uForcing McDonald’s Workers To Accept Wages On Debit Cards Not Okay In PA, Says Judger

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  (Mike Mozart)
  

  Two years ago, a Pennsylvania woman sued her former employers at McDonald’s because they forced her and other workers to accept their wages on fee-laden prepaid debit cards. Though the fast food franchisee, who runs 16 McDonald’s, later changed this policy, the lawsuit continued to move forward, and last week a judge ruled against the franchisee’s claims that the debit card requirement was completely legal.

  See, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law [PDF] currently states that not only are employees to be paid their wages on a regular basis, but that “The wages shall be paid in lawful money of the United States or check.”

  The 2013 complaint [PDF] alleges that the McDonald’s franchisee violated this law by requiring that employees accept the Chase debit card, which charged fees like a $1.50 for using an ATM, $5 for over-the-counter cash withdrawals, $1 per balance inquiry, and $.75 for online bill payment.

  At the same time, managers at these McDonald’s were being paid through direct deposit, meaning they were not stuck with any of these fees.

  The court granted the lawsuit class action status in mid-May and now represents nearly 2,400 current and former McDonald’s workers in the state.

  The franchisee sought a summary judgement from the court, claiming the lawsuit should be dismissed because the Chase Payroll cards were the “functional equivalent” of a paycheck.

  But last Friday the judge ruled against that motion, saying that the cards are neither cash nor check.

  At the same time, he acknowledged that “reasonable minds can differ, particularly where considerations of advancing technology and consumer convenience, as well as the competing consideration of consumer protection are all involved,” and so gave the franchisee the option to file an immediate appeal.

  In his order, the judge notes that this is an in-development issue in this country, with around half of the states allowing wage payments on debit cards and at least one under-consideration Pennsylvania law that could clarify if and when they could be legally used in the state.

  But even if every state eventually allows employers to use prepaid debit cards for workers’ wages, Federal Reserve Regulation E states that “No financial institution or other person may require a consumer to establish an account for receipt of electronic fund transfers with a particular institution as a condition of employment or receipt of a government benefit,” which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has clarified to mean:

  “An employer… may not require its employees to receive their salary by direct deposit to any particular institution. An employer may require direct deposit of salary by electronic means if employees are allowed to choose the institution that will receive the direct deposit. Alternatively, an employer may give employees the choice of having their salary deposited at a particular institution (designated by the employer) or receiving their salary by another means, such as by check or cash.”

  Luzerne County judge: Payroll cards not legal tender in Pennsylvania (TimesLeader.com)

  Judge: McDonalds franchise owners violated state law with debit cards (TheTimes-Tribune.com)

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uAmazon Introduces Free Shipping On Some Small Items For All Customersr

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  (quinnspotting)

  While we’ve gotten used to Amazon rolling out new features for its customers, often local delivery or free shipping is only extended to Prime subscribers who pay a yearly fee for such things. But Amazon says everyone can get free shipping on some small items, Prime member or no — with no minimum order required.

  Thousands of products like makeup, mobile phone accessories, cords, earplugs and the like will ship for free from Amazon’s Web store, reports Bloomberg.

  To be included in the new program, dubbed “Fulfillment by Amazon Small and Light,” items must weigh eight ounces or less and will usually cost no more than $10.

  Just because it’s free delivery doesn’t mean it’ll be that fast, however, with orders taking about four to eight businesses days to ship from an Amazon hub in Kentucky stocked especially for the new program.

  Amazon has been testing the plan for the last 13 weeks, introducing it yesterday after the company saw items targeted for free shipping without a minimum order threshhold selling more quickly than before.

  “Customers love that even if it’s a $5 item, shipping is free for everybody, Prime member or not,” a senior manager at Amazon told Bloomberg. “Customers love it and sellers love it.”

  Amazon Debuts Free Shipping on Small Goods Without Minimum Order [Bloomberg]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uNorth Pole Rejects Proposed Ban On Marijuana Salesr

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  This guy hangs out in North Pole, AK (jjandames)

  Santa Claus already has a jolly reputation and soon more of the North Pole’s citizens may earn a jolly reputation of their own, after the city voted to reject a measure that would’ve put the kibosh on medical marijuana dispensaries.

  While it’s not exactly “the” North Pole, the Christmas-themed community of North Pole does exist in Alaska, and as such, it has a city council that votes on things like allowing a pot store to open in the Christmas-themed community.

