Today's post is shared from http://ncworkcompjournal.com/
A U.S. federal judge recently ruled that a ride-sharing service must face a lawsuit alleging that the company has been pocketing tips meant for the drivers (Detroit Free Press, September 19, 2014). Uber Technologies is a smartphone-summoned car service based in San Francisco that has been charging a 20% surcharge on rides. Uber was founded in 2009 and is currently in 35 countries and more than 100 cities. It is valued at $18.2 billion and is the most valued ventured-back company in the world.
Filed in January, the class-action suit alleges that Uber has been keeping a “substantial portion” of the gratuity as additional revenue rather than sharing with its drivers. This lawsuit also accuses the company of misleading customers about the true cost of its service. The complaint characterizes Uber’s practice as unfair and deceptive because Uber keeps most of the surcharge and it’s not a gratuity.
Uber, Lyft and other car-booking companies have been facing a growing number of legal challenges. In Chicago, cab drivers sued the city claiming that these smartphone-summoned services are not subject to the same regulations governing conventional taxi companies. In Connecticut, Uber and Lyft have also been accused of racketeering by taxi and livery operators who accuse the companies of preying on established businesses and cutting legal corners by partnering with affiliated drivers instead of owning cars. That way, these companies claim they are different from taxi dispatchers and shouldn’t be forced to comply with existing regulations, such as driver background checks and liability insurance.
Showing posts with label Connecticut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Connecticut. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
12 states now have plans for a minimum wage of $9 or more
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| Map of minimum wage rates in the United States. See List of U.S. minimum wages. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
| Rhode Island on Thursday joined 11 other states that plan to raise their minimum wage to at least $9 over the next several years. At the start of next year, the state minimum wage will rise a buck to $9 an hour, according to a new measure Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) signed into law on Thursday. Only three states currently have a minimum wage of at least $9. Washington’s is highest at $9.32, followed by Oregon’s minimum wage at $9.10. California’s rose to $9 earlier this week. When Rhode Island’s new rate goes into effect, it will be joined by three others: the minimum wage in Massachusetts will rise to $9, while that in Vermont and Connecticut will jump to $9.15. In all but three — Minnesota, Michigan and New York — the minimum wages will be above $10. By 2018, 12 states will have reached or surpassed the $9 level. Ten states and D.C. have enacted increases this year alone, according to a list maintained by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The states are: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia. Many more — 34 states — have considered doing so, according to the NCSL. |
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Medicare Seeks To Curb Spending On Post-Hospital Care
After years of trying to clamp down on hospital spending, the federal government wants to get control over what Medicare spends on nursing homes, home health services and other medical care typically provided to patients after they have left the hospital.
Researchers have discovered huge discrepancies in how much is spent on these services in different areas around the country. In Connecticut, Medicare beneficiaries are more than twice as likely to end up in a nursing home as they are in Arizona. Medicare spends $8,800 on each Louisiana patient getting home health care, $5,000 more than it spends on the average New Jersey senior. In Chicago, one out of four Medicare beneficiaries receives additional services after leaving the hospital—three times the rate in Phoenix.  Last year $62 billion — one out of every six dollars Medicare spent in the traditional fee-for-service program — went to nursing and therapy for patients in rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, long-term care hospitals and in their own homes, according to a congressional advisory panel. Most of them got those services after coming out of the hospital. Some of these... |
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Jersey City Mayor Signs Country’s Seventh Paid Sick Days Law
 On Monday morning, Jersey City, NJ Mayor Steven Fulop signed the city’s paid sick days bill into law, which had been passed by the city council in September. The bill is now the seventh to become law in the country, joining New York City; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, DC as well as the state of Connecticut. Employers in the city with 10 or more workers will now have to provide them with up to five days of paid sick leave a year, with workers earning a day off for each 30 days worked. Workers at smaller businesses will have the right to earn unpaid sick days. Over 30,000 workers who previously had no access to paid sick leave are expected to benefit. The push for paid sick days legislation at the state and city level is growing. State-wide efforts are underway in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont. Newark, NJ and Tacoma, WA are also fighting for such bills, and an effort is underway in Washington, DC to expand the city’s current policy to tipped workers. The evidence from those places that already have laws on the books shows that they are good for business and the economy. Job growth has been stronger under Seattle’s law and business growth is also strong. San Francisco’s law has strong business support and spurred job growth. Washington DC’s had no negative impact on business, while Connecticut’s has come with little cost and big potential upsides. Meanwhile, lost... |
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Many States Look to Raise Minimum Wage
 New Jersey could become the fifth state this year to increase its state minimum wage if voters approve a measure on Nov. 5 that would boost the hourly rate by $1, to $8.25. In states as varied as Alaska, Idaho, Massachusetts and South Dakota, advocates are pushing to put minimum wage hikes on state ballots in 2014. Meanwhile, elected officials are leading the charge in Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia. The action at the state level comes as organized labor and liberal groups have backed a wave of strikes by fast-food workers in cities across the country to put a spotlight on hourly wages. Advocates are pressing for a national $15 hourly wage, more than twice the $7.25 federal minimum wage. States cannot set a minimum wage that is lower than the federal standard, but they are free to establish a higher one. Washington state currently has the highest state minimum wage at $9.19; followed by Oregon ($8.95) and Vermont ($8.60). Connecticut, the District of Columbia and Illinois all have a state minimum of $8.25. In addition, some 120 cities have enacted “living wages” that set a minimum standard for businesses that receive city contracts. City minimums range from $9 to $16 an hour. ... |
