According to a report by NewsHour reporter Will Evans: More than 14,000 serious injuries in 2019, nearly twice the industry average; Number of workers injured per 100 workers has increased ever year between 2016 and 2019. Warehouses with robots have higher injury rates, 50% higher at robotic warehouses, because robots increase the speed of production so employees have to move faster. Injury rates increase during Amazon’s busiest times, Prime Day and Holidays, spiking on both Prime Day and Cyber Monday. Amazon has tried to lower injury rates by controlling the medical care that injured workers receive at fulfillment centers.  Occupational Clinic Medical providers are pressured to minimize the extent of the injured Amazon employee’s injury.  The injured employees may not receive work leave for the first visit in an attempt to avoid reporting the injury to OSHA. In the past Amazon used in house EMTs to give workers improper medical care and the EMTs and Amazon supervisors tried to prevent injured workers from seeing their own doctors.

President Trump ordered Governors to work with FEMA to set up a “Lost Wages Assistance Program” $300 weekly federal payments will supplement Louisiana unemployed  who are receiving at least $100 in weekly unemployment; Economists estimate that the federal supplement will last only one to two months before the money allocated runs out. On Saturday, President Trump ordered Governors to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to set up a “Lost Wages Assistance Program” to distribute supplement payments of up to $400 to the 30 million who are unemployed.  The FEMA Disaster Relief Fund would contribute up to $44 Billion.  Louisiana would have been responsible for payment of $100 of the $400 supplemental payment but has been granted an exemption to count amounts already paid in weekly unemployment towards the $100 per week obligation. Until July 31, 2020, The Cares Act provided a $600 per weekly federal supplement to anyone qualified for $1 dollar of Louisiana Unemployment Benefits or Pandemic Unemployment Benefits.  Louisiana has an unemployment rate of 9.7%. The $600 payment ended because The US House and Senate could not agree on an extension.   Both believe an extension is necessary.  The Senate wanted a $200 per week supplement and the US House, a $600 a week supplement.  The President split the difference and signed an executive order for a $400 per week payment and required States to pay $100 of the $400 weekly amount. Louisiana has opted to pay $300 per week supplement to those who receive at […]

According to a recent laworks.net video, Louisiana has brought back the Work Search Requirement to receive Unemployment benefits “because $600 federal unemployment supplement has ended.” However, there are exceptions for COVID-19 related issues and exempt claims. Work Search is looking for a job online, by email, by fax, by phone or by attending a job fair in person or virtually. Keep a list of all prospective employers you contact each week. When it is time to file your weekly laworks.net certification, you will enter this in the work search portion every week unless you are exempt or not able and available for work due to COVID-19. According to the video, you should login and complete your “Eligibility Review Questions” Next, you should fill out the Employer Information where you fill in information about the prospective employer(s). You only need to enter as much information as you are able to enter about the name, address and contact for the employer. Then you will enter the Job Title, Date You Contacted the Employer and the Status of the Job. You will complete these steps for all three jobs you searched for to satisfy your work search efforts. If you answered “NO” to the question, “Were you able and available for work?” AND it is due to due to a Covid-19 issue, enter COVID-1, COVID-2 and COVID-3 as your 3 employer contacts and leave the other fields blank. Also, some claimants are exempt from Work Search and will not be asked to complete […]

The Coronavirus & $600 Per Week Louisiana Unemployment Claims  If you want $600 per week unemployment benefit to extend beyond July, 2020, call Senator John Kennedy at 202-224-4623 and US Senator Bill Cassidy at 202-224-5824 and ask them to extend the $600 per week unemployment benefit. The $600 per week in additional unemployment will end in July, 2020 because  US Senators John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy from Louisiana and some other senators want it to end.  The CARES Act signed into law by President Trump gives Louisiana eligible employees as well as independent contractors and other workers, who are ordinarily ineligible for unemployment, $600 per week in additional unemployment benefits. To Apply in Louisiana, make your claim with the Louisiana Department of Labor at www.laworks.net Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says Louisiana now has the money from the federal government, and the additional benefit will be available starting Monday, April 13. Even people who initially get rejected should do their weekly certifications with www.laworks.net so they can quickly get the money out. Some people, such gig economy workers, independent contractors, and others who get their tax information on form 1099, should apply now, so their information will be in the system, and the federal money will flow to them as soon as it’s available. Background On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which provided additional flexibility for state unemployment insurance agencies and additional administrative funding to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus […]