What Happened to Equal Protection?

In reading the press and the web in the past couple of days, I have been struck by some rather conflicting reports regarding the health care crisis which affects each and every one of us. Some of us are blessed with corporate provided health plans which to varying degrees cover our health needs, but there are a large number of citizens who have no coverage at all. I am not trying to preach to the choir, but I am amazed that two scenarios are playing out. The first was the report that William Kristol appeared on the Daily Show and with a straight face said that the military provides it's members with the "best medical care int he world." When asked about the rest of the population of the country Mr. Kristol's response was that even if it is horrible coverage, the American Citizens don't deserve any better. In the other scenario, the members of Congress get free medical care for life based on their service. Are they so much better then you and I that they don't think we deserve the same level of care in this country? In these hard economic times, our system allows for a laid off employee to continue their medical coverage from work at outlandish prices. For example, a friend for the 18 months following the layoff was able to continue to be covered by the company's program at a cost of over $900 a month for just employee and spouse. In many states that amount would eat up almost the entire unemployment compensation.
We hear corporate management complain about the lack of engagement by today's workers. Is it any reason that we do not treat employees as critical parts of the organization that the work environment is what it is?

Relocation Company Consolidates

Paragon Relocation Resources, a worldwide leader in global mobility and relocation services, today announced that effective January 1, 2010, it is consolidating its Connecticut and California relocation operations to Dallas, Texas. These changes being made in 2009 are designed to position Paragon Relocation in the right locations with the right relocation services for today and years to come."The state of Texas is recognized as the number one business location in the United States for a variety of reasons which includes access to experienced, well educated relocation professionals. Paragon's senior management has chosen to implement this move at this time to allow for a proper and well coordinated transition while volume is down to impact the least number of customers and in preparation for future economic recovery," said Joseph Morabito, Paragon's president and chief executive officer. "All impacted Paragon staff members will be offered relocation benefits and encouraged to make the move to Dallas, which will provide them a more affordable standard of living and quality of life."
All assigned Account Director/Managers and Client Relations Consultants will remain in region in the Danbury, Connecticut and Rancho Santa Margarita, California offices. Their teams, connected by sophisticated video equipment for regular meetings, will be based in Dallas.
In addition, beginning in 2010, Paragon's Global Customer Service Centers in Dallas, TX and Chicago, IL, as well as Dublin, Ireland and Hong Kong, China will expand office hours to 12 hours a day from 8am to 8pm in their respective time zones to provide better access to relocation services for customers around the world.

Just When You Thought You Knew What Was Going On

Word to the wise. The environment in the HR field is like the weather in the midwest. Wait a minute and the weather will change. First we had Ricci et al who sued over the use of exams in promotions that goes up to the Supreme Court. The court made their infamous Ricci decision and now a Federal Judge in New York City said that the exam being used to determine promotions in the fire department were discriminatory; 2) were NOT job related and therefore were invalid. One more case that you need to be very cognizant of what you are testing for and more important why.

Relocation Announcement

The U.S. Department of Justice is relocating some of its U.S. attorney operations from Washington to South Carolina under a 20-year lease agreement with the state's flagship university, officials announced Monday. The federal agency will be relocating its Executive Office for United States Attorneys to the building that now houses the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business.

Miami-based Avocet, a provider of aviation repair and maintenance, teardown services and sales of aircraft parts, along with sister company Aircraft Parts Sales Inc., will relocate its headquarters to Orlando Sanford International Airport.

Changing Face of an Industry

Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate (www.pacunion.com), one of Northern California’s leading luxury real estate brands is being acquired by the principals of Morgan Lane Marin, Inc. (www.morganlanemarin.com), a fast-growing boutique real estate firm with operations in Marin county. The sale is expected to close in August.

Bucking the odds in a highly volatile, recession-stymied real estate market, Morgan Lane Marin has grown meteorically, from just $52 million in sales in 2006 to $315 million in 2008.

