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13 Jun 2012

2011 Bay Area government worker salaries, benefits available in searchable …

In the Bay Area’s most comprehensive effort to provide the public with information on how much local government spends on public employee salaries and benefits, details on more than $17 billion spent by 271 local governments in the greater Bay Area in 2011 are now available online.

The data shows the cost of salaries, medical insurance and retirement benefits and other costs of employing more than 185,000 workers at counties, cities, special districts and school systems that released the information under the state public records act to the Bay Area News Group.

To view the database and search for salaries by agency, department or individual, go to www.mercurynews.com/salaries.

Since

2009, the Bay Area News Group has published details on nearly $136 billion spent on employee public sector workers across the state in the first database of its kind in California and one of the largest repositories of government pay information in the nation.

Data will include employee names, job titles, base salary, overtime and other cash compensation plus the government’s cost of medical insurances, pension contributions, deferred compensation plans and other employment costs, such as disability and workers’ compensation insurances.

The California Supreme Court ruled in a landmark 2007 decision that detailed employment costs, including employee names, are public record. That case began when the Contra Costa Times sued Oakland

in 2005 after the city claimed government salary information was private. The data comes from government agencies in the nine Bay Area counties and Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Joaquin counties.

In all, the Bay Area News Group filed public records requests with 573 government entities in the Bay Area. In addition to the 271 data sets now available, information was received from 63 other agencies that will be released later once it is formatted for publication. Another 238 requests remain pending in the region.

Not all agencies would release compensation in an electronic format, such as San Ramon in Contra Costa County. Other entities, including Walnut Creek and the Washington Health Care District in Fremont refused to provide data on individual employee medical insurance costs. At a few agencies, such as San Francisco, officials claimed that antiquated payroll systems could not produce data showing the complete cost of employment.

The database will be updated with more government information throughout the year.

Officials in Oakland have said they will release data by Friday. BART secretary Kenneth Duran said the transit agency will also release 2011 data by Friday.

Check the database for updates June 18.

Contact Thomas Peele at tpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/thomas_peele. Follow tweets about the compensation data at Twitter.com/publicsalaries.


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13 Jun 2012

Tris Pharma to Hold Job Fairs – Saturday, June 16 and Saturday, June 23


MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
Tris Pharma, a technology driven specialty pharmaceutical company announced that it is hosting job fairs for the two consecutive Saturdays, June 16th and June 23rd to fill over 50 new positions in manufacturing and quality control departments at its central New Jersey facility.

With the new and pending approvals, Tris Pharma is preparing to launch several new products in the coming six months. Toward that goal, Tris is looking to hire 35 new packaging technicians in various shifts, over 10 manufacturing operators and another 15 quality control and assurance positions effective immediately.

“Our new technology deployment has paid rich dividends and as a result we are fortunate to be growing in today’s economy,” said Cheryl Patnick, Vice President of Human Resources. “In order to meet our production goals, we are looking for skilled Manufacturing and Quality professionals. While we are looking to hire experienced candidates, we offer training for qualified individuals who are motivated to excel and want to be a part of our team.”

The job fair will allow potential hires to interact with the management and learn more about Tris Pharma and various opportunities it provides to new employees. Tris offers competitive salaries and full benefit packages to newly hired employees. Tris Pharma’s job fairs will be held on Saturday, June 16 and Saturday, June 23, 2012 from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Light refreshments will be served.Applicants are encouraged to visit Tris’ website
www.trispharma.com to learn more about the specific positions and shifts available.

About Tris PharmaTris Pharma is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of technologies driven products. Tris has pioneered the delivery of sustained release in the liquid, chewable/ODT and strip dosage forms so patients do not have to swallow a pill. Tris’ Nobuse technology provides abuse deterrence for opioids and other abuse-prone drugs. Tris’ RD and manufacturing facilities are located in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, USA. For more information, please visit
www.trispharma.com .

SOURCE Tris Pharma

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved


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13 Jun 2012

No-fuss sacking payouts included in employment law overhaul

Rules making it easier for companies to sack their workers by offering them immediate payouts if they agree to leave without any fuss will be unveiled this week as part of the government’s controversial overhaul of employment law.

The proposal to introduce “settlement agreements” for all employers will be published as part of the enterprise and regulatory reform bill, which is due to have its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday.

Officials insist the proposals to allow bosses to ask staff to leave with a cash payment rather than go through the longer and more costly formal sacking procedures differ significantly from the compensated no-fault dismissal rules that ministers had mooted, principally because employees are free to reject the offers.

They could, however, provide the government with a compromise ahead of an expected decision to ditch the no-fault dismissal idea that the business secretary, Vince Cable, reportedly called “bonkers”. Public consultation on the proposal ended on Friday.