Related articles
- California minimum wage bill close to final passage (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Minimum wage in California to be $10 an hour (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Fast food workers strike to double current wages (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Tips and Poverty (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Labor, Then and Now (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Walmart CEO Mike Duke Pushes Back Against Company's Minimum Wage Reputation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Getting While the Getting Is Good
 “Don’t wait for a crisis,” I told another friend, his mother recently widowed, lonely and overwhelmed, rattling around in a family house that was now her solo responsibility. “Don’t wait for a crisis,” I told a third friend, whose widowed father-in-law dropped his daily insulin regimen after his live-in girlfriend left him. “Don’t wait for a crisis,” I’ve told readers of “The New Old Age,” no doubt ad nauseam. As just about everyone who has cared for an aging parent knows, getting old is both an inexorable and maddeningly unpredictable forward march. Everything is OK. Then it’s not. Then it is again. What felt early on like a roller coaster becomes the new normal. In between swerves and plummets, it is almost possible to doze off. And planning for all possible eventualities is useless — after the essential documents are in place, the family has talked openly and often about end-of-life wishes, they understand the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, they know how much money is available and that it is probably not going to be enough. Caregivers and their elderly charges both know, in a spoken or unspoken way, that on the horizon is The Crisis. That’s the one that demarcates “before” and “after.” Your parents... |
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
UConn Health Center Study: Conn. Occupational Illnesses Above National Average
There were 7,265 unique cases of occupational illnesses reported to either the Workers’ Compensation Commission or the Department of Public Health in 2011 based on a study by the UConn Health Center prepared for the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission. This is in addition to cases of traumatic occupational injury reported by the Connecticut Labor Department in its annual survey. The overall 2011 rate of occupational illness in Connecticut is 27.8 illnesses per 10,000 workers, 35 percent higher than the national average, based on the standardized survey compiled by the Connecticut Labor Department. Both numbers of illnesses and rates of illnesses increased over 2010 for all three data sources for the report, although one of those sources was incomplete for the earlier year. Occupational Disease in Connecticut, prepared for the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission by occupational and environmental expert Tim Morse of the Health Center, reviewed information for the 2011 reporting year from three sources: the State Labor Department/Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey; the Reports of First Injury to the Connecticut Workers Compensation Commission; and the physicians reports to the Connecticut Department of Public Health under the Occupational Illnesses... |
Related articles
- Workplace Deaths Substantially Unreported (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2012 (preliminary Results) (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Pa., N.J. Insurers Gearing Up For Obamacare Business (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Speed Camera Enforcement Will Begin on Sepember 9th, the First Day of School (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Senate fails to revive workers' comp bill for first responders (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Pending NJ Supreme Court Workers' Compensation Cases (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Friday, July 26, 2013
Three more states report Cyclospora cases; total rises to 283
Today's post was shared by CIDRAP and comes from www.cidrap.umn.edu
Three more states are reporting Cyclospora infections, pushing the national total to 283, but it's not clear which of the newly reported cases are part of the national outbreak, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and individual states reported today.
In its update today, the CDC added Georgia, Connecticut, and New Jersey to its map of cyclosporiasis cases, which means nine states are now reporting cases. Georgia has two cases, and Connecticut and New Jersey each have one.
About half of the total cases are from Iowa, which reported its first cases in early July. In an update today the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) said 134 cases have been reported in the state so far, which is seven more than reflected in the CDC total.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) also updated its case count today, adding one more case that isn't reflected in the CDC's total to bring its total to 69. The combined new cases in Iowa and Nebraska raise the total number of US cases to 283.
Texas is third in case numbers, with 65.
The CDC said totals in those three states may include some travel-associated cases and that interviews are pending. It also noted that the single cases reported from Illinois and Kansas probably involved infections acquired in neighboring outbreak states.
Wisconsin has confirmed four Cyclospora cases.
William Gerrish, director of communications for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, said both of the state's patients are...
[Click here to see the rest of this article]In its update today, the CDC added Georgia, Connecticut, and New Jersey to its map of cyclosporiasis cases, which means nine states are now reporting cases. Georgia has two cases, and Connecticut and New Jersey each have one.
About half of the total cases are from Iowa, which reported its first cases in early July. In an update today the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) said 134 cases have been reported in the state so far, which is seven more than reflected in the CDC total.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) also updated its case count today, adding one more case that isn't reflected in the CDC's total to bring its total to 69. The combined new cases in Iowa and Nebraska raise the total number of US cases to 283.
Texas is third in case numbers, with 65.
The CDC said totals in those three states may include some travel-associated cases and that interviews are pending. It also noted that the single cases reported from Illinois and Kansas probably involved infections acquired in neighboring outbreak states.
Wisconsin has confirmed four Cyclospora cases.
William Gerrish, director of communications for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, said both of the state's patients are...
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