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


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


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


• IT Jobs Outlook, From Dept. of Labor


• Determining What the Popular Job Sites Are For Recruiting

Five from the Archives

George Quoted

Career & Job Search

Five ways to prepare for a layoff
Stay focused on your work, but go on the offensive at home, getting handle on expenses, researching savings and money...

Screw pleasing your parents: 11 careers that will make YOU happy
"Maybe it's time to start thinking about what it is that you really want to do instead of pleasing your family."

Compensation comparison taboo breaking down
For many young professionals, previous generations' don't-ask-don't-tell etiquette about salary comparison seems like...

Young bosses and older direct reports
How an older employee can work effectively with a younger boss.

Employee Benefits

Erosion of Employer-Provided Health Care
Most important factor in overall decline in coverage is decline within jobs in all sectors, not shift away from jobs ...

Who really pays for health care?
Rather than coming out of corporate profits, the increasing cost of health care has resulted in relatively flat wages...

Opinion: it's time to separate health insurance from the workplace
Major candidates' proposals depend on continuing most problematic aspect of current health care system: employer-base...

Angie's List to allow health-care industry ratings
In boon to consumer-directed healthcare movement, Angie's List members will be able to rate physicians, insurers, etc.

Work Trends

Worker productivity up at 2.2 % rate in first quarter
Worker productivity rose by better-than-expected amount in first three months of year while labor cost pressures ease...

U.S. Shed Fewer Jobs Than Expected in April
Economy lost 20,000 jobs in April. 4th consecutive month of decline, but significantly less than many predicted, wit...

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on making the most of company wikis
Thousands of cos. use wikis to aggregate knowledge, collaborate, document best practices, and brainstorm. What makes...

AT&T to cut 4, 600 jobs
Layoffs to affect about 1.5 % of workforce, mainly management-level employees. Head count to stay stable in '08 as c...

Top News Stories

When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web
Search Facebook for your favorite school system, and see public profiles of 20-something teachers, often revealing a sense of humor that can be overtly sarcastic and/or unprofes...

Republicans Block Pay Discrimination Bill
Measure would have eased tight time restraints to file claims, in response to Supreme Court's Ledbetter decision.

Senate Passes Bill Banning Genetic Discrimination
Law, which House is expected to approve quickly and President Bush has promised to sign, would prevent adverse use of information from genetic testing.

Workers Get Fewer Hours, Deepening the Downturn
Most attention is on layoffs, but less-noticeable shrinking of hours appears to be bigger contributor to declining income and slowing economy.

Employment Law

Transgender discrimination lawsuit settled
Houston business settled lawsuit filed by transgender woman who said job offer was rescinded because company learn...

Immigration agents detain hundreds at poultry plants
Federal immigration agents fanned out across five states, detaining hundreds of employees of Pilgrim's Pride, one of ...

Republicans ramp up pressure for H-1B increase
Coalition of conservative Republicans urged Democratic leaders that Congress must raise cap on H-1B temporary work vi...

Supreme Court hears arguments on burden of proof in age suits
Question is whether employer must prove decision was based on ?reasonable factors other than age,? or whether it is ...

Human Resources

Leveraging Playfulness
Adding fun to the workplace may increase retention and productivity. HR leaders should ensure that fun events are lin...

What Do Interns Want?
Summarizes some of the key factors college students look at in deciding on internship opportunities.

Run HR ?By the Numbers?
HR's failure to consistently measure results and run operations per agreed-upon metrics holds it back in role of stra...

Current strategies to employ and retain older workers
Successful approaches include offering formal and informal phased retirement options and creating flexible work arran...

Labor Relations

Steelworkers Union OKs 4-year International Paper deal
Steelworkers approved new four-year master economic and security agreement with International Paper covering 32 conve...

Bloomingdale's workers may strike
Workers may hit the picket lines at Bloomingdale?s flagship store on the Upper East Side as early as next weekend.

GM to restart Detroit plant amid threats of more strikes
GM will resume production Monday at Detroit assembly plant for first time in a month, after American Axle strike forc...

Hundreds of strikers rally outside American Axle meeting
CEO says company's original U.S. facilities simply aren't viable without more competitive labor agreement with UAW.