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From Wage Theft to Wage Justice
Thousands of temporary workers employed at Labor Ready’s nine branches in Western New York were owed tens of thousands of dollars in wages. Labor Ready made illegal wage deductions from workers who accepted their daily wages in cash. It issued vouchers to be used in a company-owned cash machine, which deducted a $1 processing fee. The fees generated $8.3 million in revenue nationally in 2000 alone. Most of these low-wage workers did not have bank accounts and were barely able to survive on daily cash wages.
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New Protections for Paychecks: The Wage Theft Prevention Act
When the federal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA), 28 U.S.C. §1801 et seq., was signed into law by President Reagan in 1983, farmworkers finally obtained several very basic and essential workplace rights.
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Consumer Law and Reentry Article Featured in Clearinghouse Review
Several experienced consumer and reentry advocates recently authored the article “Using Consumer Law to Combat Criminal Record Barriers to Employment and Housing Opportunity”, that is featured in the January-February 2011 issue of the Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty law and Policy.
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Empire Justice Center 2011-12 State Legislative Priorities
New York State has long led the nation in crafting effective and responsive policies in times of crisis; our ability to lead and to foster innovation in the face of adversity is second to none. We all agree that New York must pursue new approaches and new policies that will help our state recover from the economic recession so that we can begin to thrive once again.
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New York Recognizes the Household as a Workplace
New York State’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights takes effect on November 29, 2010.The new law extends basic employment and labor protections to nannies, housekeepers, and other workers in the domestic service industry.
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Census Bureau Releases Annual Report on Poverty
On September 16, 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2009 edition of its annual publication, “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States.”1 In the difficult period now sometimes referred to as the “Great Recession,” the numbers are unfortunately, but not surprisingly, quite grim. This article will summarize some of the key findings in the report, and highlight a few important themes.
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New Resource to Assist Domestic Violence Victims with Unemployment Benefits System
A new user-friendly resource has been developed to assist domestic violence victims navigate through the unemployment insurance benefits system.
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Empire Justice Taining Center
2009 ended in a blaze of training events, including the delivery and video-taping of 12 substantive law programs. We wish to give special recognition to advocates in our community who are working hard to make high quality training available to legal services advocates and pro bono volunteers in New York.
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Empire Justice Training Center Highlights: Training of the Month
2009 ended in a blaze of training events, including the delivery and video-taping of 12 substantive law programs. We wish to give special recognition to advocates in our community who are working hard to make high quality training available to legal services advocates and pro bono volunteers in New York.
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Public Assistance Sanctions and People with Disabilities
A stark reality of New York’s welfare system is that over time many households have their benefits reduced or terminated as a result of sanctions for alleged non-compliance with the public assistance work rules.
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