Combined, the two entities will have 17 offices, more than 430 real estate professionals and 2009 sales volume projected to be $2.2 billion, according to Mark A. McLaughlin, CEO of Morgan Lane.

Where or Where is the Economy Booming?

Money Magazine has released their 2009 Lists of the Best Places to Live and Where the Jobs are. The full list can be found at http://www.money.com

Top 10 Places to Live
Louisville, CO
Chanhassen, MN
Papillon, NE
Middleton, WI
Milton, MA
Warren, NJ
Peachtree City, GA
Lake St. Louis, MO
Mukilteo, WA

Top 10 Where the Jobs Are
Pinal County, AZ
Rockwall County, TX
Kendall County, IL
Loudoun County, VA
Douglas County, CO
Fort Bend County, TX
Henry County, GA
Lake County, FL
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK

Moment of contemplation

If you are an avid follower of LinkedIn and its questions, there have been an ongoing discussion thread of the role of recruiters in the current economy. We find business enterprises stress the need to stay current on changes within our respective industries. The vast majority of recruiters today have not gotten advanced training, they may have not gotten any initial training either. I have had the opportunity over the past year to talk to a number of recruiters who pass themselves off more as staffing agencies, then recruiters. In 1972, a senior partner from I believe it was Hedrick and Struggles wrote a book entitled Confessions of a Corporate Headhunter in which he stated the role of a recruiter was to be the go between between a corporation who did not really understand what they needed and the candidate who was out for the fast buck. In this scenario it was the goal of the recruiter to assist the corporate client to recognize the assets that a candidate brought to an enterprise, not based on what was necessarily in the job description but on the candidate's experiences. What I have seen both in conversations one on one and on posting in the groups I participate in is that recruiters today find reasons not to refer candidates on to the corporations. This means they are not recruiters but staffing agencies. I have heard recruiters tell candidates that because you have grey hair I won't pass you on (asking for trouble or what?), because you do not have corporate experience you don't qualify even if you have been involved in multiple aspects of HR. We supposedly have an unemployment crisis and yet if they in this economy looked beyond the passive music chairs candidates we might very well solve the unemployment crisis quickly. There are plenty of highly qualified candidates out there who are being looked over for new positions because they were the result of the downturn.

E-Verify details

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today strengthened employment eligibility verification by announcing the Administration's support for a regulation that will award federal contracts only to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization. The declaration came as Secretary Napolitano announced the Department's intention to rescind the Social Security No-Match Rule, which has never been implemented and has been blocked by court order, in favor of the more modern and effective E-Verify system.

"E-Verify is a smart, simple and effective tool that reflects our continued commitment to working with employers to maintain a legal workforce," said Secretary Napolitano. "Requiring those who seek federal contracts to use this system will create a more reliable and legal workforce. The rule complements our Department's continued efforts to strengthen immigration law enforcement and protect critical employment opportunities. As Senator Schumer and others have recognized, we need to continue to work to improve E-Verify, and we will."
E-Verify, which compares information from the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) against federal government databases to verify workers' employment eligibility, is a free web-based system operated by DHS in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). The system facilitates compliance with federal immigration laws and helps to deter unauthorized individuals from attempting to work and also helps employers avoid employing unauthorized aliens.
The federal contractor rule extends use of the E-Verify system to covered federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. After a careful review, the Administration will push ahead with full implementation of the rule, which will apply to federal solicitations and contract awards Government-wide starting on September 8, 2009.

How Do You Rate?

Bersin & Associates has released a report which looks at the demographics and characteristics of the HR and Learning field. The report looks at the results of 1300 responses to a survey of the professions. Professionals can use the data in this report to compare themselves and team members to professionals worldwide and to learn what skills and experiences translate into professional success. The findings will help professionals: advance their HR careers by better understanding the career progression and different paths of HR and learning professionals and executives; identify professional development needs by role and career level; compare compensation in HR and L&D roles; and educate business leaders and others who work with HR and learning professionals about the profession. The report can be downloaded for free at http://marketing.bersin.com/HR_Career_Factbook.html.

