SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Eugene Scalia attends his confirmation hearing in front of the the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) on Sept. 19, 2019. (Photo: Astrid Riecken/Getty Images)
Trump Labor Department Encourages States to Help Employers Report Workers Who Stay Home Due to Covid-19 Fears
"There's a plague outside but the Trump administration is strongly encouraging states to solicit employer tips on workers staying home."
May 12, 2020
With the stated goal of rooting out "waste and fraud" in the unemployment insurance system, President Donald Trump's Department of Labor is openly encouraging ongoing state efforts to help employers report workers who refuse to return to their jobs out of fear of contracting the coronavirus.
In guidance (pdf) issued Monday as several states across the U.S. continue the dangerous process of reopening their economies amid the pandemic, the Labor Department said "states are strongly encouraged to request employers to provide information when workers refuse to return to their jobs for reasons that do not support their continued eligibility for benefits."
"We also strongly encourage states to remind employers and the public about the claimant and employer fraud resources within each state," the guidance reads.
"It feels like governments and corporations feel that some lives in this nation are worth sacrificing."
--Mary Kay Henry, Service Employees International Union
In a statement accompanying the new guidelines, the Labor Department's Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch said "states and localities have an obligation to spot and detect waste and fraud in the unemployment insurance system and report it to the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General and other appropriate channels."
Under current law, those who refuse "suitable work" are ineligible for unemployment benefits. In a frequently asked questions section on its website, the Labor Department says that "general concern" about contracting Covid-19 is not sufficient grounds to refuse work and still receive unemployment benefits.
Michele Evermore of the National Employment Law Project told CNBC that workers could attempt to "argue that the conditions are no longer safe and try to refuse work" if they believe their employers are not taking sufficient steps to ensure a safe workplace. Despite demands from nurses and other frontline workers, the Labor Department has not issued emergency standards requiring employers to follow the CDC's coronavirus safety guidelines.
Marcia Brown, writing fellow at The American Prospect, reported last week that Ohio and Iowa have set up websites designed to help employers report workers for committing "unemployment fraud" by declining to return to work amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Labor advocates in Texas--which is currently in the process of reopening its economy--have urged the state to continue providing unemployment benefits to those who do not want to return to their jobs out of fear of contracting the virus. In a private call with lawmakers earlier this month that was leaked to the media, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott admitted that reopening the economy "will lead to an increase and spread" of Covid-19.
More than 30 million people in the U.S. have applied for unemployment benefits since mid-March, but--as HuffPost reported last week--some governors are working to cut off the expanded unemployment benefits that were authorized under the CARES Act before many people have even received their first checks.
The CARES Act's expansion of unemployment insurance--an additional $600 per week on top of state benefits--is set to expire at the end of July.
As many workers risk losing their unemployment benefits to stay home out of fear of infection, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are working to protect corporations from legal responsibility for employees who contract Covid-19 in the workplace, an effort that has drawn outrage from labor unions and progressive advocacy groups.
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, told the Financial Times on Monday that corporations and governments are endangering the lives of workers by pushing them to return to their jobs before it is safe.
" Healthcare workers are concerned that, without PPE and training for the retail and restaurant workers who are going back, we're rushing into another spike," Henry said. "It feels like governments and corporations feel that some lives in this nation are worth sacrificing."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
With the stated goal of rooting out "waste and fraud" in the unemployment insurance system, President Donald Trump's Department of Labor is openly encouraging ongoing state efforts to help employers report workers who refuse to return to their jobs out of fear of contracting the coronavirus.
In guidance (pdf) issued Monday as several states across the U.S. continue the dangerous process of reopening their economies amid the pandemic, the Labor Department said "states are strongly encouraged to request employers to provide information when workers refuse to return to their jobs for reasons that do not support their continued eligibility for benefits."
"We also strongly encourage states to remind employers and the public about the claimant and employer fraud resources within each state," the guidance reads.
"It feels like governments and corporations feel that some lives in this nation are worth sacrificing."
--Mary Kay Henry, Service Employees International Union
In a statement accompanying the new guidelines, the Labor Department's Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch said "states and localities have an obligation to spot and detect waste and fraud in the unemployment insurance system and report it to the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General and other appropriate channels."
Under current law, those who refuse "suitable work" are ineligible for unemployment benefits. In a frequently asked questions section on its website, the Labor Department says that "general concern" about contracting Covid-19 is not sufficient grounds to refuse work and still receive unemployment benefits.
