Employee Benefits

A battle has been roiling in the courts over whether judges in Los Angeles County are entitled to a long-standing benefits program that boosts their pay well above that of their colleagues all across California. The California Supreme Court last week refused to review an appeals court decision ruling unconstitutional more than $46,000 in benefits each judge receives from the county, opening up the possibility that judges here might be taking a steep pay cut in the near future.

After a decades-long struggle, Filipino veterans of World War II finally may be granted U.S. military benefits thanks to, of all things, the economic stimulus legislation. A $198-million provision of the proposed Senate stimulus bill would authorize one-time payments of $15,000 to Filipino veterans who are U.S. citizens -- many of whom live in California -- and $9,000 for noncitizens, including those in the Philippines.

Brad Levenson and Tony Sears spent Thursday fielding congratulatory calls from gay rights supporters around the nation for their success in getting a federal judge to call into question the legality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S.

Many unanswered questions remain about the universal healthcare plan supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles). Among the most vexing is whether its requirement that businesses chip in to help cover the uninsured violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S.

About 50 stern-faced mothers who work at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power confronted the agency's board Tuesday and won the ability to keep using lactation services provided as a benefit of employment. Some members of the group, organized by their union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, lined the boardroom holding signs that read: "Mayor Villaraigosa's appointee: Nick Patsaouras is anti-women."

The California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage raises workplace issues that companies need to consider, even though last week's ruling will have little direct effect on employee benefits, legal experts say.

Dying of cancer, Thomas Amschwand did everything he was told to make sure his wife would collect on the life insurance policy he had through his employer. "He was obsessed with dotting every 'i' and crossing every 't'," Melissa Amschwand-Bellinger recalled about her husband, who died in 2001 at age 30. But Spherion Corp., the temporary staffing company where Amschwand worked, told Amschwand-Bellinger she would not receive any of the $426,000 in benefits she believed she was due.

A state bill to guarantee paid days off for sick workers died Thursday amid opposition from business lobbyists and lawmaker concern that the benefit was too costly. The bill would have granted employees of small companies in California up to five days of paid sick leave each year. Workers at larger firms could take up to nine days a year.

In a financial crisis, the typical advice from experts is to stay the course, keeping investments in place for the long term and waiting out the downturn. But people close to retirement may not have that luxury. Although the stock market rebounded sharply last week after plunging earlier in the week, share prices remain well below their levels at the start of the year. With all the recent volatility, here are some tips for a contingency plan.

California's employers got a big boost from a powerful ally, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when it came to killing bills this year that sought to boost benefits and make other changes in the state's program for injured workers. This week the governor vetoed half a dozen bills that could have raised costs in the state workers' compensation insurance system. The system's overhaul in 2004 was one of the governor's biggest achievements.