  The ban on a dispensary failed to pass by a 2-5 vote, reportsNewsminer.com, with the mayor saying that if residents don’t want a pot shop, they won’t go there. It’d be at least 2016 before a cannabis store could open as Alaska is still hammering out regulations for the new industry.

  One resident who happens to share a name with one of Christmas’ most recognizable faces himself spoke in favor of a store coming to North Pole, saying the guy with the belly like a bowl full of jelly is known for joviality so why not?

  “As far as the image goes here at North Pole, how do most people perceive Santa Claus?” the man told Newsminer.com “I would say Santa Claus is a pretty jolly fellow.”

  He adds that as a medical marijuana patient, he’d like to have access to medical marijuana in North Pole instead of having to go to Fairbanks for it.

  It’s currently legal for residents of the state to possess a plant for recreational use, and North Pole’s police chief says the number of arrests for pot possession is down since the law allowing it went into effect in February. Previously, the town had arrested people for possession instead of ticketing them.

  “We’re not seeing any significant issues with it at this point,” the police chief said.

  North Pole rejects ban on pot sales [Newsminer.com]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uPayPal’s New Terms Of Service Mean More Robocalls, Spam Texts For Usersr

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  (André-Pierre du Plessis)

  PayPal’s terms of service already include a clause giving the company permission to make prerecorded marketing robocalls to the number you provide them, and to send texts to that number if it’s for a mobile phone. But starting in July, PayPal is giving itself a lot more authority for bothering you — and not just on the phone number you have on record.

  Consumer journalist Bob Sullivan notes that the revised PayPal user agreement [PDF], which goes into effect on July 1, greatly expands upon its already intrusive requirement to let the company robocall you.

  The current agreement states that “By providing PayPal a telephone number (including a mobile telephone number), you agree to receive autodialed and prerecorded message calls at that number.” And the company has a very loose definition of the term “providing.”

  According to PayPal, you’re not only providing them your phone number when you register your account or add one to an existing account, but if you tell that number to an employee or even call the company from a phone number.

  But the new agreement goes even further, saying that PayPal can robocall and text you at “any telephone number that you have provided us or that we have otherwise obtained.”

  So even if you make every attempt to keep a phone number out of PayPal’s hands, they can still contact you with a robocall if they get that number through other means.

  This section of the user agreement is also extended to give the company more reasons for robocalling you. There’s the typical stuff like account troubleshooting and dispute resolution (though we’re unsure of how one resolves a dispute via a prerecorded message), but also debt collection, marketing, and everyone’s favorite: opinion polling.

  As in the current agreement, PayPal users are giving up their right to not be robocalled by debt collectors.

  What’s problematic about this is that it could run afoul of laws and regulations regarding prerecorded, autodialed calls.

  For example, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits non-emergency robocalls “without the prior express consent of the called party.”

  Sure, PayPal automatically opts you into robocalls through its user agreement, but it doesn’t give you any opportunity to opt out when you set up your account or afterward. Additionally, does the agreement with PayPal give it the right to pass on this robocall requirement to third parties with whom you’ve never done business?

  The National Consumer Law Center and others will be asking the FCC to rule on whether a consumer can be contractually forced into an autodial agreement that doesn’t provide an opt-out clause.

  On June 18, the FCC is set to vote on a proposal that would strengthen consumers’ ability to block unwanted robocalls, including giving them the ability to revoke previously granted authorizations for these calls.

  Another possible issue for PayPal’s far-reaching inclusion of any number “otherwise obtained,” is that the company could be providing debt collectors with inaccurate contact information based on phone numbers not provided directly from the customer.

  It’s highly possible that PayPal could mistakenly think that a work number, or a phone number for a family member or loved one is yours, and then pass that info on to its collections agents. But the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits debt collectors from contacting third parties without consent.

  We’ve asked PayPal for comment on this policy and will update if we hear anything back.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uIRS Officials, Congress Agree That Agency Needs Better Anti-Fraud Measuresr

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  (Adam Fagen)
  

  Congress was understandably alarmed at the news that cyberbaddies, believed to be criminals based in Russia, were able to gain access to previous years’ return data for 104,000 U.S. taxpayers. The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing today, where the Inspector General of the IRS explained that the agency simply isn’t keeping up with the criminals who want its data.

