Subscribe by RSS
Subscribe by EmailArchive for December, 2003
Overview of labor market trends: the big picture
Workforce.com has this by Samuel Greengard: “What’s in Store for 2004.”
“The issues for the new year include a changing labor market, dwindling talent, knowledge drains and heightened demand for workforce-management metrics. ‘Any organization that isn’t worried about the state of the workplace should be,’ one expert says.”
Some of the most interesting points (to me):
“It certainly [...]
Online auction for scheduling employee shifts and setting pay?
Findlaw (AP) reports: “Nurses Use Web to Choose Shifts and Pay.”
The marketplace efficiencies of an e-bay-like bidding system for nurses are described.
“Traditionally, hospitals have trouble filling overnight and weekend slots and rely on traveling nurses or those from temporary agencies to fill the gap. Through bidding, hospitals save labor costs by using fewer outside nurses [...]
Court rules NLRB properly attributed pre-election threats to employer, requiring election rerun; prohibiting union use of bulletin board not unlawful
Fleming Companies, Inc. v. NLRB (7th Cir. 11/18/03) deals with several recurring unfair labor practice issues.
First, the court affirmed the Board’s holding that the employer committed an unfair labor practice “by threatening employees that it would impose more stringent working conditions and would start enforcing company rules because of union organizing activity.”
The company rules, restricting [...]
California UFCW strikers head into Christmas voluntarily jobless
Reuters reports: “Labor Talks Off in Calif. Grocery Strike.”
“LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Talks between three major U.S. supermarket chains and a union representing picketing workers in Southern California have broken off and no new talks are scheduled, representatives of both sides said on Monday.
After six days of talks, the latest round of labor [...]
Survey on employer health care costs and trends
The Wall Street Journal’s Marketplace section today, in an article by Vanessa Fuhrmans entitled “Shifting Burden Helps Employers Cut Health Costs,” summarizes the results of the latest study on the subject by Mercer Human Resources Consulting, the press release version of which is found here.
Interesting press release, with some helpful charts and graphs. Some [...]
More mixed news on jobs, economy; impact of grocery strike on statistics
Reuters reports: “Payrolls Disappoint, Factory Orders Jump.”
First the bad news (only bad relative to projections, not in absolute terms)
“The number of workers on U.S. payrolls outside the farm sector last month edged up by 57,000, the Labor Department said, far lower than economists’ forecasts of a 150,000-job gain and well below an upwardly revised climb [...]
Good article on preventing discrimination claims
Workforce.com has this article by attorney Michelle T. Johnson “The Car Wreck You Can Stop” (referring to discrimination claims).
Her perspective is an illuminating one: “For several years, I was an employment attorney working for law firms hired to defend the interests of corporations and businesses against lawsuits and complaints brought by employees. I am also [...]
Two corporations treated as one for overtime purposes: "enterprise" and "joint employer" standards applied applied
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Less sophisticated employers who know about using the corporate form of doing business to limit liability often assume separate corporations are separate for all legal purposes. Particularly in labor and employment law, this is often a dangerously incorrect assumption.
Chao v. A-One Medical Services, Inc. [...]
Interesting take on offshoring IT jobs
Business Week Online has this fascinating story by David E. Gumpert: “U.S. Programmers at Overseas Salaries.”
After my ruminations the other day, I thought some more, concluding that what I was really thinking about was the implications of a global labor market. I thought about such a market ultimately tending toward worldwide price (wage) equilibrium [...]
Correction and apology
I mistakenly referred to Catherine Hardee, of the sonria.org blog, as Catherine Perry.
(A Freudian slip that could be viewed as a promotion, since Catherine Perry is a U.S District Judge here in St. Louis.)
Her blog is complementary (and at times complimentary) to this one, and I cross-reference to it quite a bit.
Sphere: Related [...]
Value of HR certifications discussed
“Dear Workforce” e-newsletter (subscribe here) has this Q & A:
“Q. What are human resources certifications, and what benefits do they provide if you receive them?
A. For the most part, human resources certifications are not in the same league as other professional accreditations, such as in law or accounting. There are a lot of [...]
Age discrimination RIF case raises waiver, forced-ranking performance evaluation issues
Findlaw (AP) reports:“Ex-Capital One Workers Allege Age Bias”:
An age-discrimination lawsuit against Capital One Financial Corp., filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, contends “a disproportionately high number of older employees were fired for purported poor performance, although they had met or exceeded expectations in previous job appraisals.”
“The [five] plaintiffs are seeking $90 million in [...]
Booming productivity: a reflection of overworking existing employees instead of hiring more?
Washington Post reports: Productivity Grows at 9.4 Percent Rate in Third Quarter.”
“U.S. business productivity over the summer rose to heights not seen in two decades . . . , further evidence of a buoyantly rebounding economy.”
Productivity — amount produced per employee per hour — was reported at an annualized rate of 9.4 percent, [...]
Slight uptick in jobless claims
Findlaw (Reuters) reports:“U.S. Jobless Claims Climb in Latest Week.”
“Initial applications for U.S. jobless benefits logged an unexpected rise in the Thanksgiving week, the government said on Thursday in a report that still suggested the job market was regaining its health.”
New unemployment claims rose to 365,000 from a revised 354,000 the prior week.
“Initial claims held below [...]
CEO’s rapidly joining the ranks of unemployed
I thought I had noticed a trend, and this article by David R. Francis and Seth Stern of the Christian Science Monitor seems to confirm it: “Era of shaky job security for the CEO.”
“Despite an economic recovery and improving stock market, a stark reality faces America’s business elite: While the perks of sitting in [...]
