This page explains the sources Job Tracker uses for the data, and in some data sets, gives additional information about what the data means.

Job Exports Sources

The following sources were consulted, in order, to determine whether companies are exporting U.S. jobs overseas or have experienced layoffs or job losses due to the impact of trade on their industries.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Notices

Federal law requires employers to file a WARN notice with state officials 60 days in advance of a plant closing or mass layoff.

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Certifications

The TAA and the North American Free Trade Agreement-Transitional Adjustment Assistance (NAFTA-TAA) programs assist individuals who have become unemployed as a result of increased imports from, or shifts in production to, foreign countries. All TAA records cited are from 2005 to 2010.

CNN's Exporting America List

CNN compiled and updates a list of U.S. companies that either are sending American jobs overseas or choosing to employ low-paid workers abroad instead of America’s workers.

Local and National Newspapers

Local and national newspapers often provide reliable information as to whether a company exports U.S. jobs overseas or has experienced layoffs or job losses.

The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech)

WashTech is an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America and maintains a valuable database of news articles that report on companies exporting jobs, the WashTech Offshore Tracker.

Mass Layoffs

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Notices

Federal law requires employers to file a WARN notice with state officials 60 days in advance of a plant closing or mass layoff. WARN notices are compiled by the states; each state has its own process for collecting, archiving and releasing this data. Working America and the AFL-CIO obtained most of the WARN data using the FOIA and state websites. Job Tracker contains WARN data from 46 states and the District of Columbia. 4 states (Arkansas, Hawaii, Nevada and Wyoming) do not release WARN data in any format. 1 state (Washington) releases partial data on their website.

Because each state chooses how and what WARN information is released, the data varies in completeness. Some states released information with the full address of the company in the records. Some states provided far less address information. Job Tracker maps as much of this data as possible. Where addresses were provided, or where addresses could be appended, these companies were included in the maps. Where incomplete address information was available, an approximate zip code was applied, and the company appears in the text search results.

Safety & Health

All Job Tracker data related to health and safety were provided by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Working America and the AFL-CIO obtained most of the data from OSHA using the FOIA. Other information, such as data related to injury rates for 2000 - 2002, was downloaded from TheMemoryHole.org (site has since been shut down) and is based on FOIA requests and lawsuits by The New York Times. The Job Tracker information on OSHA violations is from OSHA inspection data for cases closed between Jan. 1, 2000, and March 31, 2010. Information is provided on the number of total violations cited by OSHA, the number of serious violations and total dollar amount of penalties assessed. A serious violation is one where "there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result" from the condition.

Additional Information on OSHA Fatality and Catastrophic Incident Data

The Job Tracker information on fatalities and catastrophic incidents is from OSHA inspections for cases closed between Jan. 1, 2000, and March 31, 2010. OSHA's fatality and catastrophe investigation procedures can be found here.

OSHA Definitions Used in Job Tracker

• Fatality: An employee death resulting from a work-related incident or exposure; in general, from an accident or illness caused by or related to a workplace hazard.
• Catastrophe: The hospitalization of three or more employees resulting from a work-related incident or exposure; in general, from an accident or illness caused by a workplace hazard.

Additional Information on OSHA's Injury and Illness Rate Data

The injury and illness rate information is for workplaces surveyed in the OSHA Data Initiative (ODI). These are approximately 80,000 workplaces with 40 or more employees in designated industries with high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses with days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer, surveyed annually by OSHA. (Note: The ODI does not apply to the construction or maritime sectors, even though these are sectors with high injury rates. The list of industries covered by the 2005 ODI can be found here). The injury and illness rate data presented in Job Tracker is the rate for cases involving "days away from work, restricted work or job transfer" (DART) rate. The data covers injury reports to OSHA for the years 2000–2005.

