DOL releases new employment figures

Private employers added 71,000 jobs in July; unemployment rate unchanged at 9.5 percent.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

And the beat goes on

A federal judge has given final approval to a $24.2 million class action settlement by Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC over allegations it underpaid and underpromoted thousands of female sales representatives.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Further signs of the Changing Workplace

 CheckPoint HR, the trusted ally in web-based Human Resources management for small to mid-sized companies, today reports that the month of July saw an increase of 1.4% in employment and hiring in the Tri-State area (NY Metro area) The increase signifies the sixth consecutive month of growth as business hiring outpaces downsizing.

According to CheckPoint HR’s data, which is polled from more than 400 customers in the Tri-State area, employment among small-to-medium-sized businesses have increased at a rate of 3.3% from January 2010 – July 2010. Majority of the hiring activity is taking place at businesses with 100 and 200 employees.

“At CheckPoint HR, we saw an increase of 19.8% in job opportunities during the first two quarters of 2010 from our customers,” said Michelle Moylan, HR Director, CheckPoint HR.

When a business leverages a Human Resources Management System (HRMS) that combines benefits, payroll and HR management services integrated with applicant tracking and job boards, they can reduce the time and costs associated with hiring.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

When was the last time you visited your IP policy?

Whether I am in a mall, a restaurant, a concert or teaching a seminar I constantly see individuals texting away on their blackberries. Pne of hte primary reason many users have gone to the Blackberry plaform was that it provided a secure metjhod of communicating  with others. Now along comes United Arab Emirates and Saudia Arabia who are on the verge of banning all use of Blackberries within their territory. The reason is the very reason why many users use them. Their concern is that due the secure networks there is no available audit trail that can be followed in the case of criminal activity. This has put Research Motion Incorporated in a very precarious position. On one hand they want to continue to provide the feature that has attracted all this business. On the other hand they are cognizant of the fact that the lack of a verifiable tracking system opens the avenues of the criminal elements to operate.

Strategy: It would be a perceptive move on your part to review your intellectual property policy now rather than later. What you need to be cognizant of is a) what types of intellectual property are you currently transmitting over the Blackberries within your organization? and b) Of this IP how much would be detrimental to your organizations interests if the secure platform was opened somewhat. From there you should look at what alternatives are you available to maintain the integrity of your corporate data which heretofore you thought nothing of sending over your network, knowing that you could be safe with the knowledge who was seeing your data. If RMI takes steps to meet the concerns of global governmental agencies, this status quo could change overnight. Are you ready if it does?

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Department of Labor releasess guidance on hiring employees under 18

The interactive, online Child Labor Rules Advisor [ http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/cl/default.htm ] is designed to answer questions about workers and businesses that are subject to federal child labor rules. This Advisor provides information at different levels of detail, depending on who is seeking the information, (i.e., youth, parent, employer, teacher). Federal child labor rules are established by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Tower Watson releases Compensation Survey Results

With the economy showing some signs of improvement, U.S. companies are planning to issue modestly larger pay raises to their workers next year. Employees can also expect to receive larger annual bonuses this year as organizations return to profitability, according to two new surveys conducted by global professional services company Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ: TW).

A survey of 1,046 U.S. companies conducted by Towers Watson Data Services found that companies are projecting merit increases of 2.7% for 2011, an increase from the 2.3% raise workers are receiving this year and 1.6% they received in 2009. The survey also found that the number of companies freezing salaries is declining. While 32% of companies froze salaries in 2009, the percentage decreased to 12% in 2010 and is expected to drop to only 5% in 2011.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Trails of Technology Part 2

We are back up and running again with the corporate website and email

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Trials of Modern Technology

Got up this morning to find that corporate website and thus corporate webmail had crashed. Hope to have it back up later today.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Untitled

Taken from DCI Consulting's Bog with permission

On July 23, 2010, Administrative Law Judge Larry W. Price supported Frito-Lay on an issue that is critical to all DCI clients. The facts in this case are as follows. The OFCCP selected the Frito Lay Dallas Baked Snack facility for a compliance review and sent the standard scheduling letter. Item 10 of the scheduling letter specifically asks for information pertaining to applicants and hiring. More specifically, Item 10 requests: Data on your employment activity (applicants, hires, promotions and terminations) for the preceding AAP year and, if you are six months or more into your current AAP year when you receive this listing, for the current AAP year.

Because Frito Lay was six months or more into its plan year, it sent the required 12 months (June of 2006 through May of 2007) of applicant flow data for the annual plan and the required six months of update data (June of 2007 through December of 2007). OFCCP conducted a desk audit review and identified “adverse impact” in the supplied applicant flow data. As a result, on November 10, 2009, OFCCP requested that Frito Lay supply more recent applicant and hire data from January 1, 2008 through October 31, 2009. Frito-Lay refused and the OFCCP filed an administrative complaint.

As stated in the ALJ Price’s ruling: The issue before the Court is whether the temporal scope of the desk audit phase of a compliance review can be extended beyond the date that the contractor received its Scheduling Letter

Short and Sweet --- the answer is NO!!!. In the words of ALJ Price: In summary, I find that the EO, regulations, case law and the FCCM contemplate that the temporal scope of the desk audit phase of a compliance review cannot be extended beyond the date that the contractor received its Scheduling Letter. Accordingly, Frito-Lay‟s Motion for Summary Decision should be granted.

Here’s wondering if they can re-open the Bank of America case.

Some potential implications of this significant ruling include the following:

1. This ruling makes it clear that OFCCP can go back two years from the receipt of the scheduling letter. However, OFCCP cannot ask for additional data going forward once the scheduling letter has been received. This is a significant ruling for federal contractors as requests for additional data going forward have been a common practice for OFCCP in recent compliance evaluations.

2. The decision reduces potential back pay exposures in pending audits to the two year period preceding the audit notice.

3. Frito Lay cited language from OFCCP’s Federal Contract Compliance Manual (FCCM) as its justification for NOT submitting the additional data going forward. The OFCCP basically said that the FCCM is “old and outdated” and did not have to abide it. The judge thought otherwise and stuck to guidance in the FCCM. Note that OFCCP is currently reviewing and revising the FCCM, so it will be interesting to see what changes are made to relevant data-related sections.

4. It is important to note that OFCCP could open a new audit for the “post-audit” period, but that location would have to be selected again from the ‘neutral’ FCCS system

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Dept of Labor Releases June Employment Cost Index

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.5 percent, seasonally 

adjusted, for the 3-month period ending June 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent

of compensation costs) increased 0.4 percent while benefits (which make up the 

remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 0.6 percent.

Civilian Workers 

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.8 percent for the 12-month

period ending June 2010. This was the same as the 12-month period ending in June

2009. Wages and salaries increased 1.6 percent for the current 12-month period, 

compared to a 1.8 percent increase for the 12-month period ending in June 2009.
Benefit costs rose 2.5 percent, up from a 1.8 percent increase for the 12-month

period ending June 2009.

Private Industry Workers
 

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 1.9 percent for the

12-month period ending June 2010, higher than the 1.5 percent increase for the

12-month period ending June 2009. The wage and salary series increased 1.6 percent

for the current 12-month period, the same as for the period ending June
2009. The cost of benefits increased 2.5 percent for the 12-month period ending

June 2010, higher than the June 2009 increase of 1.3 percent. Employer costs for health benefits
rose 5.0 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2010. In June 2009, the 12-month percent
change was 4.4 percent.

