Category: Paychecks & Work
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The Trump administration’s layoff rule now ranks federal workers by performance before seniority
Federal agencies planning a staff reduction must now rank employees chiefly by job performance, not by years of service, under a final rule the Office of Personnel Management published in the Federal Register. The rule took effect September 2, 2026, and rewrites the order in which employees line up on an agency’s retention register once…
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Arizona’s minimum wage is expected to rise 50 cents to $15.65 an hour in January under the state’s inflation formula
Arizona’s next minimum-wage adjustment is not yet official, but the arithmetic behind it is public. Under a formula written into state law, the Industrial Commission of Arizona raises the wage floor every January by the percentage the Consumer Price Index rose over the prior August-to-August period, then rounds the result to the nearest five cents.…
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Washington announces its 2027 minimum wage on September 30, up from $17.13 this year
On September 30, Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries will do what it does every year at that point on the calendar: turn a federal inflation index into next year’s minimum wage. The current rate, $17.13 an hour, has applied since January 1, and whatever figure the department calculates this month will take effect on…
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Minnesota’s minimum wage rises to $11.87 an hour for all employers on January 1
Minnesota will apply the same $11.87-an-hour minimum wage to every employer, regardless of size, when the rate rises on January 1 — the third increase since the state closed the gap between what large and small employers were required to pay. The Department of Labor and Industry sets the new figure each year through an…
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Connecticut’s minimum wage rises to $17.48 an hour on January 1
Governor Ned Lamont announced in early August that Connecticut’s minimum wage will rise to $17.48 an hour on January 1, a 54-cent increase over the current $16.94. The change did not come from a fresh vote in the legislature. It came from a formula written into state law seven years ago, one that ties the…
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About 1.9 million Americans have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer
Roughly 1.9 million people in the United States had been looking for work for at least 27 weeks when the government took its August measurement, a share of the unemployed that has held stubbornly high even as hiring itself picked back up. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly Employment Situation report,…
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South Carolina workers recovered tips and back wages after a federal investigation
Restaurant workers at 13 Tropical Grille locations in upstate South Carolina have recovered $618,666 in back wages and tips after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. The department announced on August 24, 2026, that the restaurant group paid the money to 779 employees after investigators found managers sharing in employee tip pools, overtime shortfalls for…
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Labor Department says a Florida seafood restaurant failed to pay overtime and minimum wage
The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $732,976 in back wages for 31 workers at a Pompano Beach seafood buffet after finding the owner failed to pay minimum wage and overtime. The employer, Lucky King LLC, operates Miyako Japanese Buffet in Broward County. The department announced the recovery on September 3, 2026, saying most employees…
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Butterball will pay $230,000 after an employee lost her job during cancer treatment
Butterball, LLC will pay $230,000 and change how it handles medical leave requests to settle a federal lawsuit over a long-term employee who was fired while undergoing chemotherapy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on September 15, 2026. The EEOC said the worker at the company’s Mt. Olive, North Carolina, operation asked for intermittent…
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North American Stamping will pay $620,000 in a sex-discrimination settlement
Several subsidiaries of North American Stamping Group, an international maker of car parts, will pay $620,000 and accept two years of federal monitoring to settle a sex harassment and discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on September 22, 2026. The EEOC had alleged that the company shut more than a dozen women…