Labor regulation
Lawmakers told updating unemployment system could take years

By Bruce Schreiner Jun. 22, 2021 04:58 PM EDT
FRANKFORT, Ky (AP) — Overhauling Kentucky's outdated technology for processing jobless claims could take up to three years, the state's labor secretary said...

In this Saturday, June 19, 2021, photo, Caroline Styne, owner and wine director at The Lucques Group, serves wine to attorney Alec Nedelman, celebrating early "Father's Day "with his family at the A.O.C. Brentwood restaurant in Los Angeles. Styne has turned away dozens of customers at the company's A.O.C. West Hollywood restaurant because she doesn't have the staff to serve them, leaving seats empty. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Help wanted: Labor crisis plagues US restaurant industry

By Michael R. Blood Jun. 22, 2021 08:45 AM EDT

FILE - Shown in this Feb. 8, 2017, file photo, is Iowa Senate Secretary Charlie Smithson at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. Smithson threatened retribution against a GOP appointee who oversees workplace safety after inspectors said they would make public their concerns about COVID-19 risks at the Capitol. Notes show Smithson, the secretary of the Senate, criticized Iowa Labor Commissioner Rod Roberts for "not knowing better" and told inspectors at an April 2, 2021, meeting that the issue would be raised at his next conformation hearing. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Iowa Senate official warned of payback over COVID-19 inquiry

By Ryan J. Foley Jun. 11, 2021 01:54 PM EDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 16, 2021, file photo, a health care worker watches a rally by New York State Nurses Association nurses from New York Presbyterian and Mount Sinai from an overpass at Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York. The Biden administration has exempted most employers from long-awaited rules for protecting workers from the coronavirus, angering labor advocates who have have spent more than a year lobbying for the protections. The Labor Department included only health care workers in its new emergency temporary standard published on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
New federal COVID-19 safety rules exempt most employers

By Alexandra Olson Jun. 10, 2021 04:04 PM EDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 18, 2021. filer, rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip to Israel. The deaths of two Thai migrant farm workers in Israel in a rocket attack from Gaza cast fresh light on the difficult lives thousands of their countrymen face far from their homes. It is not unusual for Thais from their country’s economically disadvantaged rural areas to seek work abroad at wages considerably better than they could earn at home. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)
Thais killed by rocket in Israel part of large workforce

By Grant Peck May. 19, 2021 11:10 AM EDT

Louisiana House Republicans propose return-to-work bonus

By Melinda Deslatte May. 13, 2021 03:53 PM EDT
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republican House lawmakers on Thursday began advancing a proposal to offer Louisiana residents receiving unemployment up to $1,000 to...

NY to set workplace safety standards for airborne diseases

By Marina Villeneuve May. 12, 2021 11:14 AM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — State regulators in New York will soon draft rules that will require employers to protect workers from airborne infectious disease. ...

A delivery worker rides his bike in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Spain has approved a pioneering law that gives delivery platforms a mid-August deadline to hire the workers currently freelancing for them and that requires transparency of artificial intelligence to manage workforces. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain adopts landmark law to protect 'gig' delivery workers

By Aritz Parra And Renata Brito May. 11, 2021 11:24 AM EDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, file photo, then-Republican candidate for Georgia commissioner of labor, Mark Butler, center, talks to supporters during an election-night party, in Atlanta. Butler, Georgia’s labor commissioner, says he’s considering cutting federal benefits to workers in an effort to push them back to work. Butler and Gov Brian Kemp met Monday, May 10, 2021, and discussed possibilities such as cutting the $300-a-week federal supplement to unemployed workers or cutting off federal benefits to people not usually eligible for state unemployment. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
Georgia could cut jobless benefits to push more toward work

By Jeff Amy May. 11, 2021 12:59 AM EDT

Workers stand near mock graves representing the deaths of labor rights during a May Day rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, May 1, 2021. Workers in Indonesia marked international labor day on Saturday curtailed by strict limits on public gatherings to express anger at a new law they say could harm labor rights and welfare. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Workers protest Indonesia's labor law in May Day rallies

By Niniek Karmini And Andi Jatmiko May. 01, 2021 02:10 AM EDT

Diner fined $18K for 'willful' violation of COVID-19 rules

Apr. 06, 2021 06:41 PM EDT
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A Grants Pass diner was fined almost $18,000 Tuesday for what state regulators called a “willful” violation of COVID-19 rules. ...

FILE - In this June 15, 2020, file photo, is an overhead view of the Senate chambers in the State Capitol in Denver. A Colorado state Senate panel is hearing testimony on a bill to grant minimum wage and overtime rights to thousands of farmworkers and allow those workers to organize and join labor unions. The bill, sponsored by three Democrat lawmakers, would regulate working hours for overtime, rest and eating breaks, and guarantee farmworkers living space that conforms with health guidelines to stem the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)
Colorado Senate panel advances farmworker wages, rights bill

By James Anderson Mar. 17, 2021 05:54 PM EDT

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly answers questions during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The Democratic governor is facing increasingly vocal criticism from the Republican-controlled Legislature over problems at the state Department of Labor, that include a flood of fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
Kansas advances unemployment bill; staffing surge promised

By John Hanna Mar. 04, 2021 02:01 PM EST

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear provides an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in the state during a media conference at the Kentucky state Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)
Senate OKs bill giving relief to some jobless aid recipients

By Bruce Schreiner Feb. 26, 2021 04:49 PM EST

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly answers questions during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The Democratic governor is facing increasingly vocal criticism from the Republican-controlled Legislature over problems at the state Department of Labor, that include a flood of fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
Audit: Bogus unemployment claims may have cost Kansas $600M

By John Hanna Feb. 24, 2021 12:01 PM EST

Arnashia McCain uses her phone to copy phone numbers posted on the locked doors of a Georgia Department of Labor office Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Norcross Ga. McCain, who said she drives for Lyft and has had her hours cut in her job in retail, has been unable check on the status of her her unemployment claim. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Lawmakers angry over jobless benefits aim at labor chief

By Jeff Amy Feb. 24, 2021 09:42 AM EST

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly answers questions during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The Democratic governor is facing increasingly vocal criticism from the Republican-controlled Legislature over problems at the state Department of Labor, that include a flood of fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
Kansas lawmakers hope for number on unemployment fraud cost

By John Hanna Feb. 22, 2021 04:32 PM EST

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly answers questions during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The Democratic governor is facing increasingly vocal criticism from the Republican-controlled Legislature over problems at the state Department of Labor, that include a flood of fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
Kansas governor, spouse victims of bogus unemployment claims

By John Hanna Feb. 05, 2021 05:12 PM EST

Springfield restaurant fined over COVID-19 rules

Feb. 03, 2021 05:40 PM EST
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Occupational Safety and Health has fined a Springfield restaurant $9,215 for two COVID-19-related violations. ...

Lawmakers halt bill to stop employer-mandated vaccines

Feb. 03, 2021 05:09 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana lawmakers are pulling the plug on a bill that would prohibit employers from requiring workers from getting immunizations against...