Among occupational groups, compensation cost increases for private industry 

the 12-month period ending June 2010 ranged from 1.5 percent for management,

professional, and related occupations to 2.3 percent for sales and office 

occupations. The sales and office increase was primarily due to a 2.9
percent increase among sales and related occupations, which rebounded from 

a 1.6 percent decrease a year earlier. The other component of sales and 

office occupations--office and administrative support--increased
2.0 percent.
 

Among industry supersectors, compensation cost increases for private industry

workers for the current 12-month period ranged from 1.0 percent for construction

to 2.6 percent for trade, transportation, and utilities.

State and Local Government Workers
 

Compensation costs for State and local government workers increased 1.8 percent

for the 12-month period ending June 2010. Since this series began in June 1982, 

published values ranged from 2.0 percent in March 2010 to 9.6 percent in June 1982.

Wages and salaries increased 1.4 percent. This series also began in June 1982. 

Prior published values ranged from 1.8 in March 2010 to 8.5 percent in June 1982. 

Benefit costs increased 2.6 percent. Prior published values for this series, 

which began in June 1990, ranged from 1.2 percent in December 1997 to 8.3 percent

in June 1990.

U.S Department of Labor Releases June Employment Cost Index

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-monthperiod ending June 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which makeup about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.4 percent while benefits (which make up the remaining30 percent of compensation) increased 0.6 percent.Civilian Workers     Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.8 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2010.This was the same as the 12-month period ending in June 2009. Wages and salaries increased 1.6 percent forthe current 12-month period, compared to a 1.8 percent increase for the 12-month period ending in June 2009.Benefit costs rose 2.5 percent, up from a 1.8 percent increase for the 12-month period ending June 2009.Private Industry Workers     Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 1.9 percent for the 12-month period endingJune 2010, higher than the 1.5 percent increase for the 12-month period ending June 2009. The wage andsalary series increased 1.6 percent for the current 12-month period, the same as for the period ending June2009. The cost of benefits increased 2.5 percent for the 12-month period ending June 2010, higher than theJune 2009 increase of 1.3 percent. Employer costs for health benefits rose 5.0 percent for the 12-monthperiod ending June 2010. In June 2009, the 12-month percent change was 4.4 percent.     Among occupational groups, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the 12-monthperiod ending June 2010 ranged from 1.5 percent for management, professional, and related occupations to2.3 percent for sales and office occupations. The sales and office increase was primarily due to a 2.9percent increase among sales and related occupations, which rebounded from a 1.6 percent decrease a yearearlier. The other component of sales and office occupations--office and administrative support--increased2.0 percent.     Among industry supersectors, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the current12-month period ranged from 1.0 percent for construction to 2.6 percent for trade, transportation, andutilities.State and Local Government Workers     Compensation costs for State and local government workers increased 1.8 percent for the 12-month periodending June 2010. Since this series began in June 1982, published values ranged from 2.0 percent in March2010 to 9.6 percent in June 1982. Wages and salaries increased 1.4 percent. This series also began in June1982. Prior published values ranged from 1.8 in March 2010 to 8.5 percent in June 1982. Benefit costsincreased 2.6 percent. Prior published values for this series, which began in June 1990, ranged from 1.2percent in December 1997 to 8.3 percent in June 1990.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

FLSA fines continue to mount

Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, GeoPharma Inc. has agreed to pay $1,360,098 in back wages to 187 employees for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

"Employees have the right to expect that they will receive full pay on time for their work, and the Labor Department will not sit by while employers attempt to evade their responsibilities," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

The investigation, conducted by the Wage and Hour Division's district office in Tampa, determined that the company missed or was in arrears for 14 payroll periods from late 2009 through 2010. The FLSA requires that covered employers pay employees at least equal to the federal minimum wage for each hour worked, and wages are due on the regular payday for the pay period. In this case, the investigation revealed that the employer broke both provisions of the law at different times by not paying some wages at all and by not paying employees on time.

The dietary supplements and pharmaceutical manufacturing company operates six facilities in Largo, Fla. Employees affected by this investigation were involved in production, inventory control and shipping.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Department of Justice releases new rules regarding ADAA implementation

On July 26th, in conjunction with the celebration of the anniversary of the American's with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has rleased regulations to clarify some terms under the Act. Among these are :

• Major changes include a new definition for the term "service animal." Dogs and miniature horses individually trained to mitigate the effects of a disability are now the only animals that qualify as service animals.

• The rules also now require entities to allow individuals with disabilities to use Segways wherever pedestrians and wheelchairs are permitted, unless it would fundamentally alter the entity's services or pose a threat to safety. New requirements for event ticketing and reservations at hotels are also included in the rules.

• The rules provide a general safe harbor for elements in covered facilities that were built or altered in compliance with the previous standards. Those elements will not need to be brought into compliance with the new standards until they are subject to a planned alteration, according to DOJ.

• Entities that previously had the option to comply with either the ADA Accessibility Guidelines or the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards no longer have that option. All entities subject to Titles II or III of the ADA must now comply with the new accessibility standards.

• In addition to the new final rules, DOJ issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding its intention to regulate websites, movie captioning and 911 services, among other things. Notably, the department has requested public input on which web standards it should adopt in requiring entities covered by Titles II and III to make their websites accessible: the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or the section 508 standards.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

20th Anniversary Meets Technology

We promised you an update on the terms of the legislation working its way through Congress regarding new access standards for the disabled to modern technology. Thanks to the staff at SHRM nad a press release from the Associated Press, I was able to determine that the bill calls for:

The bill, which passed 348-23 and now moves to the Senate, takes such steps as making it easier for the blind to access the Internet from smart phones, providing deaf people with the ability to watch new TV programs online with captions included, and requiring that telecom equipment used to make calls over the Internet be compatible with hearing aids.

The measure also:

_Gives the blind a fuller TV experience through audible descriptions of on-screen action.

_Makes cable TV program guides and selection menus accessible to people with vision loss.

_Mandates that remote controls have buttons or similar devices to easily access the closed captioning on broadcast and pay TV.

_Provides financial support to help the low-income disabled buy accessible Internet technology.

The legislation does not require manufacturers and service providers to install particular technology, but it does set new federal standards that the telecommunications industry will follow.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Sometimes dreams do come true

Did you hear about the California painter's dream of a life time? He stopped by a garage sale and negotiated with the homeowner over a $70 box of glass photograhic negatives. Convinced the homeowner to reduce the price to $45.

As the late Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story. The negatives were long lost Ansel Adams photographs and today they are worth $200,000,000. So you never know where your next opportunity is going to come from.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

20th Anniversary mets the Technology World

Yesterday, July 26, marked the annivereasry of one of the best pieces of civil rights legislation in the history of the United States with the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As part of the recognition of the  day, the US House of Representatives passed legislation creating federal standards for the ramping of the internet and other forms of technology for the handicapped. The legislation now goes to the Senate. As we learn more about the standards we willpass it on.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Have we lost our Way Part 2

For those of you who would like more information on the survey, the survey creators sent me a link to the executive summary of their findings. It can be found at http://www.lma.biz/Decade_of_LEAD_Exec_Summary_15-07-10.pdf

 

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Have we lost our way?

