Unemployment remained steady while the U.S. economy added a quarter-million jobs in October, according to the latest Department of Labor jobs report. A new Congress will shift its workplace priorities after Democrats flipped the House of Representatives this month, and one of America’s most prestigious universities faces a class-action suit over its background check practices. Catch up on the latest employment news in our Weekend Roundup:
October 2018 Jobs Report Reveals U.S. Economy Added 250,000 Jobs
The United States economy added 250,000 jobs in October 2018 while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent during the month, according to the jobs report for October 2018 released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The jobs report for October 2018 showed the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 6.1 million while job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, health care, professional and business services, manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing, and mining.
Workplace May Be New Battleground for 2019–2020 Congress
Paid parental leave, a federal minimum wage hike and union-friendly laws are among the issues Democrats will work to advance on Capitol Hill after winning control of the House of Representatives following Tuesday’s mid-term elections.
“You can absolutely anticipate more worker-friendly legislation,” said Lisa Horn, vice president for congressional affairs at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). “Of course, those would be hard to get enacted because they require the [Republican] president’s signature, and if they’re too progressive, Trump is unlikely to sign them.”
Stanford University Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Alleged FCRA Violations with Background Checks
A class action lawsuit filed in a Northern California District Court in October of 2018 claims Stanford University procured background checks for employment purposes without obtaining the proper authorization from job applicants in an alleged violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer information in America.
The complaint claims that before plaintiff Theresa Richard was hired as a worker at defendant Stanford University’s “residential and dining enterprises” she completed Stanford’s standard application form during the job application process which permitted Stanford to obtain a “consumer report”—the FCRA’s term for a background check.