The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "employee benefits" ...
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California's Public Pension Dilemma
The Contra Costa Times found that California public employee pension systems are grossly underfunded; the benefits far exceeded the private sector and are regularly understated by the pension systems; the debts for state and local governments are huge; and the cost is being transferred over to future generations.
Tags: California; Public Pensions; State; Local; Government
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Good as gold: State pensions facing scrutiny
Public employees in Ohio have better wages and benefits than the taxpayers who support them. Taxpayer money funds the system which allows workers to retire a decade or more sooner than workers in the private sector. Also, more than one in four public school superindentents had received pension payments and salary simultaneously.
Tags: pension; private sector; public employee; pension funds; superintendents
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"Local Sheriff Abusing His Power?"
This investigation reveals that the Middlesex County sheriff had been accepting money from his employees who were interested in staying in his "good graces." The corruption also benefited the sheriff's "political future." When the accusation of corruption was exposed by WFXT, the Mass. Attorney General launched its own investigation. Less than a week later, the sheriff committed suicide, and WFXT-TV received criticism for their reporting of the incident. Critics eventually determined the story was fairly investigated and reported.
Tags: Middlesex County; sheriff; James Dipaola; Office of Campaign and Political Finance; Attorney General
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Without warning
After an employee of a trucking company received a letter stating he no longer had a job and benefits, he found out the company was closing its doors. The company was in violation of the Warn Act, which requires companies to give their employees thirty days notice before shutting down. A number of companies have left other employees without a job and without notice. This is happening due to the poor economic conditions across the nation.
Tags: Sam Vaughn; employment; federal law; business; paycheck; Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act; worker rights; layoffs
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"Unique Approaches to Uncover the Size and Growth of Executive Pay and Pensions"
While employees throughout the U.S. experienced pay cuts or were laid off, top executives were receiving millions of dollars in bonuses. Reporters Ellen Schultz and Tom McGinty dig deep to find out exactly how extreme those payouts have become.
Tags: payouts; bonuses; Bank of America; Wells Fargo; Citigroup; executive benefits
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A Gold-Plated Gravy Train
School districts and other local governments falsely reported private consultants as public employees so the consultants could get public pensions and health benefits, at a cost of millions of dollars to the taxpayers. In addition, scores of school administrations retired with six-figure pensions, only to return to work in so-called interim school jobs. That enabled them to collect six-figure salaries on top of their already rich pensions and health benefits. Both practices were done under the radar, known only to a club of insiders who reaped the benefits.
Tags: school districts; pensions; private consultants; consulting; education; retirement benefits
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Retiree' benefits under fire; Car perks add up for taxpayers; Were city workers' nest eggs too generous?
The series examined lash perks of government workers in Broward and Palm Beach counties. The stories found that even as local governments cried poverty because of state-mandated tax cuts, they continued to heap generous benefits to public employees - even if it meant imposing tax hikes down the road.
Tags: benefits; city workers; taxes; pension; municipalities; retiree
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Blowing In The Wind
Two whistle blowers share the story of how State Farm Insurance "was systematically defrauding its loyal customers" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Sisters Cori and Sherri Rigsby are State Farm insurance adjusters who told ABC News about how State Farm employees "were instructed to fraudulently alter customers' claim forms and even shred documents so the famous insurance company could avoid paying benefits to families who lost everything in the hurricane."
Tags: Hurricane Katrina; State Farm insurance; Cori Rigsby; Sherri Rigsby; whistle blowers
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Private Security in a Post-9/11 World
As the focal point of a study of the private guard industry in New York state, WNYC looks at Tristar Patrol Services, "which had seen a dramatic expansion after the September 11 attack in NYC, getting more than $80 million in contract work with the City of New York." The company had more than a thousand employees, mostly young minority males, and they had the task of protecting all of the city's office space, infrastructure and Fire Department facilities. The investigation found that Tristar's owner, Gary Zimmer, had been convicted of assault and had to resign as a police officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, yet attained the right to hold a security guard company license when a judge, believing the owner's misrepresentation of his criminal case, granted him an exemption from state law. In addition, there were other issues as Tristar "had been disqualified from doing state work for misrepresenting it had properly credentialed guards, but went on to win a multi-million dollar, multi-year City contract." The company failed to properly compensate guards, including not paying for vacation or advanced state security credentials, and Tristar also did not pay "hundreds of thousands of dollars it was required to pay the union representing the guards to cover union dues and health and welfare benefits required by the contract." But because of the New York Secretary of State's lack of investigators, regulations were not enforced. Also, there is no uniform requirement across the country for the training and qualifications for security guards and companies.
Tags: Private security; Sept. 11, 2001; Tristar Patrol Services; Gary Zimmer; New York City security
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Executive Pay and Perks series
In a time when employee pensions and benefits are being cut, top corporate executives are not feel any of the pain. They have multimillion-dollar pay packages, corporate jets to use for fun, and other benefits, while they evade paying their fare share of taxes.
Tags: corporate executive; salary; benefits; executive perks; tax evasion