According to a post on Google News today,  in a new book entitled A Decade of L.E.A.D. (the Leadership, Employment and Direction survey), which charted workplace attitudes in Australia in the past decade, revealed that while the ranks of HR managers had swollen, the number of staff who believed their needs were being met by them had fallen.Researchers, analysing data from four big workplace surveys dating to 2003, found the proportion of employees who believed the HR department was addressing their concerns had fallen from 60 per cent to less than 50 per cent. In the most recent results, about 40 per cent of employees said HR had a poor or very poor awareness of what their issues actually were. ''HR departments are plagued by contradiction - they are trying to meet employee needs and expectations on one hand, and the needs and expectations of managers and shareholders,'' Sydney University workplace expert Professor John Shields said. A Decade of L.E.A.D. suggested human resources departments were leaning more towards their paymasters than general employees, and a much larger proportion of managers professed to be happy with their activities.Grant Sexton, the managing director of the Leadership Management Australasia, which commissioned the surveys and compiled the book, said HR departments did not give employees the right training. ''So often internal training is determined by a very narrow conception of what the organisation needs rather than what the individual needs,'' he said. ''There's not enough focus on soft skills - communication, goal-setting, time management.'' He said decisions about training and other HR functions were often taken out of the hands of HR managers themselves. ''How many HR departments do you know that have a seat on the board of their company?'' Mr Sexton said. ''Too often leaders see HR departments as a way to deal with staff issues but then don't give them any power to actually change anything. ''They end up being the meat in the sandwich.'' The chairman of the Human Resources Institute of Australia, Peter Wilson, said human resources departments were not meant to be trade unions. ''HR is about reconciling the interests of staff and management and in our view they do that very successfully,'' Mr Wilson said.

DBAI Strategic Take: The culture of human resources in today's workplace is all dependent on how you look at the human capital within your organization. If, as Russ Moen from Express Personnel states, that your human capital assets are nothing more than a line in your expense log, then the human resource function will not look at the employees for what they truly are. If we were still in the industrial age, which many of us have forgotten we exited from awhile back, then I would agree that your employees were a line item on the balance sheet. But we have moved on. Depending on who you talk to we are now in the knowledge or creative age where your service or your product is based on what it is in the minds of your human capital. If they leave your knowledge base goes with them. I have heard of situations whre the knowledge drain was enough to pull an organization under. So what doe we need to change? Here are some suggestions we would like to offer:

1. Take a page from the plate of the new generation and where feasible make decisions based on the collaborative efforts of all employees through the involvement of cross functional teams.

2. Human Resources should not only earn but demand a seat at the decision table. HR is not just baout keeping the organization out of legal trouble, but is directly responsible for providing guidance how to best utilize the human capital asssets of the organization.

3. Human Resources must remove themselves from the silo mentality of many organizations and ensure that their efforts are utilized across the entire organization.

4. Management must come to the realization that they are not there solely to act as the lord high master. The day of the overbearing manager wnet by the wayside the day the first millennial showed their face in the workplace.

5. Management must in short order remove from their space the belief that the employees are there primarily to see what they can get away with. Consider flexible work environments which may benefit the employee in the short run, but may benefit the organization in the long run.

As one of the final parts of my e-mail signature is the statement that the world is a better place because of those who refuse to believe they cannot fly. Our employees can be the key to the success of an organization as long as we treat them as they would like to be treated.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Relocation Announcement

Vermillion, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRML), a molecular diagnostics company, today announced that it is relocating its corporate headquarters from Fremont, California to Austin, Texas.  Vermillion has executed a two-year lease for a new principal place of business at 12117 Bee Cave Road, Building Two, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78731.  Vermillion will continue to operate research and development, regulatory and quality operations in California.  All other functions will be conducted at the Austin offices.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Did You Know?

As human resource professionals we are all concerned with the impact of the new health care reform law, but buried on  Page 600 of the law is a revision to the Fair Labor Stabdards Act and many of our peers that I have talked with are not aware of it. This past week the Department of Labor released a fact sheet dealing with the issue.

As of March 23, 2010 employers are no longer able to tell a female employee that if  she needed to express breast milk she needed to go use the facilitiy's restrooms. In fact the legislation specifically prohibited this action.

The regulation informationm sheet released last week provides details about the requirements (See Fact Sheet #73)

General Requirements:

Employers are now required to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for a period of one year EACH TIME THE EMPLOYEE HAS THE NEED TO EXPRESS MILK. In order to accommodate this the employer is required to provide "a place,other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from both co-workers and the public.

Time and Location of Breaks:

Employersare required to provide a reasonable amount of break time to express milk as frequently as needed by the nursing mother. DOL states that the duration and frequency will vary depending on the needs of the mother.

Coverage and Compensation:

Only employees who are NOT EXEMPT from the FLSA's overtime pay requirements are entitled to breaks to express milk. Employers are not required to provide the breaks to nursing motehrs whoa re exempt from the overtime pay requirements of Section 7 of the FLSA. Employers with fewer than 50 employees are not supject tot he FLSA break time requirement if compliance with the provision would impose an undue hardship.

The law also states that employers are not required under the FLSA to compensate nursing mothers for breaks taken for the purpose of expressing milk. However if you already provide compensated breaks, an employee may use the breast milk express break as part of that compensated time.

 

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Sign of the Times

We all know that the marketplace is full of places to go for information on just about everything. But here is a new twist. Fast Company Magazine is reporting that a website that has been existence for sometime called eBossWatch has added a new service. The original services was to allow employees to rate their bosses good or bad. Tye then with help of a panle of workforce experts rank the worst bosses of the year. eBossWatch has now added a new service and it is a registry of those bosses in the workplace that have been the subject of a sexual harrassment complaint.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Catch -22

In an effort to help employees who were confronted with serious medical related conditions, the Congress passed the Family Medical and Leave Act. Under the terms of the Act if an employee had worked for a period of twelv emonts and accumulated 1250 hours the employee was eligible to recieve 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for themselves or a family member. Many human resource managers have operated for some time under the view that if at the end of the 12 weeks the employee does not return to work, then it is automatic grounds for termination of employment.

In a blog by Frerikson and Byron Attorneys it is now reported that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is saying wait a minute not so fast. Their feeling is that such a blanket policy may violate the terms of reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Strategy: Review your current policies to see how you have worded those circumstances where extended leave is requested. It may no longer be sufficient to carry a blanket clause that says if you need more than 12 weeks 26 weeks if due to military reasons) then you have lost your job. Be sure to talk to your labor counsel to review what changes maybe needed to your policies. Further, review and take careful consideration of the changes to ADA so as not to place yourself in the position of violating the requirements. It is less expensive for you to make changes up front rather than when told you have to.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

IOMA exclusive survey results

The Institue of Management and Administration (IOMA) has released their compensation survey for 2011 and are forecasting merit raises will run around 2.7 percent. This is compared to an actual raye in 2010 of 1.9 percent.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Social Media Best Practices

One of the blogs I read religiously is the Delaware Law Blog. In the current post they talk about a clause that can now be found in government applications for those considering applying for new positions with the Federal Government.The author suggests that in the name of full disclosure regarding the hiring process, you should not only consider using text in yoir policy that not only tells the applicant that you are going to check their social media networks but exectly what types of things you are going to be looking for. The wording of the clause is as follows:

As part of the agency’s review of your application, the agency may view and/or access publicly available information about you, including information publicly available on the internet, that is job-related and consistent with the merit system principles and prohibited personnel practices set forth in the Civil Service Reform Act, 5 U.S.C. 2301, 2302. No information from any source may be used to discriminate for or against an applicant based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, political affiliation, religion, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization.

