Benchmark Institute is a training and performance development
organization dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of
legal services to low-income communities.
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Unemployment, underemployment, low wages, and inadequate
unemployment insurance hit low-income people hard: they keep people poor
and often can lead to more dire circumstances such as homelessness.
Welfare Reform in 1996 made welfare benefits contingent on work. The
Department of Labor mandates that welfare recipients who work are
protected by health and safety, anti-discrimination, and worker's
compensation laws. DOL also requires that welfare recipients in activities
like regular employment must be compensated at minimum wage.
Both federal and state laws govern employment.
The federal Department of Labor administers and enforces more than 180
federal laws. DOL describes many of these laws at
http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/lawsprog.htm
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