Archive for February 17th, 2007
Peanut butter, cantaloupes and organic baby food.
Dole late Friday said the recall covered roughly 6,104 cartons of Costa Rican cantaloupes distributed to wholesalers in the eastern United States and Quebec between Feb. 5 and Feb. 8, the Associated Press reported. There were no reports of illness.
According to WIVB, none of the affected cantaloupes are in WNY supermarkets.
On Wednesday, ConAgra Foods Inc. recalled its Peter Pan peanut butter and batches of Wal-Mart’s Great Value peanut butter after they were linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 300 people in 39 states.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers late Friday not to use certain jars of Earth’s Best Organic 2 Apple Peach Barley Wholesome Breakfast baby food because they may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, a life-threatening illness.
The manufacturer, Hain Celestial Group of Melville, N.Y., initiated a recall on Feb. 9 of 4,072 cases of individual jars and 38,298 variety packs, the FDA said in a prepared statement. Production and distribution of the baby food has been suspended while the FDA and the company work to determine the source of the problem.
Bill Online Easily, Fast & Free with PayPal. No Software Needed. Sign Up Now!
This is another fine example of the government intruding in private businesses and screwing things up in the process.
Mandatory paid sick leave could turn into a legal and administrative headache for corporate America, according to employment attorneys.
On Feb. 5, a San Francisco ordinance mandating paid sick leave went into effect. Legislation has been introduced that would give city businesses a four-month grace period before paying for the mandated sick leave.
Seven states are expected to follow suit this year with similar legislation mandating paid sick days. They are Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Wisconsin. Congress also is considering legislation that would require employers with at least 15 workers to offer seven paid sick days annually to employees.
Employment attorneys representing management say such laws will trigger more lawsuits and create technical and administrative nightmares for companies, particularly those that use temporary workers who might also be entitled to paid sick days.
Why should someone, by force of government regulation, be entitled to pay for staying home? There is no magic fund to cover the costs for sick pay. Studies have shown that the average person is too sick to work only 3 days per year, yet the government wants to mandate paid sick days for private industry employees. Sick days are widely abused and seen as a “right” instead of a benefit. The costs are passed on to consumers and taxpayers for this abuse.
Hersh argued that mandating paid sick leave opens up a slew of workplace claims, including cases in which employees allege they were wrongfully denied paid leave or that they were fired or demoted for seeking the time off.
The unintended consequences of the do-gooders, more law suits. Just what we need.
We are making an anomaly out of the workers who exhibit responsibility by showing up for work. They are being laughed at by the entitlement crowd sitting home, collecting sick pay and watching General Hospital.
Source: Law.com - Seven States to Consider Sick-Leave Laws This Year
