Workforce
State and local governments face a tight labor market and a competitive disadvantage with the private sector. But salaries aren’t the only issue, with cities, counties and states all grappling with training, retention, remote work and increased union activity.
While primarily a military reserve force, the National Guard also responds to a wide variety of state-level missions — some familiar kinds of missions, some more unusual.
The state’s Department of Administration’s Hearings and Appeals Division reports a backlog of 13,842 workers’ compensation cases, caused, in part, by the pandemic. Officials currently have no concrete plans for reform.
Burnout, retirements and uncompetitive salaries have exacerbated a growing scarcity of workers in critical job positions for managing infrastructure, transit and disaster preparedness.
Companies with 15 or more employees will have to list salary ranges for all job postings starting in May 2023. Many expect this transparency to help workers, especially women and people of color, to receive fair pay.
The CEO of PostcardMania, a company based in Clearwater, Fla., has issued an apology to its employees after downplaying the severity of Hurricane Ian and encouraging staff to bring their pets and families to the office and not miss work.
The Ohio county is re-evaluating its operational and organizational structure to determine how many of the 800 current job openings actually need to be filled for systems to continue to function.
The Labor and Workforce Development Agency will spend $480 million over the next three years to expand apprenticeship programs across the state in an effort to help workers increase their salaries.
As of July, approximately 440,000 Louisianans have voluntarily left their jobs this year, the highest total for the first seven months of a year since 2000. But experts say mobility signals a healthy economy, albeit a challenging one for employers.
The Labor Department has increased its previous estimate of pandemic-era unemployment benefits fraud by nearly $30 billion. The agency has opened more than 190,000 investigations and charged more than 1,000 with fraud.
COVID-19 illustrated how paid sick leave doesn’t just protect people’s livelihoods; it can save lives. Seventeen states now have mandatory paid sick leave laws; at least 20 cities and counties have similar requirements.
Nearly every county in South Florida is experiencing job growth; Fort Lauderdale metro area had a jobless rate of 2.8 percent in August and Palm Beach County was at 2.9 percent. But inflation still threatens to upturn the market.
The legislation would provide $400 million worth of tax credits to reimburse a portion of union members’ dues payments starting in 2024; it’s not yet clear how much each member would be eligible to receive.
The state’s House Ways & Means Committee began to study the possibility of removing individual and corporate income taxes, which would require significant reworking of property, sales or other taxes to offset the loss in revenue.
The pandemic overwhelmed a long-neglected public health system, pressuring many workers to leave. But a new program hopes to inspire AmeriCorps members to work in public health.
Mayor Eric Adams will spend the city money to connect 3,000 high school students with multiyear, paid apprenticeships at large finance and tech firms at a time when 8.3 percent of city government jobs are vacant.
A new study from Oxfam America reported that Texas was ranked 48th on a list of best states to work, a decrease from its 47th rank the year prior, based on its poor wages, worker protections and organizing rights.
While the entire nation is struggling amid a worker shortage, Maine’s aging workforce presents unique challenges. Workers that may have previously been overlooked are now being sought out and trained to fill labor gaps.
An audit found that the state’s unemployment agency likely paid between $441 million and $466 million in fake claims from March 2020 to March 2022. It also flagged numerous legitimate claimants as fraud.
In a brave new world of hybrid work — or not — IT leaders rethink what it means to work for the public sector and what investments are needed to keep everyone connected.
Proposed legislation would implement a federal standard to safeguard workers against hazardous conditions, including extreme heat, supplementing California’s guidelines. The bill currently only has Democratic support.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s seventh annual Labor Day report revealed that the Fair Labor Division ordered employers to pay $7.5 million in restitution and $4.2 million in penalties on behalf of employees.
The state has cut unemployment insurance benefits almost in half; removed prevailing wage protections and reduced guaranteed retirement benefits for public school teachers hired this year.
Most lawyers, paralegals, investigators, social workers and administrative staff will be included. But there's a catch: under Colorado law, employees in the state’s judicial system are not authorized to unionize.
The growing officer shortage is colliding with the highest rates of gun violence Philadelphia has seen in generations. Critics argue local policies, such as city residency requirements, have made the situation worse.
A federal judge has approved a settlement between the state and 54 residents who had been on a work-release program but lost COVID-related unemployment benefits when the pandemic stopped their work opportunity.
Despite surviving several COVID-related challenges, some businesses are closing due to monthly rent increases, landlord disputes and hiring difficulties. Only about 65 percent of small businesses are currently profitable.
The root cause of the problem is a longstanding overall lack of respect for teachers and their craft, which is reflected by decades of low pay, hyperscrutiny and poor working conditions.
Five unions representing hundreds of thousands of health-care workers across California are attacking a legislative deal that would delay expansions on seismic safety standards to increase workers’ minimum wage.
New research found that improving gender equity across the state would increase the state’s income by $15.4 billion and would create 59,000 new jobs. Women earn less than men in every county except Greene.
The voter-approved Maine Technology Asset Fund awarded private companies with grants to help create new jobs and boost the state’s economy. But after five years, it’s unclear how impactful the investments have actually been.
The U.S. Census Bureau found that nearly half of adults ages 55 to 66 had no personal retirement savings in 2017. But a state-sponsored private retirement auto-IRA savings program could give many retiring Kansans a break.
