For more than a decade, an increasing number of workers are finding that they have “agreed” to have all of their workplace disputes handled through arbitration proceedings.
Note: This “agreement” is often little more than a clause in small print in pages of paperwork that you sign with no discussion or even chance to review.
The problem is that this forced arbitration of a dispute is a one-time, private resolution. While the arbitrator is, in theory, a neutral decision-maker,
Continue Reading Forced arbitration for workers
Victor Forberger Blogs
Latest from Victor Forberger
Catholic Charities of Wisconsin might be going to the US Supreme Court
The diocese has petitioned for review before the US Supreme Court the Catholic Charities decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Note: All the filed materials with the US Supreme Court are available at the court’s public docket for this case.
In its decision, Catholic Charities v. LIRC, 2024 WI 13, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that non-profit entities affiliated with the diocese (but not actually funded by the diocese) were not exempt from paying unemployment taxes
Continue Reading Catholic Charities of Wisconsin might be going to the US Supreme Court
Public hearing on unemployment in 2024
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development has scheduled a public hearing on unemployment benefits and taxes for Thursday, November 21st, at 2 to 4 pm and 5 to 6 pm.
This public hearing is online only (via webex) and requires prior registration for both sessions: registration for the 2 to 4 pm session and registration for the 5 to 6 pm session.
Comments can also be submitted in writing via [email message](mailto: UILawChange@dwd.wisconsin.gov) or written letter to:
Janell
Continue Reading Public hearing on unemployment in 2024
Setting up Airplay on Xubuntu
Tags
airplay, shairport-sync, ubuntuhandbook
Ubuntu handbook has instructions on how to get Airplay up and running on a Linux box.
With these instructions, here is what I did for my desktop.
$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC662 rev3 Analog [ALC662 rev3 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0:
Continue Reading Setting up Airplay on Xubuntu
Upgrading to Xubuntu Noble — 24.04 from 22.02 — and a review
TagsAppImage apps, Chromium, Cryptomator, emacs, FireFox, insync, itsfoss, LibreOffice, linux, Opera, Org-mode, Parole, pdftk, snap apps, Task Manager, technology, Thunar, Thunderbird, ubuntuhandbook.org, Veracrypt, Vivaldi, xsane
I have upgraded my desktop but not my laptop.
Note: Xneo is an alias for neofetch –ascii_distro xubuntu.
In general, the switch to mostly snaps could be smoother, and I still need
Continue Reading Upgrading to Xubuntu Noble — 24.04 from 22.02 — and a review
Frequent and recurring errors in log files
Given the breadth of hardware and operating system wrinkles at play with Linux, it is all too common to see recurring and minor errors pop up about some setting or hardware snafu that really does not matter.
For my desktop computer, I was seeing log files of 2 to 4 gigs in size. Here is how I tracked this problem, discovered the cause, and found a solution (at least for the ballooning log
Continue Reading Frequent and recurring errors in log files
Which political party is more likely to lead to economic gains
Or, who should be in charge for the sake of middle-class prosperity, Mr. Potter or George Bailey?
Unemployment is a key economic indicator, as the rate is tied to whether companies are hiring or laying off workers. The whole point of unemployment benefits, after all, is economic insurance for businesses so that their customers continue to have money to buy the things they need, like food and housing.
The decreased and irregular purchasing power of wage earners in turn
Continue Reading Which political party is more likely to lead to economic gains
No Administrative Concealment Penalties for Lost Wages Assistance
There is no doubt any longer that the 40% administrative concealment penalty that the Department charges for unemployment fraud is highly profitable to the Department.
Note: The 40% administrative penalty is actually two separate penalties: a 15% penalty that goes back into the unemployment trust fund and a 25% penalty that goes into a separate program integrity fund.
