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Living Wage Laws Difficult To Enforce

May 28, 2016 By Twila Van Leer

For the cities that endorse the Living Wage Law, ensuring compliance is difficult.

A number of cities have bowed to pressure from labor advocates and enacted “living wage” laws, some of them phasing in plans that will top out at $15 per hour.

A living wage is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. It was designed to fight poverty, but the ripple effects that come after cities actually adopt the Living Wage Laws are numerous.

Ensuring that employers actually follow the new guidelines is difficult. State and federal laws don’t require employers to provide data proving that they are in compliance, oversight agencies say. The data is most often contained in payment check stubs, but employers are not required to share the information.

Cities That Use Living Wage Laws

Among cities that have adopted the wage increases are Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico, San Francisco, California, and Washington D.C. The issue is on the agendas of many state legislatures and city governments as the press for better wages heats up.

Complaints

Enforcers generally rely on worker complaints to initiate actions against employers who do not conform, but the employees are reluctant to complain for fear of reprisals, so many instances of non-compliance go unnoticed. Labor groups estimate that a quarter of the country’s workers who fall under the guidelines are not receiving the legislated wages. But if one employee complains, enforcers use it as leverage to investigate pay records for all of the business’ employees on the supposition that the problem affects more than the single complainant.

Recommendations For Enforcement

Haeyoung Yoon of the National Employment Law Project calls the problem “pervasive and rampant” in an Associated Press news article. The project recommends higher fines against non-compliant employers and more stringent enforcement. The costs of enforcement are high, but could be recouped through fines, she said.

Some employers don’t understand the new laws, but others sidestep the provisions by requiring workers to work unpaid or off the clock to make up the difference. Others raise the wage, but cut the benefits.

Law Suits

Hospitality and transportation workers serving in SeaTac, Washington are granted the Living Wage Law. This community however needed courts to enforce compliance and have filed more than a dozen class-action suits this year in behalf of workers. The total amount of contested wages, related benefits and possible penalties could add up to $62.5 million.

The Best Work-At-Home Opportunities

May 20, 2016 By Twila Van Leer

How to find a job that will pad your family’s income while you remain at home? There has never been more opportunity, but also there have never been the number of scams. Used to be the best chances lay with stuffing envelopes, now there are dozens of at-home jobs that are just a mouse click away.

Legitimate Or Scam

How do you sort out the legitimate opportunities from those that will end in disaster? With 4,500 to 5,000 ads for in-home jobs screened weekly, The Rate Race Rebellion, which tracks such things, found that there were 30 scams for every legitimate opportunity.

Competition For Job

Who’s your likely competition for the jobs that are available? Durst, whose company Staffcentric LLC develops home-based and virtual career training programs, identifies them as: Parents with small children, military spouses who face moving every few years, retirees and people with disabilities.

Disadvantages

Work-at-home is not particularly an ideal option for parents with small children who are likely to create diversions during the day. Consider deadline-oriented jobs rather than those that demand schedule-oriented work.

Who It Benefits

Social introverts may do very well with at-home work. They prefer interacting with others at a remove, working through email or on the phone, to being obligated to work with a lot of other people directly.

Personal Characteristics

The characteristics that usually are demonstrated by good at-home employees are self-motivation, discipline, well-developed job skills and independence.

Check Your Credit

If you apply for work at home, a prospective employer may check your credit. Check yourself at myBankrate.

Reduces Overhead

From the employer’s perspective, hiring workers who don’t come regularly into the office has some advantages. It reduces overhead and provides access to talented workers who are not available locally but make great telecommuters.

Opportunities Available

Ten job opportunities that now are available to at-home workers include virtual assistants, medical transcriptionists, translators, web developer/designer, call center representatives, tech support, travel agents, teachers, writer/editors or franchise owners. Look at the possibilities, but check with the oversight agencies to be certain you aren’t involving yourself with a scam.

Money Management Tips For 30 Somethings

March 29, 2016 By Twila Van Leer

Manage money carefully in your 30's. — Manage money carefully in your 30’s.

