Pennsylvania Labor and Employment Blog : Pennsylvania Labor and Employment Lawyer & Attorney : McNees Wallace & Nurick Law Firm : Human Resources, Workplace and Business Law : Harrisburg, Lancaster, Allentown, Lehigh

The Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for May show the national unemployment rate reaching a 26 year high to 9.4% up from 8.9% in April.  The number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million.  Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.5 percentage points.

Unemployment rates rose in May for adult men (9.8%), adult women (7.5%), whites (8.6%), and Hispanics (12.7%).  The jobless rates for teenagers (22.7%) and blacks (14.9%) were little changed over the month.  The unemployment rate for Asians was 6.7% in May, not seasonally adjusted, up from 3.8 percent a year earlier.

The BLS statistics by job class and sector continue to show weakness in the construction, manufacturing, wholesale/retail and leisure/hospitality sectors.  All sectors are as follows:

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Representative DeLauro introduced the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460) which would require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide up to seven days of annual paid sick leave.  The paid leave could be taken to attend to an employee's own or a family member’s illness, or used for preventative care such as doctor’s appointments. In addition, the bill provides leave for employees who are the victims of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault.  Sick time requests may be oral or in written at least seven days prior to foreseeable absence or otherwise as soon as practicable. The employee must provide notice of the expected duration of the absence. Medical certification is required if more than three consecutive days are taken off.

Employees would earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 56 hours (seven days) annually. Leave begins accruing from the first day of employment, but may not be taken until an employee works for 60 days. Up to 56 hours of paid sick leave would carry over from year to year, but an employer may permit additional accrual beyond the 56 hour minimum. Employers are not required to pay terminated employees for unused paid time off. If a separated employee is rehired within 12 months, that employee is entitled to the accrued leave already earned, and would be entitled to take sick leave immediately.

A business's existing paid time off policy would not need to modified if it met or exceeded the minimum time periods and allow employees to take such leave for illness and other circumstances outlined in the Health Families Act. Employers must post a notice of the substantive and remedial provisions of the Act.

Aggrieved employees may bring civil claims to recoup unpaid time off benefits and to enforce the Act's discrimination and retaliation protections.  The Secretary of Labor also has investigative and enforcement powers. The Bill, if enacted, is effective six months after the Department of Labor issues required regulations.

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The Department of Labor released unemployment data on April's unemployment rates. The unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 563,000 to 13.7 million in April. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 6.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 3.9 percentage points. The unemployment rate has steadily risen this year from a rate of 7.6% in January, an 8.1% rate in February and an 8.1% rate in March. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 498,000 to 3.7 million over the month and has risen by 2.4 million since the start of the recession in December 2007.

Pennsylvania's unemployment rate for March was 8.2% which was above the national average. The April unemployment rate for Pennsylvania will not be released until later in the month.

Getting behind the raw numbers shows that certain groups and economic sectors are harder hit by the economic downturn. The national unemployment rates are greater for men than women. Unemployment rates rose in April for adult men (9.4%) but remained relatively stable for adult women (7.1%). The jobless rates for Whites (8.0%)and Hispanics (11.3%) were little changed over the month, but rose for Blacks (15.0%) and Asians (6.6%). The following Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows unemployment levels for construction and manufacturing of 18.7% and 12.4% respectively:

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