Even more important if your organization does not currently have a social media policy it might be the time to create one. The conversation is now and you need ot be involved.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Passing of an industry pioneer

I received in the mail this morning my copy of the new Mobility Magazine and on the credit page was the announcement that Meri Hill had passed away. Meri was one of the pioneers, having been the president of Maenner Relocation, of this industry we call home and was a true professional. I enjoyed every interaction I ever had with her and she was very instrumental in the background research for our book "Just Get Me There". Our heartfelt condolences are passed on to her family. Her daughter is still in the business today.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Sign of the times

With a declining real estate market, some corporations are taking extreme methods to help needed executives relocate for the benefit of the organization. Medtronic has announced that in the fiscal year that ended in April the compensated an executive who is expected to become the next CEO, $1.7 million in relocation benefits to move from California to corporate headquarters in Minnesota. They estimated that he would have taken a loss on sale which would have acconted for the majority of the funds.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Are You Planning an HR Audit?

If you are planning  to conduct an audit of your HR function, processes and procedures be sure to include a review of how you are classifying your positions. The missclassification occurs on two fronts. The first is that of independent contractor vs. employee. The second is that of whether they are exempt or non-exempt from the labor laws. The current administration and the US Department of Labor have made it known that the missclassification of employees will be a critical area of enforcement in the coming months. To possibly hit home the necessity to do this a subsidry of FedEx was just fined by the state of Massachusetts $3,000,000 for misclassifying its drivers as Independent Contractors.

 

 

 

 

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Relocation Announcement

Saratoga Potato Chips LLC, a Brampton, Ontario-based producer of potato chips, kettle chips and popcorn, plans to locate its U.S. headquarters in Fort Wayne, Ind.by 2013.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Site Selection Magazine releases th elist of the most sustainable programs

In their July issue, Site Selection Magazine rleased the 2010 list of both the most sustainable countries and cities in the world. Below is the lists:

Most Sustainable Nations

1. Canada
2. Brazil
3. China
4. Germany
5. Norway
6. India
7. Japan
8. Mexico
9. Spain
10. Sweden

Most Sustainable US Cities

1. San Francisco-Oakland- Fremont, CA
2. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA
3. Denver-Aurora, CO
4. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IND-WIS
5. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
6. Pittsburg, PA
7. New York-Newark- Edison, NJ
8. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ
9. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
10. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
11. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
12. Austin-RoundRock, TX
13. Houston-Baytown-Sugarland, TX
14. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC
15. Albuquerque, NM
16. Boulder, CO

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Relocation Announcement

Globalstar is relocating its corporate headquarters from California to Covington, LA and is committed to relocating or creating more than 150 jobs in the area by the end of 2011, another 50 by the end of 2013 and another 300 by the end of 2019. The jobs will average an annual salary of $70,000 a year,

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Sign of the times

The US Treasury Department has indicated that US based employers have requested credits under the Hire One Act that 4.5 million unemployed workers have been hired since the credit became available.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

It could happen here

Awhile back we had posted an entry to our newsletter regarding the fact that in Europe the unions could put a snag in a corporation's plans to relocate their operations if they had grounds to feel that the move was not in the best interests of the employees. At the time I had talked with several labor attorneys as to whether we could have the same situation here in the United States. Their general consenus at the time was that  employees in the European Union had more rights then they do in the US, and so it was unlikely that it would happen here.

Fastforward to the current economic market and along comes a federal court decision regaring the planned relocation of Pratt & Whitney from Connecticut to Georgia. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a federal judge's ruling that said the subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. failed to make every reasonable effort to avoid shutting two engine repair plants in the state. The ruling essentially stated that the planned move violated the union contract and therefore the corporation can not complete the move.

Strategy:If you are planning a relocation of your operations it is imperative that you dot all the "i's" and cross all the "t's" and make sure that all the stakeholders are involved in the planning process. You still are required to follow the terms of the WARN Act where applicable, but everyone has to be on board for the reasons regarding the move.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Relocation Announcement

Solera Holdings Inc., which helps process car insurance claims, will move its corporate headquarters from San Diego to the Dallas-Fort Worth area by the end of August.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

At Will Employment clarified

According to a posting by Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Barker Olmsted & Barnier attorneys at law, in the case of Singh vs Southland Steel, in California at least At Will Employment applies to all employment actions including demotions and compensation decreases. According to the court ruling the tennant of at will emplyment means that either party may terminate the relationship at any time, with or without cause, for any lawful reason or no reason at all (assuming, of course, that there was no violation of public policy involved). There is no requirement that the party terminating an at-will employment act in good faith or with good cause. Based on this line of thought the employer may apply the same logic to demotions or compensation.

There is an old adage that says as California goes so does the rest of the country. In consideration that the majority of states operate under the At Will employment relationship, it would seem that the same arguement could be brought across the country. Would suggest that you talk to your labor counsel for further determination as to whether this applies in your state.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Relocation Announcement

Heartland Automotive Services, Inc, the owner of Jiffy Lube, is moving its corporate headquarters from Omaha to Dallas by December 2010.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

E-Verify Redesigned

The Immigration and Custom Service has posted a new design to the E-Verify website. The reuslt is upon your first sign in after June 13 you will be required to complete a 20 minute tutorial on the new system. Be sure that you do so promptly before you start to ramp up your hiring efforts.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Is your Social Media Policy clear enough?

According to the Associated Press, Best Buy took disciplinary action against an employee who made two snarky online videos poking fun at zealots of the iPhone and the Evo phone, He thought it was just a good way to vent some of the frustrations inherent in selling smart phones. Best Buy, thought otherwise, even though the retailer, which sells both phones, isn't mentioned in either video. The company was mentioned, though, in videos the employee had made earlier.

The employee  who had been selling phones at a Best Buy store since 2007, said Friday he was suspended from his part-time job after posting two YouTube videos that slam fans of Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4 and HTC Corp.'s Evo 4G.

The employee was told Thursday he had a "choice to either quit or the HR people can decide what they want to do." He said he would not quit and was told he could be fired over the matter.

Strategy:In this globally connected world, it is critical that every corporation have in place a clear social media policy. The policy must explain to the employee that there are some expectations of how they will use social media both in the office and outside. It should also explain that in any situation where the employee makes any mention of your organization there is no expectation of privacy. Contact us for further guidance on what needs to be in your social media.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Is it a sign of reality settling in?

The state of Oregon has implemented legislation which prohibits the use of credit checks as a factor in the process of hiring, firing, demoting or suspending employees, unless they can establish that it's substantially related to the job. This is an attempt to ensure that credit status is not used to discrimiante in the hiring process.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Are We Next?

According to CNN, as of today, the citizens of Finland have a legal right to receive reasonably priced broadband service. The rate will be established by the Finnish Communications Authority and these rates must be adhered to by the broadband providers in Finland. Could we be the next to eliminate the digital divide by liekwise saying it is our right as citizens to have access to the internet? The President either has or is about to put in place the requirement that the bandwith of the broadband services in the US be expanded.