Speaking ahead of the full publication of the new agreements, Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat employment minister, said: “There are inevitably occasions when the employment relationship doesn’t work out. Employers have to feel confident in dealing with situations such as where an employee isn’t pulling their weight or where someone is unreliable or even guilty of misconduct. In these instances it is sometimes in the best interests of both employee and employer to end the relationship speedily by reaching a settlement.”

He added: “An employee leaving by agreement can do so with their dignity intact. The employer secures peace of mind knowing that they will not face expensive tribunal proceedings. We know that many large companies use settlement agreements in this type of situation but we want to ensure that all employers – large and small – can make use of them without incurring large legal fees.”

Settlement agreements are not unknown, but business lobby groups said that many employers have been reluctant to use them since a landmark court case in 2004 when an employment tribunal found BNP Paribas was guilty of constructive dismissal for offering a similar agreement to a senior member of staff, a ruling that was upheld when the French-owned bank appealed.

To address these concerns, the new proposals will include a stipulation that an offer of a settlement agreement cannot be used in any future employment tribunal against the company. Employees can, however, refuse the offer and insist that any dismissal is handled through more formal complaint handling procedures.The bill, being overseen by Cable’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, will also include a section insisting that employment disputes are considered by a less formal arbitration procedure before they go to an employment tribunal, in another attempt to cut costs.

Neil Carberry, employment director for the Confederation of British Industry, said they would welcome such moves, which the confederation had long campaigned for. “What [the government is] doing here is cutting to the chase if any employer thinks this isn’t going to work; it’s voluntary, it protects both sides,” said Carberry.

When the proposal was first mooted in the Queen’s speech in May, as part of a package of changes to make it easier for employers to fire – and, politicians hoped, to hire – staff, the TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: “It is a myth that stripping away employee rights will boost growth or create jobs. This is no more than a bad boss’s charter that will make people insecure at work and will feed straight into lower consumer confidence.”


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13 Jun 2012

Secret Government Jobs Data Could Be Leaked

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) A secret government report on security procedures surrounding the release of market moving monthly jobs numbers found “unexamined flaws in the process” that potentially put the data at risk of disclosure, according to a new letter obtained by CNBC.

The letter was sent Tuesday by GOP Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.

In it, Issa refers to an analysis of security procedures surrounding the Department of Labor’s release of the monthly employment data that was conducted by Sandia National Laboratories, the same agency charged with protecting the government’s nuclear arsenal.

The security review – which has never been made public – was requested by the Department of Labor and has been used by the Department to justify new efforts at preventing early leaks of the jobs data to financial markets.

The changes have focused on the so-called “lock ups” ahead of the monthly data release in which select financial reporters are allowed access to the numbers in a sealed room a half hour before they are released to the public. This allows journalists time to digest the information, add context, and write their stories ahead of the 8:30 a.m. release time.

But several news organizations objected to the changes, which would require them to use government computers, notebooks and pens, among other high security procedures.

In a Capitol Hill hearing last week, Issa requested that the Department of Labor show him the security report that justified the new restrictions on the media. But he apparently didn’t like what he saw when he reviewed it on June 8.

In his letter to Solis, Issa wrote that “Sandia found unexamined flaws in the process that potentially put the sensitive economic information handled by the Department at significantly more risk than the lockup procedures.”

And he alleged that the Department of Labor “ignored Sandia’s warning that other Department procedures put the sensitive economic information handled and disseminated by the Department at potentially much greater risk.”

Sandia, Issa wrote, “was prevented from examining the full scope of the department’s handling of economically significant data…Sandia did not examine all potential vulnerabilities in the data dissemination process.”

Jennifer Kaplan, a spokesperson for the Department of Labor, told CNBC that Sandia was hired specifically to look at lock up security, but the report noted that there were other aspects to the data collection and release process that it did not review. “Being a thorough team, the review team noted that the facility it was looking at was but one part of a larger process,” she said. “The other parts of the process were not part of Sandia’s review.”

Separately, CNBC has obtained an email from Department of Labor spokesman Carl Fillichio to several news organizations in which he suggests that the full range of new security procedures will not be rolled out all at once for the upcoming July 6 data release, but may instead be put in place gradually for those news organizations that have been issued new credentials for access to the lock up.

“We’ve been working all along with the Labor Department to find a mutually acceptable plan to address any concerns about the release of economic data, and we welcome the chance to give that process more time,” said Ashley Huston, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Dow Jones Co.

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13 Jun 2012

Bulgaria’s jobless rate is 11% in May: Employment Agency

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Bulgaria’s jobless rate is 11% in May: Employment Agency

Bulgaria’s jobless rate is 11% in May: Employment Agency
Sofia. Bulgaria’s jobless rate is down to 11% in May 2012, which is a drop of 0,4% in comparison with April, announced the country’s Employment Agency.
State should stimulate companies creating jobs in Bulgaria: Iravan Hira
Sofia. The state should focus on encouraging foreign companies which create new jobs. Education stimuli will also generate good effects on the companies, because they encounter a lot of difficulties in hiring staff, Iravan Hira, general manager of HP Bulgaria, told Bulgaria ON AIR.
Parliament preparing to reconsider the complete ban on shale gas production
Sofia. MPs will vote on amending part of the ban on the use of the hydraulic fracturing technology for oil and gas exploration, according to the weekly program proposed by the parliamentary majority, the Zemya daily learned.

