Media clips

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• What HR leaders, recruiters, employers need to know about FTC noncompete ban

  About half of private-sector businesses in the U.S. require at least some employees to enter noncompete agreements, according to a 2019 study from the Economic Policy Institute.

  Worklife News April 26, 2024
• 4 Million More Workers Could Be Eligible For Overtime Pay Under New Biden Rule

  The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, projected that more than half the beneficiaries of the new regulation would be women, and nearly a quarter would be workers of color. The group also argued that automatic increases to the salary threshold were essential to keeping overtime protections robust.

  Heidi Shierholz, EPI’s president, wrote in a blog post that the regulation would give employers more “skin in the game” when they expect employees to work excessive hours. Some employers, she noted, will simply raise workers’ salaries above the new threshold in order to avoid having to deal with overtime pay.

  “As a result, these workers will either get those extra hours back or they will get higher wages when they do work long hours — whether through salary increases or by earning time-and-a-half overtime pay,” Shierholz said.

  Huffpost April 26, 2024
• Why Workers Need Social Security AND Retirement Savings Act (RSAA)

  40 years of regressive tweaks and tax breaks have hit these workers harder than the other over half of workers, and over 80% of low-income workers don’t have any retirement plan at work. (For more evidence on all of this, see the Older Workers and Retirement Chartbook by the Economic Policy Institute and the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.)

  Forbes April 26, 2024
• DOL Issues Final Retirement Security Rule

  Some organizations including the Economic Policy Institute and CFP Board championed the final rule on Tuesday. 

  Plan Adviser April 26, 2024
• A Super Tuesday for American Workers

  This is great news for American workers. When this policy is fully enacted next summer, EPI reports that worker paychecks will grow by $1.5 billion every year.

  Civic Ventures April 26, 2024
• Keystone Local Schools release statement amid school bus driver shortage

  According to research by the Economic Policy Institute, school bus driver employment continues to be far below pre-pandemic levels.

  There were approximately 192,400 bus drivers working in K-12 schools at the beginning of this school year in September 2023, which is down 15.1% from September 2019.

  WKYC April 26, 2024
• The Perils of Retirement in America

  The Older Workers and Retirement Chartbook, produced by the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis and the Economic Policy Institute, suggests that more than half of retirees (52%) were pushed out of their jobs before they were ready to retire.

  Project Syndicate April 26, 2024
• Childcare facility shares importance and need for more childcare access in South Hillsborough

  Not only is childcare hard to find but it can be expensive. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost for childcare for a 4-year-old child is a little more than $7,000.

  Bay News 9 April 26, 2024
• ‘Seismic Win for Workers’: FTC Bans Noncompete Clauses

  As Economic Policy Institute (EPI) president Heidi Shierholz explained, “Noncompete agreements are employment provisions that ban workers at one company from working for, or starting, a competing business within a certain period of time after leaving a job.”

  “These agreements are ubiquitous,” she noted, applauding the ban. “EPI research finds that more than 1 out of every 4 private-sector workers—including low-wage workers—are required to enter noncompete agreements as a condition of employment.”

  Common Dreams April 26, 2024
• EPI cheers noncompete agreement ban

  The Economic Policy Institute applauded the Federal Trade Commission’s decision on Tuesday to ban noncompete clauses in employment, saying in a statement on its website that “this is an important step toward fostering fair competition and empowering U.S. workers.”

  Noncompete agreements are conditions of employment that prohibit a worker from leaving a job to take a role at a competing business or starting their own within a certain period of time. Research from the Institute has found that up to 25% of workers in the private sector—even low-wage employees—have been required to sign noncompete agreements.

  CEO North America April 26, 2024