California's Civil Rights Department announced settlements Tuesday with Amazon, Ikea and Kohl's over allegations that the big-box retailers illegally denied jobs to people based on their criminal histories.

Amazon allegedly denied a Bay Area applicant work as a delivery driver because of a conviction that was more than seven years old, while ...Read more

The shutdown of automatic teller machines at all 17 Pennsylvania Turnpike rest areas since last Wednesday, leaving travelers without access to cash on the long Thanksgiving weekend, has shed light on a financial struggle between the machines’ manager, Paramount Asset Group, and its creditors.

“Without any prior notification,” Paramount ...Read more

Starting in 2025, Frontier Airlines will roll out first-class seating as part of a trend of low-fare carriers offering more options to lure travelers who are willing to pay for premium accommodations.

The Denver-based airline announced the change Tuesday, calling it the company’s “next evolution.” Other features include free seat upgrades...Read more

CUPERTINO, California — Six former Apple employees face fraud-related charges in the South Bay after allegedly exploiting a charity-matching program by making bogus donations to nonprofits controlled by one of the defendants, then pocketing the company’s matching funds and claiming false tax write-offs.

The underlying investigation has been...Read more

The deadly E. coli outbreak traced to slivered onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers is officially over, the Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday.

Since the beginning of the CDC’s investigation into the outbreak in October, a total of 104 E. coli cases were reported in 14 states from coast to coast, with the majority of the ...Read more

The Biden administration's Department of Labor is moving to phase out a controversial program that allows some employers to pay disabled employees less than the federal minimum wage, the department announced Tuesday.

Enacted in 1938 during the late years of the Great Depression, the measure was intended to increase employment opportunities for ...Read more

Surveys since Donald Trump’s election victory show American companies are growing more upbeat about their prospects in anticipation of more pro-business policies and less regulatory burden.

From factory floors to construction sites to farmlands, optimism in various regional Federal Reserve bank and other surveys represents another chapter in ...Read more

President Joe Biden’s Department of Labor is proposing to abolish below-minimum-wage pay for people with disabilities, targeting a long-controversial program whose fate will now rest with the incoming Trump administration.

Since the New Deal, federal law has authorized the department to permit paying particular employees a lower “special ...Read more

U.S. job openings picked up in October while layoffs eased, suggesting demand for workers is stabilizing.

Available positions increased to 7.74 million from a revised 7.37 million reading in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS, showed Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey...Read more

For the sake of his relationship, Chicagoan John Mendoza said, he needed to learn how to cook. So just before Thanksgiving, he went shopping for some major kitchen appliances.

With incoming President Donald Trump promising to impose tariffs on imported goods, economists say shoppers soon might be looking at higher prices on big-ticket items.

...Read more

Rideshare drivers across Minnesota got a pay raise Sunday when a new law governing minimum wages kicked in, and it comes after local Uber and Lyft drivers pushed for nearly two years to get better compensation and job protection.

The new rates could also bring up to a 25% increase in trip fees for riders, Uber spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said ...Read more

After struggling to build momentum for factory walkouts this fall, the United Auto Workers is telling its Stellantis NV members that it now plans to organize strike authorization votes in early 2025.

The union wants to force Stellantis to follow through with investment pledges made in its 2023 contract. But those organizing efforts have been ...Read more

The Jaguar Type 00 is a different kind of cat.

The big, battery-powered coupe concept introduced Monday in Miami marks a break for the Brit brand from a storied internal combustion-engine past that included a marriage with Ford Motor Co. from 1990-2008. Complete with all-new logos, the Type 00 showcases a sleek, two-door grand tourer in the ...Read more

Thwarted by the U.S. International Trade Commission in its push to boost tariffs on 14 countries — even after the Commerce Department found they illegally "dumped" cheap aluminum parts — some U.S. manufacturers, including owners of the Western Extrusions works in Pennsauken, New Jersey, are counting on the Trump administration to boost ...Read more

Until the calendar turns to Jan. 1, 2025, Seattle's hourly minimum wage has fine print.

For now, Seattle's minimum wage varies based on business size, tips and benefits. In 2025, that all goes away. On Jan. 1, Seattle's minimum wage will become a flat $20.76, among the highest in the U.S., representing a pay jump of $3.51 for some.

On paper, ...Read more

Q: I am curious about whether the noise from roads will be quieter when there are more electric vehicles. That is, does the noise come from tire/road contact (so no change) or from the engines (great change)? Does the vehicle speed matter, as in highway noise vs. local connector road noise? Does size of vehicle factor into this discussion?

L.B....Read more

Stellantis NV on Monday announced the formation of an "interim executive committee" that will be responsible for running the company while a new chief executive is found by the first half of 2025.

The Stellantis board moved quickly to form the interim committee for "direction and oversight of the company" after CEO Carlos Tavares resigned over ...Read more

The U.S. unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and AI, escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions but stopping short of earlier proposals that would have sanctioned more key Chinese firms.

The Department of Commerce slapped fresh curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory chips ...Read more