There are trends which indicate that more and more employers are taking advantage of the growth of social media to find new ways to attract the talent they need. Access to the internet will expand the available talent opportunities to these employers.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

May Cost of Funds Index

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco announced June 30, 2010, that the 11^th District Monthly Weighted Average Cost of Funds Index (“COFI”) for May 2010 is 1.791%. The index for April 2010 was 1.825%.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Relocation Taxes, LLC sponsors Tax, Legal and Payroll Seminar

Relocation Taxes LLC, a sponsor of our CRP review seminar, is hosting a 2-day seminar to explore the latest tax, legal and payroll seminar which will carry continuing education credits for renewal of your CRP designation. The semin ar will be held October 4th and 5th at the Airport Marriott Hotel in San Francisco, CA. For more information contact Relocation Taxes LLC at http://www.relotax.com

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Americans with Disabilities Act Clarification

According to an update from the Littler Mendolsohn PC law Firm the federal courts have handed downa ruling involving vacant positions and accommodations. In the ruling the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit  considered whether positions filled by temporary contract workers are "vacant" for purposes of reassignment as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In Duvall v. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, L.P., No. 08-7096 (June 9, 2010), the court held that, because similarly situated nondisabled employees could not apply for or obtain positions filled by temporary contract employees, the employer was not obligated to reassign a disabled employee to such nonvacant positions.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

Training Advice

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education have sent a letter to colleges and universities about the use of electronic book readers that are not accessible to students who are blind or have low vision. The letter points out a serious problem with some of these devices that do not have an accessible text-to-speech function. Requiring use of an emerging technology in a classroom environment when that technology is inaccessible to an entire population of individuals with disabilities--individuals with visual disabilities--may constitute discrimination prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).

I understand that you are not an institution of higher learning but if DOJ is concerned about the use of these devices, be careful as to how you use them in your training programs. However int he rush to keep up with the ever expanding training medium, it is the urge to start to utilize the Kindles and Nook's of the world but you need to be aware of the possibility of a request for accommodations from disabled employees who are unable to use the new devices. It is cost effective for you to make the accommodations instead of risking a visit from OFFCP and the EEOC because you insisted on using the new devices.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed

ADA in Action

A U.S. District Court in Jacksonville has ruled that the state of Florida must provide Michele Haddad with services that will let her stay in her home.  Haddad, who has quadriplegia from a motorcycle accident with a drunk driver in 2007, has successfully resided in the community since the accident, but is at risk of having to go to a nursing home due to changes in her caregiver situation. Haddad has been on the waiting list for Medicaid community-based waiver services for two years, and she told the state of her increased need for services.  She was informed that community services would only be available if she was willing to enter a nursing home for 60 days. The court ordered the state to provide community-based services as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA) integration mandate as set forth in Olmstead v. L.C. (Taken from Disability.gov)

Are you looking toward the future?

This week the US Supreme Court handed down it's ruling in Ontario v. Quon which stated that employees have no expectation of privacy for computer use of employer owned equipment. It would be prudent for every Human Resource Manager to undertake one of two actions fairly promptly:

Option 1: Review your current social media policy to ensure that your employees understand that what they post in regards to your organization is fully available for you to review and take action on.

Option 2: Create a social media policy and disseminate to your entire staff. If you are creating a policy insure that you lay out specific guidelines on what employees can and cannot do when posting on social media sites. This should include the caveat that at no time without prior permission should employees create any perception that they represent your organization.

Need some ideas of policy components contact us for some ideas collected from other organizations who have already created their policies.

 

Supreme Court weighs in on question of arbitration

Many corporations today have included in their employee policies that in case of a dispute over contract terms it must be sent to arbitration. Yesterday the US Supreme Court ruled that the requirement that the arbitrator has full responsibility for the solution is enforceable. This means that the requirement for a court to decide if it is enforceable is no longer the rule of the land. It would be prudent on your part to investigate the wording on your arbitration clauses to determine whether the wording is in line with the supreme court ruling.

Bureau of Labor Statistics releases March Cost of Employment Figures

On June 9 the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March 2010 cost of Employment figures. The results indicated that the cost of benefits were worth 30.4% of the total compensation, The link to the entire report can be found at http://bls.gov/news.release/ecec.toc.htm

Supreme Court details right to privacy

CNN reports that the US Supreme Court has determined that Public employees who send personal messages on their state-issued communication devices do not enjoy a "reasonable expectation" of privacy, The justices unanimously concluded that state officials had the right to review the review the records of a California police officer who exchanged hundreds of personal messages - some of a "sexually explicit" nature - on his department text pager. "Because the search was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose, and because it was not excessive in scope, the search was reasonable," Justice Anthony Kennedy noted in the court's decision. The question can be asked if this could also apply to social media postings by employees on corporate owned equipment. Time will tell.

Supreme Court potentially overturns 600 NLRB decisions

Earlier today the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in NEW PROCESS STEEL, L. P. v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD determining that the National Labor Relations Board operated without a legal quorum for a 27 month period. As a result over 600 NLRB decisions maybe in jeopardy. These decisions included  those dealing with  concerns about representation petitions and unfair labor practice proceedings. A number of labor attorneys have suggested that employers covered by the NLRB should review their programs based on this decision.

Relocation Announcement

NERC President and CEO Gerry Cauley announced plans today to move NERC’s headquarters from Princeton, NJ to Atlanta to attract high-quality employees and to be more accessible to its stakeholders. To encourage extensive interaction between NERC and key governmental and regulatory authorities, NERC will also be expanding its DC office.

Health and Human Services releases new rules for health care

Here’s how the new rule will work:

• Starting with health plan or policy years beginning on or after September 23, Americans with private health insurance plans will get some new consumer protections.  For example, insurance companies will be prohibited from putting lifetime limits on your coverage.  And they’ll no longer be able to cancel your insurance when you get sick just by finding an error in your paperwork.
• Health coverage that was in effect when the Affordable Care Act was enacted will be exempt from some provisions in the Act if they remain “grandfathered” under a provision in the law.  Under the rule issued today, employers or issuers offering such coverage will have the flexibility of making reasonable changes without losing their “grandfathered” status.  For example, employers will be able to make some changes to the benefits their plans offer, raise premiums or change employee cost-sharing to keep pace with health costs within some limits, and continue to enroll new employees and their families.
• However, if health plans significantly raise co-payments or deductibles, or if they significantly reduce benefits – for example, if they stop covering treatment for a disease like HIV/AIDS or cystic fibrosis – they’ll lose their grandfathered status and their customers will get the same full set of consumer protections as new plans.

The bottom line is that under the Affordable Care Act, if you like your doctor and plan, you can keep them.  But if you aren’t satisfied with your insurance options today, the Affordable Care Act provides for better, more affordable health care choices through new consumer protections.  And beginning in 2014, it creates health insurance exchanges that will offer individuals and small businesses better, more affordable choices.

New perspective on social media

I have recently subscribed to a website called Writing on the Web and the author published an interesting question, so much so I want to pass it on to you:

Experience blindness – A simple screen reader experience for the sighted (Part 1)

May 18, 2010 by Reuben Jacob

Ever wondered how a person with a visual impairment uses a computer? Surf the web? Read a book or an article? I know many people who shy away from asking these questions. The important thing is to realise that there’s no harm in asking these questions. The real harm is in not bothering to find the answers to these questions. A request to our visually impaired readers: please pass this article on to all your sighted friends. And dear sighted readers, walk with me through this simple simulation of the experience of a visually impaired person.
The most popular, specialized software program used by people with visual impairments to consume electronic content - documents, web pages and other computer programs is a type of computer software known as a screen reader. The screen reader has two major functions – Navigation and Text-to-Speech (TTS).
A screen reader aids in navigation by guiding the user in moving from one page to the other, from one paragraph to the other and so on. It aids in TTS by converting electronic text to sound – basically it reads out text. The biggest stumbling block for screen reader software are programs and content that is difficult for navigation.