Additional Information on OSHA's Letter Warnings and Companies Identified in Job Tracker on "OSHA Watch"

Each year OSHA identifies and sends letters to nearly 14,000 workplaces with the highest occupational injury and illness rates. These employers are identified from the employers' injury and illness reports submitted to OSHA under the Data Initiative. Note that the injury and illness rates utilized to identify employers on the warning list are the employers' reported rates for the year two years prior to the year the warning letter is sent, due to the time lag in obtaining employer injury and illness rate information. For example, the warning letters sent in 2007 were based on employers' reported injury and illness rate information for 2005. The letters urge employers to take action to remove hazards causing the high rates and to notify employers they may be targeted for inspection. The employers receiving letters are those whose establishments are identified by federal OSHA Data Initiative as reporting the highest "Days Away from work, Restricted work or job Transfer injury and illness" (DART) rate to OSHA.

Job Tracker identifies companies that received warning letters from OSHA in the years 2000 - 2005. The link to OSHA's description of the workplaces with high injury rates that receive letters about possible inspections (i.e., workplaces with the highest occupational injury and illness rates) is here. Lists of companies that received warning letters from OSHA can be found here and here.

Companies on "OSHA Watch"

The companies identified in Job Tracker on "OSHA Watch" are those companies that were required to report their DART injury and illness rate to OSHA for at least one year between 2000 - 2005. Companies receiving warning letters from OSHA during the years 2000 - 2005 based on their high DART injury and illness rates also are identified.

Labor Law

All Job Tracker data related to employer violations of the National Labor Relations Act are from the Case Activity Tracking System (CATS) maintained by the National Labor Relations Board, an independent federal agency. Certain of the CATS data, searchable by case number and keyword, is available on the NLRB website, available here. To obtain information used in Job Tracker that is not available on the NLRB's website, the AFL-CIO filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the NLRB.

The NLRB maintains a website where some of the CATS data are searchable by case number and keyword. It is available here

The National Labor Relations Board home page is here.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) website includes a brief summary of the legal framework of workers' rights in the United States. In 2000, HRW published a report, Unfair Advantage, that documented the systematic abuse of workers' right to form unions by many U.S. corporations.

The AFL-CIO website includes many resources on how to protect your rights on the job and how to organize a union in your workplace.

American Rights at Work is dedicated to building a nation where the freedom of workers to organize unions and bargain collectively with employers is guaranteed and promoted.

OFCCP

All Job Tracker data related to OFCCP violations are from the U.S. Department of Labor, Enforcement Data website. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) monitors federal contractors to ensure these companies do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran with regard to employment. This data set covers federal contractors that have been found in non-compliance with their contractual commitments pursuant to these employment discrimination laws.

Violation types

Definitions of OFCCP violations are layman's definitions and only generally describe each category. For additional information, contact the Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

• Accommodation: Failure to provide a reasonable adjustment to a job or work environment that makes it possible for an individual with a disability to perform job duties, or to accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious practices, barring undue hardship.
• Denial of Records or Access: Failure or refusal to provide records or access that a company is legally required to provide.
• Hiring: Discrimination with regard to hiring.
• Medical Screening: An inappropriate use of medical screening, or a screening conducted in an inappropriate manner.
• Past Performance: An employer's consideration of past performance, in a discriminatory way, when making a decision to hire or fire or to take other employment action.
• Promotion: Discrimination with regard to promotion.
• Recordkeeping or Support: Failure to collect or maintain records required by OFCCP.
• Recruitment: Discrimination with regard to recruitment.
• Salary: Discrimination with regard to salary.
• Selection or Testing: Discrimination in the selection or testing of employees.
• Systemic Discrimination: A pattern or practice of discrimination, sometimes called class discrimination, which involves a recurring practice or continuing policy of discrimination, rather than an isolated act. Systemic discrimination may or may not include an intent to discriminate.
• Terminations: Discrimination involved with an employee's loss of employment.
• Written Affirmative Action Program: Written plan that sets forth the company's policies, practices and procedures to ensure equal employment opportunity.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Good Jobs First and OMBWatch, whos help made Job Tracker possible.