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13 Jun 2012

Job fair being held in Norwich

NORWICH, Conn. –

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney is hosting a career fair in Norwich, the third he has helped to organize in the 2nd Congressional District.

About 33 employers that are actively hiring are expected to be on hand for Wednesday’s event, to be held at the Norwich Holiday Inn. The fair will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Courtney is expected to attend for the first hour.

Participating businesses include General Dynamics, Holiday Inn, Primerica, Westminster Tool, Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Day Kimball Healthcare and US Foods.

Besides meeting with employers, attendees can receive professional help with resumes, and talk with representatives of local community colleges about job re-training and ways to sharpen job skills.

Courtney will talk with job-seekers and businesses about available tax credits for hiring veterans.


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13 Jun 2012

Haitian Women's Employment Stuck in Aftershock

By Lynda Michel

WeNews correspondent

JÉRÉMIE, Haiti (WOMENSENEWS)–Before the ground gave way underneath her, Elda Vilmeney had a business selling Coca-Cola in bulk on Third Avenue in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. Since the earthquake more than two years ago though, she hasn’t been able to economically recover.

“While I was inside my business, everything began to shake and I had no idea what was happening,” Vilmeney says. “When I hurried to get outside, my foot turned and broke in several places. The American Marines operated on my foot and inserted metal pins, which will remain there until I die.”

With her business destroyed in the disaster, she could not sustain her family: a husband and four children–three boys and a girl.

“For over a month, my children and I slept on the street,” she says. “We had great difficulty finding anything to eat.”

The Haitian government reported that the earthquake killed an estimated 316,000 people, injured 300,000 and made more than a million homeless. The government also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed or were severely damaged in the earthquake.

The United Nations reported in January that of the nearly $4.6 billion pledged for reconstruction projects in 2010 and 2011, only 43 percent has been delivered. A January 2012 Oxfam report said that half a million Haitians remained homeless, still living under tarps and in tents.

The spending on those arriving to help is part of the problem, some critics have said, as the funds were spent on imported personnel, board members’ needs, soaring rents and overpriced supplies.

Vilmeney says she still hasn’t been able to re-establish her business. Instead, she and her husband are seeking work in the informal economy.

Today, she cooks and sells food on a roadside.


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13 Jun 2012

Government Job Loss Could Hinder Growth

ATLANTA  —  
he decline was offset by state universities, which added 4,200 jobs during the same time.Revenue shortfalls at the local, state and federal levels are endangering Georgia’s 673,100 public sector employees and cuts to public sector jobs could reverse the trend of job growth and declining unemployment in the state.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the loss of thousands of well-paying government jobs across Georgia could have a ripple effect on local businesses like restaurant and beauty salons — not to mention county tax coffers.

Public sector employees account for 16 percent of all Georgia jobs. State and local governments have trimmed payrolls by about 8,000, or 5 percent, since the recession. The decline was offset by state universities, which added 4,200 jobs during the same time.


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13 Jun 2012

Judge: Feds can seize pension in Iowa jobs scandal

By RYAN J. FOLEY

IOWA CITY, Iowa

The federal government can seize the retirement benefits of a former director of an Iowa job-training agency while she serves prison time on charges that she orchestrated a scheme to overpay herself and others by millions of dollars, a judge ruled Monday.

Ramona Cunningham’s monthly pension of $2,700 from the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System will go toward the $1.65 million she and another co-defendant have been ordered to pay in restitution, Judge Robert Pratt ruled. But after she is released from prison in 2015, only 25 percent of her pension can be seized for restitution under federal law, and Cunningham is entitled to the rest, Pratt ruled.

Cunningham, the former chief executive of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium, is serving a seven-year prison sentence handed down in 2008 for her role in a scheme in which up to $2.5 million in public funds were misspent on excessive salaries and bonuses for agency administrators between 2003 and 2006.

Cunningham, 57, pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, misusing federal funds and obstructing investigators looking into the use of grant money intended for job training programs run by the regional agency. She acknowledged personally receiving $473,000 in bonuses and supplemental compensation over a three-year period, during which her annual salary ballooned to $363,000.

