- Report: More Than 90% of Workers Select Same Health Plan as Prior Year
- Boeing Strike Ends as Machinists Approve New Contract
- Transport Firm Ordered to Stop Threatening Drivers Involved in Wage Lawsuit
- NLRB Alleges Grindr Illegally Used RTO to Thwart Union
Report: More Than 90% of Workers Select Same Health Plan as Prior Year
Recent research from Voya Financial found an overwhelming majority (91%) of working Americans “strongly agree” or “agree” that, when it comes to selecting their health or medical plan option during open enrollment, they typically select the same plan from the prior year.
Voya’s data also showed nearly half (49%) of benefits-eligible employed Americans spend less than 20 minutes reviewing information related to their workplace benefits during the open enrollment period. Additionally, 79% of employees “strongly agree” or “agree” they will spend more time reviewing their employee benefits options and coverage than they did during the last enrollment period.
When it comes to overall health plan selection, Voya’s research found that when plans are labeled with the branded names of “Traditional PPO” and “High-Deductible Health Plan,” working Americans are almost three times more likely to choose the preferred provider organization option (74%) than the HDHP (26%). However, when plan names are unbranded, removing “high deductible” from the plan name, the preference gap narrows considerably: 52% chose the unbranded PPO and 48% chose the unbranded HDHP.
Boeing Strike Ends as Machinists Approve New Contract
As reported by CNN, Boeing’s machinists voted Nov. 4 to accept the company’s latest contract offer, ending a strike that began on Sept. 13. The latest contract promises a 38% pay increase over four years, a $12,000 ratification bonus and an increased 401(k) match.
The International Association of Machinists (IAM) said rank-and-file members voted 59% in favor of the deal. IAM members had voted almost unanimously against Boeing’s first offer on the eve of the start of the strike, and then 64% voted against the second offer less than two weeks ago, extending the strike.
The strike was seen as a contributing factor to October’s weak jobs report. Last month, the U.S. economy added just 12,000 jobs, around 10% of what most economists predicted.
Transport Firm Ordered to Stop Threatening Drivers Involved in Wage Lawsuit
The U.S. Department of Labor recently obtained a permanent injunction and court order forbidding a California transportation company from retaliating against drivers and illegally shifting liability for labor law violations onto workers who exercised their federally protected rights.
A Sept. 25 consent judgment and order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California requires Cargomatic Inc., a Long Beach transportation and logistics company, to cease its repeated intimidation and threats directed toward drivers who deliver freight for Ceva Freight LLC, a subsidiary of Ceva Logistics in Torrance.
The department’s Office of the Solicitor learned that, after a group of drivers filed suit against Ceva for alleged labor violations, Cargomatic threatened to countersue the drivers for more than $150,000 in attorney’s fees. Drivers alleged the company intimidated drivers and threatened to terminate those who persisted in seeking unpaid wages and other remedies for the alleged violation of their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the California Labor Code.
The department’s legal action is part of larger efforts to combat employers’ attempts to enforce coercive provisions in contracts that seek to dissuade workers from (or punish them for) enforcing their legal employment rights. The effort has included similar actions against Advanced Care Staffing in New York and Bimbo Bakeries in Vermont.
NLRB Alleges Grindr Illegally Used RTO to Thwart Union
As reported by technology news website TechRadar Pro, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a formal complaint against LGBTQ dating app Grinder over its enforcement of a return-to-office (RTO) policy, which it alleges was only enacted to retaliate against the formation of a workers’ union.
According to the report, Grindr terminated the contracts of “about 83 employees” after they failed to comply with the new RTO mandate. However, the workers were allegedly only given two weeks to relocate to a designated hub city or resign.
Grindr’s relocation requirements were notably challenging for many workers given the short notice period. Trans employees were among the most affected, being that many faced struggles to locate alternative healthcare in sufficient time.
The dating app denies the accusations, describing them as “meritless” and arguing that the union activity only emerged after the company announced its RTO policy.
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