The program integrity fund has mushroomed in size with the Covid-19 pandemic, as all of those unemployment benefits that were
Continue Reading No Administrative Concealment Penalties for Lost Wages Assistance
Gig Workers in Wisconsin
On March 26th of this year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided that further review in Amazon Logistics v. LIRC, 2024 WI 15, was premature. As a result, the court of appeals decision in Amazon Logistics v. LIRC, 2023 WI App 26, 407 Wis.2d 807, 992 N.W.2d 168, remained in place.
Before getting to that appeals court decision and what it means, the terrain for gig workers (also called self-employed workers or independent contractors) has been in a
Continue Reading Gig Workers in Wisconsin
Wisconsin economic news
Jake has been on a tear with economic news for Wisconsin, and it has been too long since I provided an update on this front. So, I’m going to piggyback off of his efforts.
In general, Wisconsin has seen both solid job AND wage growth the past few years.
While the beginning of 2023 saw a slight slow down, the latter half of 2023 saw significant income growth in the state, especially when compared to other Midwestern states.
Change
Continue Reading Wisconsin economic news
Religious Exemptions to Unemployment Taxes in 2024
Last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its decision in Catholic Charities v. LIRC, 2024 WI 13. At issue in this case was whether the Catholic Charities entities would be exempt from paying any unemployment taxes (and their employees no longer eligible for unemployment benefits when laid off) because the Catholic Charities entities are, like churches themselves, operated for faith-based reasons.
Note: Articles on the decision have appeared in the Wisconsin Examiner, WisPolitics, and Urban Milwaukee
Continue Reading Religious Exemptions to Unemployment Taxes in 2024
Browser speed tests
TagsChromium, FireFox, Opera, speedometer3.0, Vivaldi
With the new speedometer 3.0 speed tests, I ran some tests with various browsers on my System76 2018 Galago Pro laptop.
Current specs are (via the inxi terminal command):
System:
Host: Hrothgar Kernel: 6.6.10-76060610-generic x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: System76 product: Galago Pro v: galp3
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: System76 model: Galago Pro v: galp3 serial: <superuser
Continue Reading Browser speed tests
Video acceleration in Firefox for radeon graphics card
Tags
FireFox, radeon, ubuntuhandbook
Video acceleration in Firefox (all recent versions of the past year and more) has been a problem on my desktop computer with its radeon graphics card. See my setup. Various websites would have videos appear as glitches and even lead to the xfdesktop freezing/crashing and needing to be killed (xfdesktop will automatically restart after being killed).
Thanks to UbuntuHandbook for its advice at Enable Hardware Video Acceleration (VA-API) For Firefox in Ubuntu
Continue Reading Video acceleration in Firefox for radeon graphics card
Claim-filing study looking for participants
Help make government unemployment insurance forms easier to use — and get a $50 Visa gift card for your feedback.
The US Dep’t of Labor and Nava Public Benefit Corporation are looking for individuals who are unemployed or who have recently experienced unemployment to better understand the issues people face when applying on-line for unemployment benefits and completing on-line weekly certifications.
General Information
- If selected to participate, you will receive a $50 Visa gift card forcompleting a one-hour interview.
Continue Reading Claim-filing study looking for participants
Limits of AI and LLM for Attorneys
Note: Creepio, an AI, is a featured player among Auralnauts.
The current infatuation with Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially at the state bar which is pushing CLEs about how lawyers need to get on the AI bandwagon, is generally an un-serious infatuation with a marketing concept.
AI and LLM – language learning models, on which much of recent AI is based – has nothing to do with accuracy. So, for a legal practice or any kind of professional activity
Continue Reading Limits of AI and LLM for Attorneys
Lab Test Subjects as Employees
In late 2022 and early 2023, a few folks started contacting me about being disqualified or having to repay unemployment benefits they received during the Covid-19 pandemic because of their participation in lab testing studies.
Then at the July 2023 Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council meeting, a coalition of lab testing companies and Rep. Gundrum asked the council to support a change in the law to exempt lab testing as covered employment. According to the minutes of that meeting:
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