Top Ten Posts

• Overnite-Teamsters NLRB settlement reveals Teamsters' ugly underbelly


• "Tell Me About Yourself:" The 25 Toughest Interview Questions (and tips on how to answer them!)


• Pensions and Distributed Work: An Unlikely Pair of Trend-to-Watch Topics


• Blawg Review #124; Labor Day Special Historical Edition


• How to Write a Great Reference Letter


• Disparate TREATMENT vs. Disparate IMPACT


• HR Record Retention Requirements: Or, How Long Do We Have to Keep Those #$#%# Records ?


• 9 Tips to Beat the Heat and Look Professional: Women


• IT Jobs Outlook, From Dept. of Labor


• Determining What the Popular Job Sites Are For Recruiting

Five from the Archives

Supreme Court Limits Public Employee Equal Protection Claims

Stay-at-Home Workers Miss Office Atmosphere

Employers Using Facebook for Background Checking, Part III

Illegal to Bar Employee Discussion of Compensation, NLRB Reiterates

Humor & Gore in Safety Training Videos — Effective?

George Quoted

LegalTalkNetwork
Joyce Laine Kennedy's syndicated column
New York Times
HR Daily Advisor
HR Daily Advisor
HR Daily Advisor
IT Manager's Journal

Career & Job Search

Walking the line when you work from home
Excellent advice that will be increasingly important as gas prices prod more of us into home offices, at least part of the time.

Beware of social networking overload
As social networking sites proliferate, focus on one or two.

In pictures: America's top 20 growing jobs

Americans put themselves on the path to green careers.
Interest and job openings grow in a variety of eco-friendly fields.

New hires often overwhelmed by health-care plan choices
Includes simple tips to help those new to company-provided healthcare choose the plan that's right for them.

Employee Benefits

Small-Biz Entrepreneurs' 401(k) Perks
Basic overview of 401(k)s for small businesses.

Wachovia banks on three-year leave plan
Plan allows employees unpaid leave of absence up to three years to care for loved ones, but doesn't

Employers want to address obesity in workplace, need more guidance
Employers and employees agree: The workplace is an appropriate setting for responding to weight management issues, according to new research.

New retirement organization issues first research brief, launches web site
National Institute on Retirement Security issued its first retirement research Issue Brief and launched www.nirsonline.org.

Study: large employers slow changes to retirement plans.
Pace of retirement plan changes among FORTUNE 100 companies is stabilizing, and majority still offer pension plans to new employees.

Work Trends

Tough times for eBay entrepreneurs
A bad economy and competition from big e-tailers are challenging those who make a living via online marketplaces such as eBay.

Poll: small-biz owners down on economy, working longer hours
Higher prices, smaller staffs, and longer hours are just a few of the changes the economic slump has prompted at small companies.

Geezers doing good
A new life stage is emerging ? the period of 10, 20 or even 30 years after one?s main career is completed but before infirmity sets in.

Who wants to retire later? (book review)
Work longer and retire later? Sounds depressing, especially to aging baby boomers. But we may have to if we want to avoid precipitous decline in accustomed standard of living.

Jobs for the old
France?s negative attitude to older workers creates a business opportunity.

Top Stories

Unemployment Claims Rise to 406,000
Labor department says number of newly laid off workers rose by 34,000 last week.

Employers hit by immigration laws
Employers feel pressure of immigration laws, as arrests and convictions are on the rise, but critics fault underlying immigration legislation as ineffective. Good Wash. Post reporting.

Medically Unfit Truckers Still on the Road, Safety Study Shows
Commercial driver's license enforcement gaps have led to preventable cases of drivers having seizures, heart attacks or unconsciousness, sometimes with fatal results.

Businesses Brace for Minimum Wage Hike
With commodity, fuel and insurance costs hitting record highs, small-business owners are anxious about next week's federal minimum wage hike to $6.55.

