Things To Do In SW Florida

By David Hilzenrath, Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group, KFF Health News

A year ago, a new head of Social Security set out to stop the agency from financially devastating many of the people it was meant to help.

The agency had long made it a practice to reduce or halt benefit checks to recoup billions of dollars in payments it sent recipients but later said they never should have received.

Martin O’Malley, then the Social Security Administration commissioner, announced in March 2024 the agency would no longer cut off people’s monthly old-age, survivors, and disability checks to recoup money they had allegedly been overpaid — a pattern he called “clawback cruelty.” Instead, it would default to withholding 10% of monthly benefits. The new policy allowed people who already live on little to pay their rent and keep food on the table.

Last Friday, the Trump administration reversed that policy.

Beginning March 27, to recover new overpayments, the Social Security Administration will automatically withhold 100% of recipients’ monthly benefits, the agency announced. read more

By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet

As President Donald Trump enacts his tariff plans, you may be wondering if you can expect higher prices when you shop.

Real estate

Deedy Dagot has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Southwest Orlando, as a sales advisor.

Rachel Glory Smith has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Southwest Orlando, as a sales advisor.

Lora Link has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, New Smyrna Beach, as a sales advisor.

Maria McKee has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Southwest Orlando, as a sales advisor.

Faye Owens has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Winter Park, as a sales advisor.

Luis Quintero has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Southeast Orlando, as a sales advisor.

Jamie Sharon has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Winter Park, as a sales advisor.

Submit professional appointments, management-level promotions and significant awards for individuals, along with photos as .jpg attachments, to peopleonmove@orlandosentinel.com.

By HALELUYA HADERO

A lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission has walked back his comments about a lack of resources and staff turnover interfering with the agency’s preparations for a trial involving Amazon’s Prime program.

By Radostina Purvanova, Drake University and Alanah Mitchell, Drake University, (THE CONVERSATION)

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted office life, American workplaces are settling into a new rhythm. Employees in remote-friendly jobs now spend an average of 2.3 days each week working from home, a research team that tracks remote employment has found. And when you look at all workers – and not just those in remote-friendly positions – they’re working remotely 1.4 days a week, or 28% of the time.

That’s a huge change from 2019, when remote work accounted for only 7% of the nation’s paid workdays, even if it’s down from the height of the pandemic in 2020, when 61.5% of all work was remote. And it’s a giant leap from 1965, the dawn of telework. At that time, fewer than 0.5% of all paid workdays were out of the office, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As management professors who study remote work and collaboration, we’ve learned a lot about remote work’s challenges and its often underappreciated advantages. In analyzing the latest data, we’ve observed that employers and employees are still trying to strike the balance between working from home and at the office. That’s why employers’ requirements for in-person work don’t always align with their employees’ preferences. read more