Playing Field posed to change

In an attempt to bring regulations to the current economic market conditions, Congress is posed to make drastic changes in the WARN act which requires notification of plant closings. According to a notice to its clients, hte Jackson Lewis law firm has indicated that the following changes are anticipated:
under the proposed amendments, employers would be required to give advance written notification of a covered plant closing or mass layoff at least 90 days prior to the action. Employers must provide to each affected employee written WARN notice, regardless of whether a union represents that employee. In addition, the proposed amendments add new recipients of WARN notices — the Secretary of Labor and the governor of the state where the plant closing or mass layoff will occur. The chief elected official of local government, the state dislocated worker unit, the affected non-union employees and the unions, if any, representing employees, would continue to receive notice, as under current law. (The Forewarn bill excuses WARN notice requirements entirely where “the plant closing or mass layoff is due directly to a terrorist attack on the United States.”)The Forewarn Act makes significant changes in the required contents of the actual WARN notices an employer would provide. The notices would have to include:

• The number of affected employees;
• The reason for the plant closing or mass layoff;
• The availability of employment at other establishments owned by the employer;
• A statement of each employee’s rights to wages and severance and benefits;
• A statement of the availability of employment training services provided by the DOL; and
• Except for the notice provided to individual employees, the names, addresses, and occupations of the affected employees.

Minimum Wage Increase as of July 24, 2009

Pursuant to the 2007 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal minimum wage is set to increase from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour effective Friday, July 24, 2009. This is the final increase authorized under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. Federal tip credit provisions remain the same, requiring $2.13 per hour for tipped employees. Likewise, federal youth wage requirements remain the same, at $4.25 per hour during the first 90 days of employment for individuals under 20 years of age.

Top Small to Medium Sized Companies in America

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Great Place to Work Institute, Inc. (GPTWI) today announced the nation's top 25 small and top 25 medium-sized companies to work for in America. The winners and their rankings were revealed in New Orleans at SHRM's 61st Annual Conference and Exposition, the largest gathering of HR professionals in the world.

Taking the top spot in each category this year are two Wisconsin-based companies: Badger Mining Corporation in the small category, and for a second year in a row, Ultimate Software in the medium-sized.

The annual rankings of the "50 Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for in America" are conducted by GPTWI, and are the most comprehensive and authoritative ratings of employee satisfaction and workplace culture. This is the sixth year SHRM and GPTWI have collaborated on the list.

A complete list of winners follows:

Top 25 Small Winners

COMPANY NAME                    INDUSTRY                CITY         ST.

1.  Badger Mining Corporation   Mining and Quarrying    Berlin       WI
2.  Dixon Schwabl Advertising   Advertising & Marketing Victor       NY
3.  SnagAJob.com                Professional Services   Glen Allen   VA
4.  Heinfeld, Meech & Co.       Financial Services &    Tucson       AZ
                                  Insurance
5.  McMurry                     Advertising & Marketing Phoenix      AZ
6.  Johnson & Johnson, Inc.     Financial Services &    Charleston   SC
                                  Insurance
7.  AutomationDirect.com        Industrial Services     Cumming      GA
8.  Root Learning               Professional Services   Sylvania     OH
9.  Professional Placement      Professional Services   Jacksonville FL
      Resources                                           Beach
10. DAXKO                       Information Technology  Birmingham   AL
11. Studer Group                Professional Services   Gulf Breeze  FL
                                  -- Consulting
12. Navigator Management        Information Technology  Columbus     OH
      Partners
13. ENGEO Incorporated          Professional Services   San Ramon    CA
14. Seventh Generation          Manufacturing &         Burlington   VT
                                  Production
15. Moody, Famiglietti &        Professional Services   Tewksbury    MA
      Andronico
16. MAYA Design                 Professional Services   Pittsburgh   PA
17. TerpSys                     Information Technology  Rockville    MD
18. Landrum Human Resource      Professional Services   Pensacola    FL
      Companies
19. InsureMe                    Financial Services &    Englewood    CO
                                  Insurance
20. Clark Nuber                 Professional Services   Bellevue     WA
21. Paramount Staffing          Professional Services   Northbrook   IL
22. Kahler Slater               Professional Services   Milwaukee    WI
23. Bridge Worldwide            Advertising & Marketing Cincinnati   OH
24. McDonough Bolyard Peck      Professional Services   Fairfax      VA
25. RedBrick Health             Health Care             Minneapolis  MN