  Filing false tax returns is a potentially lucrative business, since each one requires a modest amount of personal information about the victim in return for a tax refund that can be worth thousands of dollars. While IRS systems flag millions of fraudulent returns every year, the number is increasing dramatically. This year’s data breach through the transcript system shows that aspiring identity thieves can change up their methods, and the agency needs to stay ahead of them. “This incident provides a stark reminder that even security controls that may have been adequate in the past can be overcome by hackers, who are anonymous, persistent, and have access to vast amounts of personal data and knowledge,” Treasury Inspector General for tax administration J. Russell George said during his testimony before Congress. This isn’t really news to the inspector general’s office, though. The IRS hasn’t yet implemented recommendations that George’s office made more than three years ago.

  This wasn’t a hack, exactly: the thieves used personal data that they already had for about 200,000 potential victims to gain access to even more information through the transcript system. Fake tax returns that resemble past years’ returns for the same person would be less likely to get flagged for fraud.

  IRS needs to do more to fight cyberattacks, watchdog says [Associated Press]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uFIFA President Sepp Blatter (Eventually) Quitting Amid Corruption Prober

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• Last Friday, Sepp Blatter was reelected as president of FIFA, the world’s most powerful soccer organization, only days after several high-ranking FIFA officials were arrested on charges of receiving illegal bribes and kickbacks. Today, after nearly two decades as head of the group behind the World Cup, Blatter announced he will be stepping down.

  “While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA,” explained Blatter. “Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA President until that election.”

  Since the next scheduled FIFA Congress won’t take place until next May, the group’s Executive Committee will need to arrange a special meeting to elect the next president. For some reason, that can’t happen until at least December, reports Bloomberg.

  The Blatter resignation comes on the heels of a news report that FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, the second-most powerful official in the organization, allegedly authorized a $10 million payment from FIFA to bank accounts overseen by Jack Warner, a former head of CONCACAF, FIFA’s governing body for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Warner was among those arrested last week.

  FIFA claims that no one at the group’s top level, including Valcke, was involved in the “initiation, approval and implementation” of the 2008 payment to Warner.

  The news also comes only two days after John Oliver called on FIFA’s biggest sponsors to use their leverage to oust Blatter, by promising to use their products (and he pretends he likes them) if they helped.

  “I will even drink a Bud Light Lime,” he pleaded to Budweiser, “despite the fact that all the lime in the world can not disguise the fact that this tastes like a puddle beneath a Long John Silver’s dumpster… If you get rid of the Swiss demon that has ruined the sport I love, this will taste like f*cking champagne.”

  While he’s not yet drinking Bud Light Lime, he’s at least living up to the “champagne” part of the promise:

  Champagne…. http://pic.twitter.com/1S8shEcN6E

  — John Oliver (@iamjohnoliver) June 2, 2015

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uHealth Insurer Anthem Offering Employees Free Colleger

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  (Anthem)

  What do Fiat Chrysler, Starbucks and health insurer Anthem have in common? As of today, they each offer to foot the bill for their employees to attend college.

  Bloomberg reports that Indiana-based Anthem – which suffered a major data breach earlier this year – is the latest company to offer employees the opportunity to earn their associate’s or bachelor’s degree without incurring a massive amount of student loan debt.

  Under the new program, eligible full- and part-time Anthem employees can sign up for online classes in business and health care at the College for America at Southern New Hampshire University.

  While the new students must front the costs for the courses, Anthem will reimburse their expenses.

  Anthem’s 55,000 employees can take part in the new tuition program if they work 20 or more hours per week and have been employed by the company for at least six months.

  The national insurer actually began the program as a pilot in 2013. Since then nine employees have earned associate’s degrees, with many moving on to pursue a bachelor’s degree, a company spokesperson says.

  “This was a huge opportunity for us to provide professional development,” Jose Tomas, Anthem’s chief human resources officer, says of expanding the program. “We certainly will enjoy the benefits of providing this from a succession-planning standpoint.”

  According to Bloomberg, the College for America programs covered by Anthem cost about $2,500 a year. Unlike traditional higher education institutions, College for America students progress through their education by completing projects at their own pace.

  One employee who earned her associate’s degree under Anthem’s pilot program tells Bloomberg that she was able to complete the program in about eight months.

  “I earned a promotion because of that,” she said by phone. “It was a total shock, because it wasn’t anything that I expected. It was so exciting to know that I was going to get a degree, to have a diploma in my hand.”

  Anthem’s program announcement comes just a month after Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. division unveiled the Degrees@Work program – a partnership with Strayer University – aimed at educating employees and improving retention for the company’s dealerships.

  Starbucks got the employee-college program ball rolling back in 2014 when it announced it would finance workers’ dreams of attending college around the country by offering to pay their tuition at Arizona State University.

  Anthem Offers Free College as Newest Perk [Bloomberg]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist