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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Mark Cohen |
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Cohen: Increase penalties for unpaid wages and benefits
HARRISBURG, Sept. 29 – State Rep. Mark B. Cohen, D-Phila., announced today that he will introduce legislation that would increase protections for workers when their employer withholds wages or diverts employee health insurance contributions.
"The news media has covered unsettling stories of a Pennsylvania company accused of not paying workers and taking dedicated employee contributions for health-care insurance without paying the insurer for months," Cohen said. "When the company's health insurance policy was cancelled retroactively, many employees became responsible for medical bills incurred for a period of up to five months when they believed their insurance was valid.
"Those hard-working employees contributed to their health insurance premiums and thought their insurance was covering doctor visits and medical procedures. Through no fault of their own, many of them now face medical bills in the thousands of dollars, and treatment for some life-threatening illnesses has been disrupted."
Cohen is a long-time advocate for labor rights and has proposed legislation that would increase the state's minimum wage. He said this situation highlights weakness in the state law dealing with unpaid wages and benefits when compared to similar protection laws in the state. For example, he said, the state's consumer protection law allows for penalties of up to triple damages for violations, but the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law of 1961 provides for only a 25 percent penalty or $500, whichever is greater, when a violation occurs.
Cohen will introduce legislation that would strengthen the law by increasing the penalty to 300 percent, the same as the state's consumer protection law. In addition, the bill would change the penalty from a summery offense with a $300 fine to a misdemeanor with a $2,500 fine and a jail sentence of up to 90 days.
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