Michele Evermore of the National Employment Law Project told CNBC that workers could attempt to "argue that the conditions are no longer safe and try to refuse work" if they believe their employers are not taking sufficient steps to ensure a safe workplace. Despite demands from nurses and other frontline workers, the Labor Department has not issued emergency standards requiring employers to follow the CDC's coronavirus safety guidelines.
Marcia Brown, writing fellow at The American Prospect, reported last week that Ohio and Iowa have set up websites designed to help employers report workers for committing "unemployment fraud" by declining to return to work amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Labor advocates in Texas--which is currently in the process of reopening its economy--have urged the state to continue providing unemployment benefits to those who do not want to return to their jobs out of fear of contracting the virus. In a private call with lawmakers earlier this month that was leaked to the media, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott admitted that reopening the economy "will lead to an increase and spread" of Covid-19.
More than 30 million people in the U.S. have applied for unemployment benefits since mid-March, but--as HuffPost reported last week--some governors are working to cut off the expanded unemployment benefits that were authorized under the CARES Act before many people have even received their first checks.
The CARES Act's expansion of unemployment insurance--an additional $600 per week on top of state benefits--is set to expire at the end of July.
As many workers risk losing their unemployment benefits to stay home out of fear of infection, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are working to protect corporations from legal responsibility for employees who contract Covid-19 in the workplace, an effort that has drawn outrage from labor unions and progressive advocacy groups.
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, told the Financial Times on Monday that corporations and governments are endangering the lives of workers by pushing them to return to their jobs before it is safe.
" Healthcare workers are concerned that, without PPE and training for the retail and restaurant workers who are going back, we're rushing into another spike," Henry said. "It feels like governments and corporations feel that some lives in this nation are worth sacrificing."
With the stated goal of rooting out "waste and fraud" in the unemployment insurance system, President Donald Trump's Department of Labor is openly encouraging ongoing state efforts to help employers report workers who refuse to return to their jobs out of fear of contracting the coronavirus.
In guidance (pdf) issued Monday as several states across the U.S. continue the dangerous process of reopening their economies amid the pandemic, the Labor Department said "states are strongly encouraged to request employers to provide information when workers refuse to return to their jobs for reasons that do not support their continued eligibility for benefits."
"We also strongly encourage states to remind employers and the public about the claimant and employer fraud resources within each state," the guidance reads.
"It feels like governments and corporations feel that some lives in this nation are worth sacrificing."
--Mary Kay Henry, Service Employees International Union
In a statement accompanying the new guidelines, the Labor Department's Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch said "states and localities have an obligation to spot and detect waste and fraud in the unemployment insurance system and report it to the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General and other appropriate channels."
Under current law, those who refuse "suitable work" are ineligible for unemployment benefits. In a frequently asked questions section on its website, the Labor Department says that "general concern" about contracting Covid-19 is not sufficient grounds to refuse work and still receive unemployment benefits.
Michele Evermore of the National Employment Law Project told CNBC that workers could attempt to "argue that the conditions are no longer safe and try to refuse work" if they believe their employers are not taking sufficient steps to ensure a safe workplace. Despite demands from nurses and other frontline workers, the Labor Department has not issued emergency standards requiring employers to follow the CDC's coronavirus safety guidelines.
Marcia Brown, writing fellow at The American Prospect, reported last week that Ohio and Iowa have set up websites designed to help employers report workers for committing "unemployment fraud" by declining to return to work amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Labor advocates in Texas--which is currently in the process of reopening its economy--have urged the state to continue providing unemployment benefits to those who do not want to return to their jobs out of fear of contracting the virus. In a private call with lawmakers earlier this month that was leaked to the media, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott admitted that reopening the economy "will lead to an increase and spread" of Covid-19.
More than 30 million people in the U.S. have applied for unemployment benefits since mid-March, but--as HuffPost reported last week--some governors are working to cut off the expanded unemployment benefits that were authorized under the CARES Act before many people have even received their first checks.
The CARES Act's expansion of unemployment insurance--an additional $600 per week on top of state benefits--is set to expire at the end of July.
As many workers risk losing their unemployment benefits to stay home out of fear of infection, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are working to protect corporations from legal responsibility for employees who contract Covid-19 in the workplace, an effort that has drawn outrage from labor unions and progressive advocacy groups.
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, told the Financial Times on Monday that corporations and governments are endangering the lives of workers by pushing them to return to their jobs before it is safe.
" Healthcare workers are concerned that, without PPE and training for the retail and restaurant workers who are going back, we're rushing into another spike," Henry said. "It feels like governments and corporations feel that some lives in this nation are worth sacrificing."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.