What you do in your 30s, personal finance-wise, makes a difference to what your retirement will look like. There are some common mistakes people make in their 30s that influence the future. Here are some of them:

Over-spending for children

What you spend on cute clothes, sophisticated toys and even educational apps must be subtracted from what you expect to live on after you are through working. Better to spend conservatively and save money for your children’s college funds.

Not discussing finances before marriage

Getting married without discussing finances can be destructive. If by your 30s you have not learned to negotiate financial options, you could be in trouble. Money issues can become serious marital conflicts, leading to divorce or ongoing clashes. Learn to talk about finances and how to set monetary goals together.

Ignoring debt

Coping with consumer debt well into your middle years can be worrisome. There are always excuses to burden yourselves with debt. Children and the ordinary crises of life are among them. But ignoring debt can come back to haunt you. Budget aggressively, live thriftily, earn as much as you can and try to anticipate retirement free of consumer debt.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Over-extending for things like a house and/or cars is another pitfall. Temper your desires to have everything and to give your children everything and you’ll find yourself better prepared to make do in your retirement years. People don’t really need a huge house and several vehicles to rear happy children. Keeping up with the Joneses occupies the minds of too many of those in their 30s. Remember that the Joneses probably are trying to keep up with someone else up the ladder. Be reasonable. Buy within your means and put something aside for later.

Not leaving a will

Make out a will or set up a trust for your kids and your spouse. Save them the hassle of trying to sort things out in case of your passing. Set up a power of attorney and power of healthcare so things don’t get sticky at that point. Ditto life insurance. If you unexpectedly leave your family when they are still depending on your income or time, you need life insurance, enough to cover their needs, not just the minimum usually offered by an employer. Consider disability insurance. In your 30s, the chances of becoming disabled are greater than early death.

Ignoring investments

Re-evaluate retirement goals now and again. By 30, your income probably has increased. Re-calculate to ensure that your retirement will support the lifestyle you want to retain. Pay attention to how your investments are performing relative to those goals. Readjust if necessary to meet goals and risk tolerance. Find a capable financial planner to help you.

Not starting a college fund when kids are young

Don’t wait until your child/children are ready to go to college to prepare financially for that expensive undertaking. Put money into an online savings account toward that eventuality. Find ways, if possible, to enlarge your education savings. Some adults at this time of life, too, consider going back to school to enhance their employment possibilities. Be certain to carefully study how much you can expect to gain by more schooling before you enroll. You could be making an expensive mistake.

Not pursuing other income opportunities

Diversify your income. The days are essentially gone when you could expect to work for one employer throughout your life. If you have a hobby that can be converted to income, pursue it. Job loss is no longer uncommon and you may need fallback sources to get you from one job to another. Taking good care of your personal finances in your 30s could pay big dividends down the road. Pay attention.

Work At Home? Balance Job, Family

August 15, 2014 By Twila Van Leer

Over 18 million home based businesses exist in America today.

Home-based businesses have gained respectability in the economic arena as their numbers have grown. The Bureau of Labor estimates that 18.3 million home-based businesses now exist in the country and some other sources say that number is too low, that there probably are closer to 38 million such businesses.

Maintain A Healthy Balance

That means a lot of people are balancing the competing demands of their work and their households, where children and other necessities make their presence felt. It’s the epitome in convenience coupled with the challenge of keeping on track, given the push and pull of two major demands under one roof.

There are some compromises to be made. Volunteering for school or charity work may have to be put on hold until it can be successfully undertaken without sacrificing time that might be spent adding to your income. The at-home business person may have to create a personal gauge for measuring what is most important on a day-by-day basis.

And unless the person who works from home is well-disciplined, there is a tendency to skip work for what seems at the moment to fall into that “important” category.

Schedule Your Time Wisely

The solution, experts say, is to set definite boundaries and firm time schedules. If your children know from long experience that from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. is your work time, they will likely respect that time frame. On your side, it is necessary that you remember not to become so immersed in what you are doing that you forget it’s time to prepare dinner. When it’s time to shut down the computer, shut down the computer. If the schedule is maintained consistently, all parties will benefit. Some at-home workers say they wait until everyone else is in bed if they have left-over work that just won’t keep, rather than violate the accepted routine.

