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Flattery Will Get You Everywhere….Including the Courtroom
For Mae West fans, you may know that the quote “Flattery will get you everywhere” is attributed to her!
Now you can read about how flattery can even get a company into court. In this case, a manager was making complimentary statements about how young an older employee looked. You probably know what happened next: [...]
Good news, bad news about this blog (mostly good)
The good news is that we are welcoming aboard a third contributor, Catherine Collingwood.
Catherine was one of our first readers, back when we were lucky to see 200 pageviews a week (now we’re 300+ a DAY).
She is a longtime blogger, operating CathColl.net, which she describes as “a general-purpose personal web site.” It is not, [...]
Comment to read
Comments can quickly be buried on a busy blog like this one, so sometimes I like to highlight them.
Today, I received a comment supplementing my Labor Day book review of “Labor Law Stories,” apparently from one of the authors, Dennis Nolan.
I had never done a book review before (at least not since “book reports” in [...]
A few lessons from a race discrimination case involving termination of an attorney
Today Law.com linked to an article about the 11th Circuit’s prompt disposition — in the employer’s favor — of a case involving termination of a black female in-house attorney .
According to this article, the Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment “on the basis of the thorough and well-reasoned discussion of the issues” [...]
Need a Good Laugh? Try "Read Between Lines…"
You have heard the old expression “read between the lines?” Then try this joke.
A supervisor thinking about hiring Bob Smith requested a letter of reference. His current boss wrote the following letter describing Bob Smith:
Bob Smith, my assistant programmer, can always be foundhard at work in his cubicle. Bob works independently, withoutwasting company time talking [...]
More on HR profession’s Katrina response
Last week, I passed along the SHRM President’s letter encouraging the HR community to participate in the hurricane relief efforts.
Today, I got an e-mail from her about a very specific and important volunteer opportunity for HR professionals:
In my e-mail to SHRM members last Friday, I encouraged you to contribute in some way to the overall [...]
Economic Impact of Katrina: Forecasts and Predictions
Back to discussing the economic impact of Katrina, the latest predictions about this have just been released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the forecasts are interesting.
How many jobs do you think will be lost in the U.S. as a result?
How much will the U.S. economic growth be reduced?According to the [...]
Creating A Blogging Policy: Suggestions For Companies
In an interesting article from a great website, lawmemo.com, the authors describe some key issues regarding a company blogging policy. One particularly nice feature of the article is that it explains why an organization should have a blogging policy, including it is more fair to employees; it helps protects company assets, and for other good [...]
More on Employers’ Responses to Katrina: Legal Obligations and Suggestions
If you are an employer, or just plain interested, it may be useful to know what employers’ obligations and options are in light of a natural disaster, like Katrina.
A recent law firm memo goes a long way toward describing some possible legal obligations and suggests optional ways for employers to help affected employees.
Some of the [...]
Continuing pay and benefits for Katrina victims; offering aid to displaced businesses so people can get back to work
NPR reports on various Gulf area employers continuing pay and benefits for their employees affected by Katrina. And Fast Company shows how one creative business is reaching out to a displaced business.
Companies mentioned by NPR include Harrah’s, Northrup-Grumman, McDonalds, Harrah’s, and Wal-Mart. Want to know who’s being most and least generous? Take a guess, then [...]
Labor Day Special : Labor Law Stories
Book Review:
When I started practicing labor and employment law in the mid-80s, the days when management labor lawyers primarily handled matters involving unions and collective bargaining were fast receding, with the ebbing tide of union strength and the rising tide of discrimination and wrongful discharge litigation.
But a quip from those days remained and was [...]
Hurricane Katrina: Blog for Relief Weekend
I’m catching up to this a bit late, but as I learned from CathColl.net:
“More than a thousand bloggers throughout the world have declared this weekend ‘Blogging for Katrina Aid’ weekend.”
Please go to The Truth Laid Bear to log your contribution. (Need I say, if you haven’t made one yet , get off your butt and [...]
Hiring Katrina refugees: a generous first step
Thanks to Walter Olson at the ever-popular Overlawyered blog, many have visited here today to read the comments about the employment and HR community’s role in Katrina relief.
Positive steps are already being taken.
One company, HireAbility, offers free job postings for hiring Katrina refugees. (I was unable to connect to their website, hopefully a sign [...]
Important Katrina comments for businesses and employment professionals
Amazing: I saw this and meant to post it later; instead it shows up as a comment on my last Katrina post. It’s important. Read it. And act.
Last night on NPR I heard a refugee woman from New Orleans expressing a strong desire for one thing above all else: A JOB.
She doesn’t [...]
Staring In the Crystal Ball: Trends and Forecasts for Hiring, Compensation, and Retention
Thanks to interbiznet.com, I located an interesting report on hiring, compensation, and retention trends and forecasts.
Based on a survey by Robert Half of some 1,450 workers, including 600 hiring managers, from a variety of industries, we get some answers to interesting questions, such as:
1. Are companies concerned about retention of employees?
2. How are firms trying [...]