A large majority of computer programs and electronic content that are used by the visually impaired, are created by sighted people – programmers, content writers, editors etc. If you happen to fall into this category of very powerful people, and if you are unfamiliar with screen readers, I would definitely encourage you to try this little experiment. Now, if you don’t, you might still want to do it – because it can open your eyes a little bit into an unfamiliar world. All you need is a computer, working eyes and an old newspaper.
Here you go:

1. Turn on your computer
2. Browse to Google news or your favorite online haunt OR open a large word document
3. Now get an old newspaper – take one full sheet and open it up
4. Make a rectangular incision 3 inches long and half inch wide at the center of the paper
5. With both hands, hold this newspaper against and in front of your computer display, so that you can see the screen through the rectangular hole
6. Now start reading through the hole. Move the paper to the right to continue reading
7. Try to jump to sections that you are interested in by moving the paper around
8. Read the whole page
9. Rinse and repeat with familiar and unfamiliar pages
10. That’s it.

What are you doing to be inclusive?

Relocation Announcement

Medline is closing its Clearwater, FL plant and the jobs are being shifted to Mexico and Waukegan, IL by the end of 2010. Displaced employees will have the opportunity to apply for positions in other facilities within the company.

A disservice to the economy

I received an email this morning from a trusted source which indicated that a growing trend among some employers is to state in the ad for an open position " the unemployed will not be considered." Corporate America is faced with the real possibility of a labor shortage in some areas whether you believe it or not.  From the Huffington post was this note:

n a current job posting on The People Place, a job recruiting website for the telecommunications, aerospace/defense and engineering industries, an anonymous electronics company in Angleton, Texas, advertises for a "Quality Engineer." Qualifications for the job are the usual: computer skills, oral and written communication skills, light to moderate lifting. But red print at the bottom of the ad says, "Client will not consider/review anyone NOT currently employed regardless of the reason."

In a nearly identical job posting for the same position on the Benchmark Electronics website, the red print is missing. But a human resources representative for the company confirmed to HuffPost that the The People Place ad accurately reflects the company's recruitment policies.

"It's our preference that they currently be employed," he said. "We typically go after people that are happy where they are and then tell them about the opportunities here. We do get a lot of applications blindly from people who are currently unemployed -- with the economy being what it is, we've had a lot of people contact us that don't have the skill sets we want, so we try to minimize the amount of time we spent on that and try to rifle-shoot the folks we're interested in."

The goal of any talent management effort is to  find the right person for the right position at the right time, and by stating that the unemployed will not be considered you may very well eliminate the very source to solve our problem.

 Many organizations have made the decision for "economic reasons" to let go some of the best talent in the country. When we need to stay competitive with the rest of the world, this is not the time for any employer to set out to decide that because someone got caught in the downturn they are no longer valuable talent to the organization.

Manpower releases new survey data on job market

Employers provided a seasonally adjusted Outlook of +6%, up from -2% during the same period last year. Ninety-eight percent of U.S. states have a positive hiring Outlook and 95 of the nation's 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas have a positive Outlook for Quarter 3 2010.

"We have been waiting for the labor market to show signs of a sustained recovery," said Jeff Joerres, Manpower Inc. Chairman and CEO. "The survey results for the third quarter are indicating a trend of hiring intention that has historically proven to be the positive inflection point of accelerated job growth."

Of the more than 18,000 employers surveyed, 18% anticipate an increase in staff levels in their Quarter 3 2010 hiring plans, while 8% expect a decrease in payrolls, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +10%. When seasonally adjusted, the Net Employment Outlook becomes +6%. Seventy percent of employers expect no change in their hiring plans. The final 4% of employers indicate they are undecided about their hiring intentions.

"Manpower's survey results show a positive trend in employers' hiring plans," said Jonas Prising, Manpower president of the Americas. "Although we are still facing a difficult labor market, more employers indicate confidence about the direction of their businesses, and with that comes an intention to increase their workforces. We are in the early stages of the jobs recovery, and although we have a long way to go, the job market will continue to improve from here."

Employers in 11 of the 13 industry sectors surveyed have a positive Outlook for Quarter 3 2010: Leisure & Hospitality (+20%), Mining (+17%), Professional & Business Services (+15%), Wholesale & Retail Trade (+15%), Nondurable Goods Manufacturing (+12%), Financial Activities (+11%), Information (+10), Durable Goods Manufacturing (+9%), Transportation & Utilities (+9%), Construction (+8%) and Other Services (+8%). The July - September Outlook is -2% for two of the surveyed industry sectors: Education & Health Services and Government.

Cost of Funds Index Drops

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco announced May 28, 2010, that the 11^th District Monthly Weighted Average Cost of Funds Index (“COFI”) for April 2010 is 1.825%. The index for March 2010 was 1.859%.

The COFI is computed from the actual interest expense reported for a given month by the Arizona, California, and Nevada savings institutions members of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco that satisfy the Bank’s criteria for inclusion in the COFI (“COFI Reporting Members”). Changes in interest rates on adjustable rate mortgage loans offered by many financial institutions are tied to changes in the COFI.

Executive Order 13496 activates June 21, 2010

The Executive Order requires new posting requirements within the workplace dictating your employees rights to seek representation. Below is the wording of the notice that must be given to your staff:
  RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES
UNDER THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT
"It is the policy of the United States to encourage collective bargaining and protect the
exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of
representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and
conditions of their employment or other mutual aid and protection.
"Under federal law, you have the right to:

• Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
• Form, join or assist a union.
• Bargain collectively through a duly selected union for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions.
• Discuss your terms and conditions of employment with your co-workers or a union; join other workers in raising work-related complaints with
• your employer, government agencies, or members of the public; and seek and receive help from a union subject to certain limitations.
• Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions, including attending rallies on non-work time, and leafleting on non-work time in non-work areas.
• Strike and picket, unless your union has agreed to a no-strike clause and subject to certain other limitations. In some circumstances, your employer may permanently replace strikers.
• Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union.

"It is illegal for your employer to:

• Prohibit you from soliciting for the union during non-work time or distributing union literature during non-work time, in non-work areas.
• Question you about your union support or activities.
• Fire, demote, or transfer you, or reduce your hours or change your shift, or otherwise take adverse action against you, or threaten to take any of these actions, because you join or support a union, or because you engage in other activity for mutual aid and protection, or because you choose not to engage in any such activity.
• Threaten to close your workplace if workers choose a union to represent them.
• Promise or grant promotions, pay raises, or other benefits to discourage or encourage union support.
• Prohibit you from wearing union hats, buttons, t-shirts, and pins in the workplace except under special circumstances, for example, as where doing so might interfere with patient care.
• Spy on or videotape peaceful union activities and gatherings or pretend to do so.

It is illegal for a union or for the union that represents you in bargaining with your
employer to: discriminate or take other adverse action against you based on
whether you have joined or support the union.

"If your rights are violated:
Illegal conduct will not be permitted. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an agency of the United States government, will protect your right to a free choice concerning union representation and collective
bargaining and will prosecute violators of the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB may order an employer to rehire a worker fired in violation of the law and to pay lost wages and benefits and may order an
employer or union to cease violating the law. The NLRB can only act, however, if it receives information of unlawful behavior within six months.
"If you believe your rights or the rights of others have been violated, you must contact the
NLRB within six months of the unlawful treatment. Employees should seek assistance from the nearest regional NLRB office.
This applies even if you are a subcontractor of federal contractor with more than $10,000 in contract awards.

