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星期六, 8月 27, 2022
City of Boston funding updates
REVERE INSULATION COMPANY TO PAY MORE THAN $281,000 FOR OVERTIME, EARNED SICK TIME, AND PAYROLL RECORDS VIOLATIONS
REVERE INSULATION COMPANY TO PAY MORE THAN $281,000 FOR OVERTIME, EARNED SICK TIME, AND PAYROLL RECORDS VIOLATIONS
Agreement Includes Restitution for 30 Employees
BOSTON – A Revere-based residential and commercial insulation company and its owner and president have agreed to pay more than $281,000 in penalties and restitution in an agreement reached with Attorney General Maura Healey’s Office for overtime, earned sick time, and payroll records violations.
Master Spray Foam Insulation Inc., and its owner and president, Luciano Teixeira, were issued three citations by the AG’s Office for failing to pay proper overtime rates to 30 employees, failing to keep true and accurate payroll records, and for failing to furnish a suitable paystub from the period of Jan. 1, 2019 to Nov. 1, 2021.
“My office works hard to ensure Massachusetts employers are following our state labor laws, treating their employees fairly, and paying them the wages that they are owed,” said AG Healey. “We are pleased to have secured this relief for the workers affected, and hope this sends a message to other companies that we will hold them accountable if they do not properly compensate their employees.”
The AG’s Office began investigating Master Spray Foam after receiving a complaint from an employee alleging that they were not being paid the proper overtime rate for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. Massachusetts law requires that most employees be paid one-and-a-half times their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in one week.
The AG’s investigation found the company paid employees at their regular hourly rate in cash for hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week, or paid them a weekly lump sum in cash, and did not report those amounts on pay stubs or payroll records, as required by Massachusetts law. The company also did not have an earned sick time policy, as required by the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time law. Under that law, all employees in Massachusetts are entitled to an hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours in a year.
Under the terms of the AG’s settlement, Master Spray Foam has agreed to pay the affected employees the wages they are owed for underpaid overtime and for failing to provide earned sick time pay to their employees. The company has since revised its payroll practices and come into compliance with state labor and wage laws. Master Spray Foam has also adopted an earned sick leave policy and provided copies of the earned sick leave policy in both Portuguese and English to all employees.
Failure to pay overtime is one of the most common forms of wage theft, especially within the construction industry. This practice, while common, is nonetheless illegal and the AG’s Office is committed to ensuring that all hourly employees receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40. In fiscal year 2022, the AG’s Office issued 216 citations against 100 construction companies for violating state wage and hour and prevailing wage laws, securing more than $1.7 million in restitution for more than 853 workers.
Workers who believe that their rights have been violated in their workplace are encouraged to file a complaint at www.mass.gov/ago/fairlabor. For information about the state’s wage and hour laws, workers may call the AG’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or go to www.mass.gov/ago/fairlabor
This case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Alex Sugerman-Brozan, and Supervising Investigator Greg Reutlinger, both of the AG’s Fair Labor Division.
中華表演藝術基金會夏日音樂會 8/27
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星期五, 8月 26, 2022
三機構聯合贊助 波士頓中國象棋大賽首次出動真人棋子
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| 波士頓中國象棋大賽頒獎後，得獎者和贊助單位及部分工作人員合影。(周菊子攝) |
(Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓報導) 波士頓安良工商會、華商會、紐英崙中華公所聯合贊助的2022年度波士頓中國象棋大賽，經過3個週末大戰後，8月21日在華埠牌樓前動用真人棋子，比出勝負，冠亞季殿軍依序為陳景賢，梁家睿，黃銳輝，葉榮輝，各得獎金600 至150元不等。
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| 陳景賢 (左二) 獲得波士頓中國象棋大賽第一名。陳仕維 (左起)、雷國輝、蔡倩婷、雷軍、 吳烷森聯袂頒獎。 (周菊子攝) |
安良工商會總理陳仕維、華商會會長蔡倩婷、紐英崙中華公所主席雷國輝在21日這天都全程在場支持，並聯袂頒獎。蔡倩婷還熱心的穿上紅色印有兵字T恤，下場當真人旗子。
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| 波士頓中國象棋大賽在華埠牌樓前動用真人棋子比賽。 (周菊子攝) |
紅綠2色T恤是根據棋盤棋子特製的。比賽這天，一件紅色砲T恤不見了。籌辦人員臨時決定把一件紅色T恤反穿，沒字的那個就是砲，解決了這個難題。
8月14日的那場比賽，波士頓象棋會特地請來紐約象棋賽冠軍孫一鳴參加，分紅黑兩方的5個輪回後，孫一鳴勝了4局，排名第一。不過他是客人，比賽後就回紐約了，所以8月21日的冠亞軍賽，是由陳景賢、梁家睿對決。
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| 陳景賢和梁家睿對奕，陳仕維等人在旁圍觀。 (周菊子攝) |
陳仕維為了讓這場大波士頓首見的真人棋子象棋賽更有看頭，特地大費周章地把波士頓安良工商會會所內的大螢幕搬到華埠牌樓前，另外請人架高攝影機，做現場直播。
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| 梅宇國身上的紅色T恤上面沒砲字，因為有砲字的T恤不知被哪個路人拿走了。 (周菊子攝) |
只是這天，大波士頓的氣溫又回升到華氏九十度上下，熱昏頭了，路上遊人不多，所有的真人棋子在自己原有的衣服上再套一件棋子T恤，更是汗流浹背，在對弈中被封殺的真人旗子，一被封殺，馬上笑容滿面，連忙把紅或綠T恤脫下來。其中的湯瑞雲嘆說，她在大太陽下曬到整件衣服從裏到外濕透了。
比賽結束後，華商會的陳文珊，翁偉健等人收桌椅，帳篷，電線，分工合作的迅速還原場地。
波士頓象棋會是2005年在波士頓由秦繼華、黃靄霖，吳烷森等人創辦的協會，會員背景多元，有建築業老闆，電腦工程師，進出口大盤商等等，不過絕大多數為波士頓餐館打工人，天氣好時，華埠司徒麗英公園內，總是有三、五盤棋同時在捉對廝殺，旁邊也都有許多人圍觀。
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| 安良工商會總理陳仕維 (左起)、波士頓華商會會長蔡倩婷，紐英崙中華公所主席 雷國輝聯袂贊助，才讓波士頓象棋會的這場大賽，別有特色。 (周菊子攝 |
星期四, 8月 25, 2022
Baker-Polito Administration Highlights School Safety Initiatives and Announces New Funding
Baker-Polito Administration Highlights School Safety Initiatives and Announces New Funding
BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, joined by Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeff Riley, Acting Commissioner of Early Education and Care Amy Kershaw and public safety officials, announced plans to file legislation proposing significant investments in school safety initiatives to support programming, training and resources for schools and districts throughout the Commonwealth. The administration’s proposed investments will expand its ongoing commitment to deliver a safe and secure learning environment for all Massachusetts students.