Scheduling important calls for times when children are occupied will save the embarrassment of having them interrupt. They’re famous for that, inevitably picking the moment that the call goes through to engage in an argument or otherwise disrupt your business. If they have a regular nap time or are in school, that’s the time for important calls.

Include Family Members As Partners

Getting the children on board as invested partners in the business is smart. Let them see how the results of your productivity affect them positively. When you have a particularly successful period at work, get them a special treat and be sure they know that the treat is the result of uninterrupted time at your work. As one mother described how it works for her, “They know that their job is to play so that Mommy can work.” A father said he gives his growing boys assignments to make their home business succeed. “The boys have both expressed interest in running their own business some day,” he said. “They are getting a daily education that you wouldn’t be able to get any place else.

A Positive Attitude Helps

Stay positive. When the going gets tough, recite the benefits: No travel to work. No boss. Little or no overhead. Freedom to set your own parameters. A greater amount of control over your own financial destiny. Flexibility when you really need it.

Believe in yourself. If you don’t believe you can make your home business work, it won’t.

10 Quick Tips For Job Hunting After Being Laid Off!

October 29, 2012 By Sherry Tingley

When people lose their jobs, it’s a devastating experience no matter how tactfully they were told they were no longer needed. The life they once knew as financially and emotional secure has been ripped away. According to many sources this loss is similar in intensity to a divorce or death.

Here are 10 quick tips for surviving a job loss. (Click on the dog to buy the cute doggie tee.)

1. Be grateful for at least one thing in your life on a daily basis. It’s so easy to get angry about situations beyond your control. Gratitude helps immensely.

Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. – Charles Swindoll, Minister/Author

2. Get dressed for the day as if you were going to an interview. You will feel more competent and better prepared for anything that may come up during the day. Get out of those pajamas (unless you are looking for a job as a pajama model) and act as if you were going to be working soon!

3. Focus on getting face-to-face interviews. The chances of getting a job are increased with every face-to-face interview with a person who has the power to hire. It seems too obvious to point out, but the end goal of obtaining a job cannot be reached without face-to-face interviews.

4. Talk to everyone you know and let them know you are looking for work. If there was ever a time in your life that you felt more like crawling in a hole and covering yourself up with sand, this is it. Let go of this feeling as quickly as possible. The more people that are aware you are job hunting, the higher your chances of getting interviews that lead to employment.

5. Become a sales person about the most important thing you will ever sell anybody – YOU! It is extremely difficult for some people to think of themselves as a product, but in a way that is what we are. If you could describe yourself as a product a buyer needs what would you say?

6. Control the job hunting process. Being laid off is a situation that is out of your control. In fact the only thing you have control of is the actual job hunting process. Plan out daily time periods where you will be on the phone inquiring about job openings and actually talking to possible employers. Avoid doing anything else during this time.

7. Don’t overrate the value of a resume. What is going to get you hired with a new company is your interaction with the interviewer. Write a good resume, but don’t get stuck on spending hours doing it. Many employers are extremely busy and just want the answers to where your worked, how long you were working and what you did.

8. Avoid writing an objective on your resume. Employers care about what they want, not what you want. They want to know if you will fit the position they have in mind for you. As Tony Beshara states in his book, “The Job Search Solution,”

The clear message of an effective resume needs to be “You need to interview ME because this is what I have done in the past FOR OTHERS and therefore THIS IS WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU!

9. Jobs are given to the people who sell themselves best. Don’t be afraid that the qualifications you have aren’t the absolute perfect fit for the jobs you apply for. Maybe someone else looks better than you on paper, but people get hired who are best at selling themselves.

10. Research, research, and more research. Find out about the company you are asking to work for. Find out everything you can about them. Ask yourself if you would be happy working for that company. Talk to people who are already working there.

Loosing a job is difficult. Hang in there and keep your spirits up. Often, when one door closes, another door is opened.