And the story keeps turning

First we had the Hartford, CT case of fireman who felt that they were discriminated against bases on test scores. The Supreme Court found that the City of Hartford had violated the rights of the fireman. In a similar case the City of Chicago lost a ruling to the same court  which stated that Employers who use tests that have the effect of ruling out disproportionate numbers of women and minorities may be sued each time they use the results to hire, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Relocation Announcement

Mage Solar GmbH, a Ravensburg, Germany-based manufacturer of solar energy products, will locate its North American headquarters and production facility for photovoltaic modules in Dublin, Ga.

Is the change of HR over?

This post was reposted from Rehaul Blog and is well worth reading and pondering

#HRevolution Is Over. Now What?

by Lance Haun on May 8, 2010

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Note: In working on this post, I realized much of it was rehashing what Laurie and I spoke about at the closing session. For those who weren’t there, it is a good taste as to what was discussed. For those who were there, I went off both the notes and the comments we received during the end session.
Now the easy part is over.
That’s right. Simply coming to #HRevolution might have been a step in the right direction but it was an easy step. Maybe for some attendees, that was a tough step too. It isn’t going to be any easier going forward.
We talked a good game about the future of the HR function, social media, technology and other issues hitting our collective worlds. The question on everyone’s mind at the end of the day was “Now what?” Loads of information was shared. Debates and discussions flowed over into hallways, tweetups and dinners. And tonight people started flowing out of Chicago as quickly as they came in. The question I want to ask when you get to your desk Monday morning: Will your behavior change at all or are the things that inspired you getting shelved until you have more time (which ends up being never)?
While you can get other benefits from attending the unconference, the primary purpose of the unconference style is to get more participation from the audience. Participation demands action.
The hard thing for me is I can’t do these things. I’m not in HR anymore. And when someone asked me about how not being in HR anymore changes my credibility, I had to be honest.  I can inspire action. I can help with finding business cases or contacts or speakers or educational material. But I can’t lead an organization through the fire.
You can.

Making The Choice

Productive change isn’t accidental. You have to make the choice to alter your actions (even slightly). When we talked about breaking out of the social media echo chamber, I tried to emphasize that you have to actually first want to break out of the echo chamber in order to do anything else.
We have a strong group of core people right now but we need your boss, your peers and the people you know from around HR to become a part of this group. And part of the point was introducing them to social media on their terms and in their language. Instead of telling people to go to a blog, copy and paste the content into an e-mail and send it to them. Instead of saying my Twitter friend, say my colleague so and so.
All of these things are small things but they are the result of a conscious choice to provoke change.

Credible Activism

Becoming a credible activist in your own organization for your proposed changes is a risk. A risk that you should be ready to take. Jason Seiden said it best today when talking about facing the fear of failure whenever you first make that choice. You can alleviate that fear by just a tiny bit by being prepared to talk to them about the change on their terms.
Consuming content from the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review and The Economist may not sound like the best use of an HR person’s time but it is actually one of the best ways to learn about the issues that your boss probably cares about. And that’s where a conversation can start.
Interested in additional education? It looked close to unanimous at the unconference that people believed getting a MBA was superior to getting an HR certificate when it comes to building organizational credibility.
Are all of these silver bullets? No. Your organization will have specific ways that you build credibility (which may mean doing things in a traditional way).

Influencing Beyond The Organization

There was a bit of a debate over whether job titles matter. They do, especially when you’re talking about building influence beyond your organization. There are certainly some caveats there but the biggest one is this: don’t waste the opportunity to leverage that title to positively influence. That means when you have the title, you step up to the plate and you take your best swing.
Here’s the main dig with that: when you’re talking about reaching out to those higher level executives and influencing their thinking and behavior, they want to hear it from someone like them. For someone you can’t get to know deeply, a job title that conveys authority can open their mind to ideas that they might have otherwise rejected. That’s unfair but true.
I wish we could have gotten more into how you can do it if getting that title is either impossible or if you’re just uninterested in it. When you’re in that position, you’re fighting the battle of of one by one. Instead of being a speaker where you can influence hundreds at a time, perhaps you can get a dozen or so people in the best case scenario. That’s still a useful function and I didn’t want anybody to get the impression that I was downplaying its importance.

What We Didn’t Say (On Purpose)

We didn’t say:

• Start or keep blogging
• Become a Twitter superstar
• Look at every new piece of technology that comes out
• Sell social media as the solution to everything

We don’t mention it because it is certain to continue whether we want it to or not. The battle to get our community of likeminded HR folks isn’t going to be won on that front. It is going to be won through reaching out to people who are generally unreachable through traditional social media using language that makes sense to them as well as building your credibility and influence.
Are you ready?

Relocation Announcement

Sky King has announced that it is moving its operational headquarters from Sacremento to Lakeland, Florida

Our Common Future

I am writing this while sitting watching the reports on the pending catastrophic events in the Gulf of Mexico. The word of the time is that of sustainability. In that regard we have over the last several months have almost every night been subjected to an energy industry sponsored TV spot talking about how safe the drilling for oil in the gulf was. How environmentally sound the process was .How the drilling would provide 92 million jobs. Now that is all in jeopardy because the process was not as safe as we were lead to believe. So what do we do now? I would suggest several tactics:

1) Corporations need to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint so we do not need as much oil

2) We as individuals should follow in step to our corporations by reducing our energy use at home

For the immediate future, check with your individual hairdresser and ask them to contribute to A Matter of Trust (http://www.matteroftrust.org) which is collecting hair to be donated to the clean-up effort. The hair cuttings are put in nylon tubing to be used as buoys to stop the spread. Check and see if you can donate time, money or materials to one of the organizations gearing up to help save the ecosystem of the gulf and possibly the Atlantic coast of the US.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that the environment is not destroyed so that the future of our living space is not endangered. It is our responsibility to make sure we are using our assets reasonably in the future.

What was once old is new again?

I received my email from the Wharton School today and in it was an article about the nature of the HR profession as conducted in a study for PricewaterHouseCoopers. The finding of the research showed that
if you "step into the office of the head of corporate human resources today and the odds are you will find a 53-year-old man with a bachelor's degree who has been with his current employer for 15 years. He has spent about half his work life in HR roles, most often in workforce development. And he would not be that much different from the man holding the job a generation earlier. While the face of corporate human resources departments is changing as more women and more executives with international expertise ascend to the top HR positions, predictions that HR leaders would increasingly come to their jobs with broad and diverse front-line management experience have failed to come true. Indeed, HR leaders are even more likely to rise up from their own ranks than a decade earlier, according to a new Wharton research paper titled, "Who Gets the Top Job? Changes in the Attributes of Human Resource Heads and Implications for the Future." Click the link to see the full report.

What are they Thinking?

How many of you have teenagers or adolescents at home or even young adults? Ever tried to figure them out? Not going to happen you say? I am in the middle of reading a fascinating new book entitled the M-Factor. Written by Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman of Bridgeworks, it talks about the benefits and the pitfalls of working with Millenials ( born between 1981 and 1999). Gives you a real look at their wants, desires and the benefits that they bring to the workplace. It is an excellent follow up to their first book "When Generations Collide."