“As children return full-time to the classroom this fall, we want parents and educators to know that our administration is always working to improve and build on all the resources available to districts to make their schools as secure as possible,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Our administration has and will continue to provide critical resources for students, staff, families and first responders while making significant investments in training for first responders and school staff so they can protect Massachusetts schools.”
“Children, teachers and staff deserve to feel safe in the classroom, and our administration’s funding proposal will invest in the resources and programming required to equip school communities and emergency personnel with the tools they need to keep schools safe,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Legislature to provide critical funding for districts across the Commonwealth.”
Governor Baker signed a supplemental budget with $15 million for school safety initiatives in October 2018.
To date, as part of the Safe and Supportive Schools Initiative, the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded $15 million in grant funding, including $7.5 million awarded to more than 150 districts statewide to invest in security-related infrastructure upgrades and $7.5 million in grant funding to increase mental health support and to support schools’ hiring of additional mental health and behavioral health specialists. Additionally, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) and the Department of Early and Secondary Education (DESE) actively and frequently collaborate on training and best practices for emergency and active shooter responses in school settings. District superintendents are required each year to attest to that they have a multi-hazard evacuation plan in place, as well as that there is training provided to support that plan.
Public safety officials today also highlighted the Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program, an internationally recognized standard adopted by the Commonwealth as part of its ongoing commitment to emergency preparedness and community resilience to promote a statewide model for an integrated active shooter and hostile event response. Through cross-discipline collaboration among first responders and emergency personnel, ASHER is designed to protect communities and help them prepare, respond and recover from crisis events. The ASHER framework has already been implemented in state-run police and fire training academies, and parallel training is being finalized for current state police and fire personnel.
The Baker-Polito Administration will file a supplemental budget request in the coming weeks totaling nearly $40 million to support critical school safety initiatives and equip students, staff and emergency responders with the training necessary to respond to better respond to threats within schools.
The proposal will include:
- Matching grants for security and communications upgrades in K-12 schools and public higher education institutes
- Grant funding for child care providers to support safety measures and multi-hazard emergency planning
- Grant funding to support districts pilot an anonymous “tip line” to report potential threats
- Funding for a statewide “Say Something” public awareness campaign and corresponding training
- Support for ongoing emergency response training for school officials
- Creation of a comprehensive school safety website
“These safety proposals would support a huge range of children and students, from those in child care to those at public colleges and universities,” said Education Secretary James Peyser. “The key to these proposals is collaboration among different state agencies and different local entities. When we invest in strengthening partnerships between school districts and first responders, we help ensure that schools are safe environments focused on learning and growing.”
“These proposed supports would be a welcome addition to school districts’ safety planning and infrastructure,” Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley said. “The matching funds for equipment upgrades, plus funding for additional school staff to meet and collaborate with first responders are critical pieces that will help ensure our schools are places where students are safe, healthy, and ready to learn.”
“Nearly 200,000 children are spending time in our early education and care programs across the Commonwealth each day,” said Department of Early Education and Care Acting Commissioner Amy Kershaw. “These resources would provide our programs with the critical resources needed to not only upgrade and modernize their safety and security systems but also to plan, prepare and practice for various emergency scenarios based on the unique needs of our young learners and the early educators who work with them.”
“The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security remains deeply committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to ensure that schools provide a safe and healthy learning environment for our children and educators,” said Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy. “We continue to build on vital initiatives, including school resource officer training, security infrastructure investments and the implementation of standardized policies to advance our shared goal of achieving the highest safety standards in school districts across the Commonwealth.”
“As the school year approaches, the Administration‘s action supports our students and teachers across the Commonwealth to have the resources they need to be and feel safe in the classroom,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders. “Today’s proposed investment in the well-being of our children is crucial to the Commonwealth’s commitment to protect students, teachers, staff and our future.”
"As students and staff head back to school across the Commonwealth, we are proud to announce new measures that will proactively invest in student safety and the security of education facilities across all levels," said Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael J. Heffernan. "We look forward to filing for funding to support these important initiatives in the coming weeks.”