Top 25 Medium Winners

COMPANY NAME                    INDUSTRY                CITY         ST.

1.  Ultimate Software           Information Technology  Weston       FL
2.  ACUITY                      Financial Services &    Sheboygan    WI
                                  Insurance
3.  Holder Construction         Construction & Real     Atlanta      GA
      Company                     Estate
4.  Integrity Applications      Professional Services   Chantilly    VA
      Incorporated
5.  SAGE PRODUCTS, INC.         Health Care             CARY         IL
6.  Development Dimensions      Professional Services   Pittsburgh   PA
      International
7.  Freese and Nichols, Inc.    Professional Services   Fort Worth   TX
8.  Hoar Construction, LLC      Construction & Real     Birmingham   AL
                                  Estate
9.  The Integer Group           Advertising & Marketing Lakewood     CO
10. 4imprint, Inc.              Advertising & Marketing Oshkosh      WI
11. Triage Consulting Group     Professional Services   San          CA
                                                          Francisco
12. EILEEN FISHER               Retail                  Irvington    NY
13. AMX                         Electronics             Richardson   TX
14. Bowen Engineering           Construction & Real     Fishers      IN
      Corporation                 Estate
15. Hilcorp Energy Company      Manufacturing &         Houston      TX
                                  Production
16. Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner &    Professional Services   Denver       CO
      Hottman PC
17. Robins & Morton             Advertising & Marketing Birmingham   AL
18. City Bank                   Financial Services &    Lubbock      TX
                                  Insurance
19. Advanced Financial          Financial Services &    Newport      RI
      Services, Inc.              Insurance
20. Pinnacol Assurance          Financial Services &    Denver       CO
                                  Insurance
21. Nevada Federal Credit       Financial Services &    Las Vegas    NV
      Union                       Insurance
22. Noblis                      Professional Services   Falls        VA
                                                          Church
23. Rothstein Kass              Professional Services   Roseland     NJ
24. Parkway Properties, Inc.    Construction & Real     Jackson      MS
                                  Estate
25. Minitab Inc.                Information Technology  State        PA
                                                          College

From SHRM Website

An uncertain global economy has reduced the number of international assignments for employees of multinational corporations, according to a recent report released by Brookfield Global Relocation Services (Brookfield GRS).Two-thirds of survey respondents from 180 multinational companies reported that their organizations planned to send fewer employees on international assignments in 2009 or, at most, maintain their current levels of international assignments. Nearly 70 percent of the respondents also reported that they are cutting the costs of international assignments as a direct response to global economic conditions—compared to 58 percent of the respondents in 2008.“This year’s survey makes clear that many multinational companies have adopted a cautious wait-and-see approach, as concerns over the global economy continue to cast a shadow over their business,” said Rick Schwartz, president of Brookfield GRS.Respondents also reported that the employees assigned to work overseas tend to be older and more experienced workers. The survey results showed that approximately 9 percent of expatriate workers for the responding companies were between the ages of 20 and 29—the lowest percentage for that age group in the annual survey’s 14-year history. According to researchers with Brookfield GRS, employers favor older and more experienced employees because they have proven track records and reduce the risks for turnover and incomplete assignments.