual admissions of lawful permanent residents (LPRs). It continues with a statistical analysis of the pending caseload of approved employment-based LPR petitions and concludes with a set of legislative options to revise per-country ceilings that are meant to serve as springboards for further discussions.
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.
The Federal Minimum Wage: In Brief
This report discusses the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is the federal legislation that establishes the minumem hourly wage that ust be paid to all covered workers.
Overview of Labor Enforcement Issues in Free Trade Agreements
This report identifies two types of labor enforcement issues: those that relate to the free trade agreements (FTA) provisions themselves, including their definitions and their enforceability, and those that relate to executive branch responsibilities, such as resource availability and determining dispute settlement case priorities.
Extending Unemployment Compensation Benefits During Recessions
This report describes the history of temporary federal extensions to unemployment benefits from 1980 to the present. It has five sections which discuss: [1] background information on unemployment compensation (UC) benefits, [2] a definition of a recession and the process of declaring a recession, [3] a summary of the legislative history of federal extensions of unemployment benefits, [4] figures examining the statistics of recessions, and [5] previous methods for financing temporary recession programs.
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.
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.
U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective
This report is designed to inform the debate over the health of U.S. manufacturing through a series of charts and tables that depict the position of the United States relative to other countries according to various metrics. Understanding which trends in manufacturing reflect factors that may be unique to the United States and which are related to broader changes in technology or consumer preferences may be helpful in formulating policies intended to aid firms or workers engaged in manufacturing activity. This report does not describe or discuss specific policy options.
The Increase in Unemployment Since 2007: Is It Cyclical or Structural?
This report assesses the relative magnitudes of cyclical and structural unemployment as they respond to different policy measures. An analysis of changes since 2007 in a variety of labor market indicators across industries and areas finds patterns that strongly suggest most of the increase in the U.S. unemployment rate is cyclical (i.e., due to depressed aggregate demand). Empirical studies suggest that, although structural unemployment has temporarily increased, it accounted for a minority of the rise in the unemployment rate in recent years.
U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective
This report is designed to inform the debate over the health of U.S. manufacturing through a series of charts and tables that depict the position of the United States relative to other countries according to various metrics.
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