Cunningham is incarcerated at a prison in Fort Worth, Texas, that specializes in medical and mental health services for female offenders and is scheduled to be released Jan. 18, 2015, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Four others were convicted during the scandal, including former treasurer Karen Tesdell, who was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in allowing the misspending and receiving excessive pay. Pratt in 2009 ordered Cunningham and Tesdell to jointly pay back $1.8 million in restitution, which included $1.3 million the state had to repay the federal government for the misspending and additional losses suffered by Polk County and a human services agency.

So far, Cunningham has only paid $1,111 toward the restitution even while testimony earlier this year revealed she has received more than $153,000 in pension payments while behind bars. Her pension had accrued over her 22-year career as a state employee. Monthly payments started flowing shortly after her conviction in 2008, after the U.S. Social Security Administration ruled that Cunningham was disabled and eligible for retirement benefits early. She will continue to receive them for the rest of her life.

Federal prosecutors moved to garnish her pension earlier this year, but she objected on a variety of grounds.

Pratt said Cunningham was correct that Iowa law generally does not allow the garnishment of IPERS benefits, but he said that was pre-empted by a federal law that allows such collection efforts to satisfy restitution orders in criminal cases.

He said Cunningham also was correct that a maximum of 25 percent could be seized under a federal law governing debt collection because pension payments are considered earnings and subject to the cap, rejecting prosecutors’ efforts to seize the whole amount. But Pratt said the 25 percent cap did not apply while she was incarcerated because federal law requires defendants serving prison time who receive “substantial resources” from any source to apply them toward restitution.

Pratt rejected Cunningham’s argument that it was unconstitutional to allow her pension to be taken when federal law exempts the retirement savings of military members, Medal of Honor recipients and railroad employees from similar garnishment.

Messages for Cunningham’s attorney and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Des Moines were not immediately returned.


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13 Jun 2012

Plymouth Group’s Job Fair, Support Services Reinvigorate the Unemployed

Posted at: 06/12/2012 7:23 PM

By: Mark Saxenmeyer

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Both good and bad news to report for Minnesota’s job hunters.

Out-of-work Minnesotans are about to get their unemployment benefits shortened. The maximum length of extended unemployment benefits will decrease later this month from 60 weeks to 46 weeks.

That’s because the unemployment rate has dropped in the state. At the height of the recession, unemployed Minnesotans could get up to 86 weeks of benefits. Statewide, the unemployment rate in April was 5.6%.

All of the seven county metro area, though, is doing better than that. Only Anoka and Ramsey counties have unemployment rates higher than 5%. The other five metro counties were all under 5% unemployment.

Still, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, 300,000 Minnesotans are either unemployed, under-employed, or have stopped looking for a job.

As a result, Interfaith Outreach Community Partners (IOCP) has put together a comprehensive program to help job hunters.

On Tuesday, it sponsored a job fair that brought 200 people to its Plymouth headquarters. 19 employers and eight training organizations participated.

Pressing the flesh at the fair, Robert and Marina Vasquez were at their lowest point ever.

“I got laid off from my job last week,” Robert said. “I was blind-sided by the whole thing.”

And Marina has been out of work almost a year. “It’s been very stressful,” she said.

But on Tuesday, some good news–finally.

“I got a job!” Marina exclaimed as the fair was concluding. It’s a position with a collections agency. She starts Wednesday.

Both Marina and Robert credit IOCP for teaching them updated computer skills in its new learning center, so much so that Robert left the fair with renewed confidence. I’m hoping that i’ll get some callbacks,” he said.

Hiring should only get better in the next three months. 22% of Minneapolis businesses expect to hire in the third quarter–meaning they’ll bring on more staff from July through September. Only two percent of businesses in minneapolis expect to decrease staff levels.

The competition is tough. Andrew Pickens, a recuriter at the fair from Park Nicollet Health System, said, “With the number of qualified people out there we are able to be pretty selective.”

IOCP leaders say boosting job seekers’ sinking self esteem has become a key focus. “You just keep going,” said Kathryn John, IOCP’s employment services manager. She says she tells people to keep applying no matter how much rejection they get. “Do it again and again and again and you don’t quit until it happens.”

“They’re really changing people’s lives–they really are,” said Terra Graham. When she was laid off from The Home Depot, “I didn’t have, you know, much belief in myself.”

But through IOCP’s mock interview classes, she learned how to make a better impression. Equally helpful–IOCP’s free daycare that enabled her to take the class while her kids were being safely cared for.

She just laned a job at Lowe’s.

Terra is one of 78 people IOCP has now helped land a new position with its new services. She’s excited, and relieved. “I’m happy to be on the payrolls–anybody’s payroll, you know. I’ve got two kids at home that I’m supporting so it feels really good. And I really feel like I’m accomplishing something. I’m doing something.”

Because new jobs bring new hope.

“This place will definitely hep people,” Terra added. “It helped ME!”

For more information about IOCP’s employment services and their next job fair, log on to http://www.iocp.org/

Mark Saxenmeyer can be reached at msaxenmeyer@kstp.com

 


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