6 Years, 1800 Posts and How the World Has Changed
Michael Fox notes sixth birthday of his blog, Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer, with list of over 40 labor and employment law blogs, including "special comment" for longevity to this one.

Employment Law

Sweatshop raided in Queens
According to the NY State Labor Department, more than 100 workers were underpaid $3 million in minimum and overtime wages since 2005.

Comment that employee was "acting like a man" held not direct evidence of sex...
Comment made more than year prior to adverse act. Moreover, plaintiff failed to establish prima facie case where some duties were absorbed by women, and failed to establish pretext where male co-wo...

McDonald's franchisee pleads guilty to illegal labor
Franchisee to pay $1 million in fines. Plea agreement details how management employed known illegals by supplying names and SS nos. of others.

Drunk and Disorderly--Do You Have to Accommodate Alcoholism?
Fortunately, with support and treatment, many people are able to stop drinking and rebuild their lives. But how much does the company have to help?

Class action termination paycheck suit.settled for $15 million.
Employees claimed they were owed money after they quit, retired, or were fired. Said they were not paid their final paycheck on the last day worked.

FREE Whitepapers for Employers!

Careless Recruiting Could Crush Social Networking
Mass influx of recruiters to social networking sites could decrease networks' value. Discusses this paradox and best practices for social network recruiting.

Recruiting Metrics 101
Guide for backing up HR performance with numbers that are easy for top execs to understand.

The Myth of Recruitment Outsourcing
Report highlighting trends in recruitment process outsourcing and discussing keys to effectively managing outsourcer relationships.

Online Job Recruitment Trends, Benefits, and Outcomes
Paper analyzing trends in online recruiting and predicting future of recruiting and hiring processes as online methods predominate.

Human Resources

Caution! ? Using search engines, MySpace or Facebook for hiring decisions may...
Good advice for employers and employees.

I have seen the future of recruiting and it is communities
Discusses evolution of online communities from the mass sites like Facebook to much narrower career/industry-oriented ones and their role in recruiting/ and job search.

Performance management checklist
Detailed discussion and list useful in establishing or updating performance management and review systems.

Some employers get tough on workplace gossip
Policies to quash such chatter, including job termination, may boost morale and the bottom line.

Bad firings can hurt firm's reputation
An insensitive firing "sends a message that this is the way we treat employees."

Labor Relations

Con Ed Agrees to Tentative Contract
Consolidated Edison agreed to a tentative four-year contract, ending a tense fight over wages, health care benefits and pensions.

UAW approves American Axle contract, end long strike
Eighth-longest strike ever for UAW ended Thursday as workers at American Axle and Manufacturing approved 4-yr. contract U.A.W.'s president described as subpar but "the best we can do."

Labor movement pushes in three different directions in energy law lobbying
With Senate preparing to consider comprehensive energy legislation, labor movement appears to be headed in three different directions in terms of lobbying for energy measures.

Burger King agrees to better wages, conditions for tomato workers
Burger King agreed to pay additional net penny per pound for Florida tomatoes to increase wages for Florida farm workers, and established zero tolerance guidelines for certain unlawful activities.

Unite set for historic US merger with United Steelworkers
Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, is preparing to announce a merger with a US counterpart, United Steelworkers, paving way for establishment of first global labor organisation.

Recent Comments

St. Louis-Based Company Attracts Gen. Y Grads — and Used Car Customers
I think if companies will take the time to realize each of their employee's needs - they will have a

How to Write a Great Reference Letter
what is the difference between a Letter of Reference and a Letter of Recommendation? I use to sale

Top 100 Law Blogs List (We’re Included!)
Congratulations George! Well deserved recognition.

Benefits Crippling Large and Small Businesses Alike
Thanks for commenting. I generally agree with you. But while it may be true that "everyone cover

Trucks and Guns: An Employment Law Fable, Part I (Overtime for Truck Drivers)
how to run blower trucks... I am thinking of doing a blog, how many times a week do you think I sho

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