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As acting head of Kansas labor department steps down, Gov. picks new temporary leader [The Kansas City Star]
Dec. 22 The Kansas Department of Labor’s acting secretary stepped down Tuesday in accordance with state law, but Gov. Laura Kelly has not found a permanent replacement to lead the agency.
In a news release Tuesday, Kelly announced that the state’s deputy secretary of labor, Brett Flachsbarth, will be the new acting secretary.
Flachsbarth follows Acting Secretary Ryan Wright, who served for six months, the maximum amount of time allowed by state law. Kelly will have another six months to announce a permanent secretary or choose a new acting secretary.
Kansas Department of Labor to get new temporary leader
The search for a permanent secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor continues, but the agency will have a new leader, at least temporarily.
Gov. Laura Kelly announced Tuesday that Brett Flachsbarth, KDOL s deputy secretary, will be the acting agency head.
Ryan Wright, who previously was the temporary head of the agency, is prevented by state law from serving more than six months in the post.
The vacancy was created over the summer after the resignation of Delia Garcia, who stepped down after a tumultuous few months for the agency.
The state s unemployment compensation system was overwhelmed with the number of claimants seeking benefits because of economic fallout related to COVID-19, prompting Republican legislators to criticize Garcia s leadership.
Deputy named to lead COVID-19-stressed Kansas labor agency
By JOHN HANNADecember 22, 2020 GMT
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Laura Kelly on Tuesday named the Kansas Department of Labor’s deputy secretary as its top administrator as she works to find another, permanent leader for an agency that struggled for months to process a surge in claims from workers left unemployed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Acting Secretary Brett Flachsbarth became the third person to lead the Department of Labor in less than seven months. Kelly’s first labor secretary, Delia Garcia, resign in June amid problems with the system for distributing unemployment benefits. Her replacement, Acting Secretary Ryan Wright was allowed by law to serve only six months, which ended Tuesday.
Food retailers see ‘eye-popping profits’ as workers reap little benefit
Profits soared an average of 39% in the first half of the year at supermarket chains and other food retailers thanks to the pandemic, although frontline workers reaped little or no benefit, a new report shows.
At Cincinnati-based The Kroger Company, profits for the first two quarters were up a staggering 90%, according to the report from the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
“We find that while top retail companies’ profits have soared during the pandemic, pay for their frontline workers – in most cases – has not,” the report said.