Benefits Manager

The latest version of Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker's plan to take away public employees' collective bargaining rights would be largely the same as what the Legislature passed in March, except local transit workers would be added to those who are exempt.

According to a report released Tuesday by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, employers are changing the design of their benefit plans to accommodate the needs of not just older workers, but multiple generations.

The Arizona Legislature adjourned a two-day special session Monday without voting on a proposal to keep 20 weeks of federally funded extended unemployment benefits flowing to thousands of jobless people.

Enrollment in high-deductible health insurance plans that can help consumers save for medical expenses climbed 14 percent this year and has jumped 87 percent since January 2008, according to the trade association America's Health Insurance Plans.

Nearly 10 percent of Virginia households have used short-term, high-interest payday, pawnshop and auto-title loans to make ends meet.

More than 14,000 workers at the newly merged United and Continental airlines will start voting July 7 on whether to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union.

The United Mine Workers said Monday it has reached a tentative labor agreement with coal producers that employ thousands of its members around the country.

NFL employees have had their salaries trimmed by 12 percent since April, and seven teams have instituted pay cuts or furloughs of workers outside the huddle since the owners' lockout of players began March 12, The Associated Press has found in interviews around the league.