Life's Journey

Good afternoon from not so sunny Florida,

Ever since I was a child, I have been told that life is a journey. The only catch is that the journey defies science in that it is not the shortest route between two points. Life brings to us a whole collection of twists and turns along the way. Back in 2008 I had made the decision to achieve two goals both of which I achieved in 2009. The first was to go back to school ( who would have thought being older than most of the students in the classes) and get trained in the six sigma methodology. We completed this in May of 2009 getting the Six Sigma Black Belt from St Petersburg College. The other goal was to finally bite the bullet and earn my SPHR certification. We accomplished this in June of 2009. Our initial goal was to return to corporate America where I could put these new skills and knowledge to work on a daily basis. However as fate would have it, corporate America decided that since I have been a consultant since 1980, I did not fit into the “corporate square peg.”
As a result we have made the decision to return to the consulting arena and expand our services beyond just strictly corporate mobility. We have expanded our services and am currently assisting a non-profit organization in rewriting their policies manual. Our emphasis is going to be in the arena of the under 100 employees particularly those about to break the barrier of 50 or more employees.

We invite you to visit our reconfigured website at http://www.dbaiconsulting.com and see what we can now offer. If you have or know of a connection that might be in need of these services let me know how I might be of assistance to your network.

What Will They Think?

Twitter Donates Entire Tweet Archive to Library of Congress

Twitter is donating its digital archive of public tweets to the Library of Congress. Twitter is a leading social networking service that enables users to send and receive tweets, which consist of web messages of up to 140 characters.

Twitter processes more than 50 million tweets per day from people around the world. The Library will receive all public tweets-which number in the billions-from the 2006 inception of the service to the present.

From our client family

 Today Oakwood announced the promotion of T.J. Spencer to Vice President, Relocation & Managing Director, International. In her new role, Spencer leads the international sales effort, the operation and expansion of the Global Alliance Network, and maintains her responsibility for relocation industry sales.

Iowa enacts State version of WARN Act

The Jackson Lewis Law Firm reports that New legislation requiring employers to provide notice of business closings and mass layoffs or face penalties for failing to do so has been enacted in Iowa.  The “Iowa Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act” (House File 681) was signed into law by Iowa Governor Chester Culver on March 22, 2010, and will become effective July 1, 2010.

Covered Employers

The Iowa WARN Act applies to any person who employs 25 employees or more, excluding part-time employees. (Part-time employees are those who are employed for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week, and those employees who have been employed for fewer than six of the 12 months preceding the date of the required notice.)

Covered Actions

A “business closing” means the permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment or one or more facilities or operating units that will result in an employment loss for 25 employees or more, other than part-time employees.
 
A “mass layoff” means a reduction in employment force that is not the result of a business closing and results in an employment loss at a single site of employment during any 30-day period of 25 employees or more, other than part-time employees.

Required Notice

Covered employers must provide at least 30 days’ written notice prior to the effective date of any mass layoff or business closing.

Notice Recipients

The notice must be provided to all affected employees, or their representatives, and the Department of Workforce Development (DWD).

Incentive to Hire New Employees

From the Worldwide ERC this notice was received- On March 17, 2010, President Obama signed legislation that provides incentives for businesses to hire the unemployed. Under the “Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act” of 2010, employers that hire new workers after February 3, 2010 and any time during the rest of 2010 will be exempted from the employer’s 6.2% share of FICA for those workers, provided the workers were unemployed for the 60 days before starting work or worked less than full time (40 hours per week) for someone else during that period. The workers must be new workers, rather than replacements for existing workers, but new hires filling existing positions that are vacant will also qualify so long as the previous worker left voluntarily or for cause. For a worker at the maximum social security wage base of $106,800, the saving to the employer would exceed $5,000. In addition, if the new worker is retained for a full year, the employer will receive an additional $1,000 general business tax credit. The IRS said it will be providing necessary forms and instructions within the next few weeks, but that in the meantime employers should obtain from each new employee a statement indicating that the new employee meets the requirements outlined above.

Relocation Announcement

Signature HealthCARE LLC, a long-term healthcare facility operator based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, will relocate its national headquarters to Louisville, Kentucky

According to the global Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results released today by Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), employers in most major labor markets expect to hire in the second quarter at a pace equal to, or stronger than, the same period last year. However, many have yet to reach a pre-downturn hiring pace. Job prospects in the Asia Pacific region remain strong, with the exception of Japan, and hiring outlooks continue to improve modestly in most of the Americas region. In Europe, hiring patterns remain mixed with employers in eight countries indicating modest improvements compared to three months ago and the same period last year. Employer hiring intentions are strongest in India, Brazil and Taiwan, while in the U.S. they are similar to three months ago, but more optimistic compared to last year at this time

Hiring to begin the upswing

According to the global Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results released today by Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), employers in most major labor markets expect to hire in the second quarter at a pace equal to, or stronger than, the same period last year. However, many have yet to reach a pre-downturn hiring pace. Job prospects in the Asia Pacific region remain strong, with the exception of Japan, and hiring outlooks continue to improve modestly in most of the Americas region. In Europe, hiring patterns remain mixed with employers in eight countries indicating modest improvements compared to three months ago and the same period last year. Employer hiring intentions are strongest in India, Brazil and Taiwan, while in the U.S. they are similar to three months ago, but more optimistic compared to last year at this time

Hiring to begin the upswing

According to the global Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results released today by Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), employers in most major labor markets expect to hire in the second quarter at a pace equal to, or stronger than, the same period last year. However, many have yet to reach a pre-downturn hiring pace. Job prospects in the Asia Pacific region remain strong, with the exception of Japan, and hiring outlooks continue to improve modestly in most of the Americas region. In Europe, hiring patterns remain mixed with employers in eight countries indicating modest improvements compared to three months ago and the same period last year. Employer hiring intentions are strongest in India, Brazil and Taiwan, while in the U.S. they are similar to three months ago, but more optimistic compared to last year at this time

HR Strategist@Net-Speed: Are we really watching the health of our organization?

In watching the posts in the social media and in talking with a colleague last week, we are seeing a very concerning environment being created. One that makes one wonder about the vitality of our organizations. As a member of management you are presented with dual responsibilities. The first is to enhance the investment of the shareholders int he organization. The second is to ensure that you have the right person, in the right position at the right time. The problem is that contrary to current belief they are not mutually exclusive. They both play a vital part in the health of your organization. Let's break it down a little.

First responsibility is to enhance the investment of the stakeholders. Your stakeholders are looking for a return on their investment, to indicate that the organization is growing. Growing in sales. Growing in revenue. Growing in profit. How does this come about? The organization increases this investment by becoming better than the competition for your product or service. By becoming known as the best in class for the way you run your operation. One key to reaching this sought after level is based on the human capital resources where you are the employer of choice.

This brings us to the second responsibility of making sure that we have the right person in the right position at the right time. We have, during these tough economic times, seen organizations make what we believe to make some very serious strategic decisions that could hinder the health of the organization. Make no mistake about it, we will have a talent shortage in the not too distant future. When we cut staff solely based on financial measures we risk down the road putting ourselves in jeopardy. Point in evidence, I attended a seminar recently where it was described that in order to reduce costs, an organization offered early retirement to anyone with over 20 years experience. Lo and behold everyone offered the package accepted. The company was out of business in 6 months. Way too often managers in this market are looking for that right person by trying to fit them into square hole when they need that round peg. Both internal and external recruiters need to get back to looking for those individuals who can positively contribute to the health of the organization. This means looking outside of the box most managers are in today and look at what skills and attributes the person can bring to the table.

Do you agree or do you have another focus on this perspective?