Future Workplace
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Possible Civil Rights Reform Under Obama Could Benefit Businesses
Human resources departments nationwide could be rewriting policies and drafting new procedures over the next four years if the president and his administration are able to accomplish the goals expressed in his second inaugural address.
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Wellness Programs Can Reduce Worker Medical Costs by 18 Percent: Study
The report said wellness programs could reduce costs for risks such as physical inactivity, smoking, high blood pressure and obesity. If the risk factors were lowered to “theoretical minimums,” health care expenses could be lowered by an average of $650, or 18.
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EEOC Settles Seventh Day Adventist Religious Discrimination Suit
Experts say religious discrimination claims in the workplace are expected to be a growing problem for employers.
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Disaffected Workers Want Out of Unions
As organized labor loses leverage in a race-to-the-bottom global market, some workers are becoming so disillusioned by what their unions can, or rather can't, do for them that they want out.
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Chicago Boardrooms Lag Nation in Diversity
Overall, minorities account for only 12 percent of the boards of directors at Chicago's 50 largest firms, versus 15 percent at the 200 largest S&P 500 firms, said a new report by Chicago United, a not-for-profit group that advocates diversity in executive ranks.
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Group Health Plan Costs Up 4.1 Percent in 2012, Smallest Increase in 15 years: Mercer
The 4.1 percent increase brought health plan costs to an average of $10,558 per employee in 2012, compared with $10,146 per employee in 2011, according to the survey.
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Kinder and Gentler: The New Path to Reducing Employee Turnover
Auto dealers are moving toward a more flexible, more enjoyable, less rule-restricted workplace—in hopes of keeping staffs content and motivated enough to stay on the job.
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Survey: More Companies, Jobs to Head Back into Chicago
Almost 80 percent of 12,000 area professionals surveyed by Ernst & Young LLP say they believe companies will keep moving from the suburbs to Chicago.
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Study: Generational Job Seekers Not Using All Their Tools
Recruiters take note: Baby boomers, Gen X and millennials are spending almost all their time job searching online instead of offline. Boomers turn to LinkedIn first, while Gen X and millennials are first using Google and Google Plus.
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Staggered Introduction of North Carolina E-Verify Compliance Dates Begins in October
Under legislation approved by North Carolina's General Assembly last year and signed into law by Governor Beverly E. Perdue in June 2011, employers with between 100 and 500 employees have until Jan.
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Corporations Adopt the Hackathon
Small businesses are using hackathons as cost-effective tools to tackle problems, recruit talent and unleash innovation. The hackathon presents a quicker, scrappier way to tackle large-scale problems with whatever resources they have on hand.
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Health Care Reform a 'Badge of Honor' for Democrats: HHS Secretary
During her speech, Kathleen Sebelius detailed what she said are some of the achievements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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Demand Up for Recruiters with Social Media Skills
Recruiters with social media skills are most frequently recruited for jobs located in New York City, Chicago, Washington, Boston and Los Angeles.
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Skilled Workers Scarce Despite Unemployment
Staffing company ManpowerGroup of Milwaukee said in a 2011 survey that 52 percent of employers were having problems filling critical positions. That number was up 14 percent from the previous year.
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Towers Watson 2010 Merger Fuels Top Consultant Firms' Growth
At Towers Watson, a merger between Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt in January 2010 spurred most of its growth, according to a company spokesman. The firm, which ranked No. 2 on Crain's list, reported 801 local professionals in 2011, up from 204 in 2010.
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General Motors' CEO Dan Akerson Urges Employees to 'Behave With Integrity'
Akerson told employees he wants to focus GM more on brands and customers, and better position the company to survive the next 50 or 100 years.
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The Midnight Shift Returns as Automakers Boost Output
By the start of 2013, 22 of the 83 assembly plants in North America will operate with three shifts of workers, and nearly half of all vehicles built here will come from a three-shift plant.
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76% of IT Decision-Makers Predict Cloud Applications Will Be Breached
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Survey: Health Care Reform Splits Employers
Forty percent of employers want the high court, which is hearing oral arguments this week on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to strike down the 2010 law. Still, employers are far from being united in favor of repealing it.
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Push for Green Jobs: An Interview With David Foster of the Blue Green Alliance
The executive director of the not-for-profit group Blue Green Alliance is an advocate for renewable energy, recycling and energy efficiency, all things he says will help push our overall economy forward.
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American Airlines Wants to Terminate Pension Plans
The termination, if approved, would shift billions of dollars of promised but unfunded benefits to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., resulting in the biggest loss ever for the agency.
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A Third of New Yorkers Say They Can't Retire
About 40 percent of New York workers had access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan in 2009, compared with the national average of 53 percent, according to the report by the New School's Bernard Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
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Novartis Agrees to $99M Settlement in Sales Rep Wage Dispute
The $99 million settlement resolves the wage-and-hour claims brought in 2006, as well as additional wage-and-hour claims covering a more recent time period, according to the joint announcement by Novartis and Sanford Wittels.
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Move to Flexible Workforce Is Permanent, Consultants Say
The online M Squared poll of independent consultants was conducted in December 2011 and included responses from 530 professional independent consultants.
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Archer Daniels Midland Announces Plan to Cut 1,000 Jobs
The cutbacks represent 3 percent of the company's total workforce, according to a release issued Jan. 11.
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Morgan Stanley to Pare Workforce by 1,600
Reps are safe, but 'business won't entirely escape the belt-tightening.'
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There's a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Set Up Succession Planning
HR consultants offer their thoughts on the best—and worst—practices when it comes to succession planning.
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When Johnny or Janey Comes Marching Home
Veterans find it's a tough terrain in getting from the battlefield to their chosen field.
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Analysis Notes More Large Employers Freeze Defined Benefit Plans
In 2004, as the corporate drive to freeze defined benefit plans was picking up momentum, only 45, or 7.1 percent of 633 Fortune 1000 companies with defined benefit plans, had frozen at least one plan, reports consultancy Towers Watson.
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Health Care Cost Hikes Increasing, Expected to Continue
The key difference between the Kaiser Family Foundation and Aon Hewitt surveys is that the KFF survey included more fully insured plans, 40 percent, and more small and midsize firms, 85 percent, with fewer than 5,000 workers.
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More CFOs Are Landing in HR Territory
A new survey by Robert Half Management Resources finds that about one-fifth of 1,400 chief financial officers surveyed have taken on more HR duties in the past three years.
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Texas Gun Law Adds New Level of Vigilance for Employers
More than a dozen states already have such laws and adding Texas to that group was a major coup for the gun rights lobby. Two previous bills had failed in the Legislature before SB 321—known as the Employee Parking Lot Bill—passed in May and was signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry.
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The Goods on the 'Good Employer'
In an essay based on their new book, Workforce Management senior editor Ed Frauenheim and his co-authors, Laurie Bassi and Dan McMurrer, say workplaces must be at once caring, exacting, and stirring in the emerging "Worthiness Era."
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Accenture Settles Whistle-Blower Lawsuit for $63.7 Million
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Little Rock, Arkansas, alleged that Accenture submitted, or caused to be submitted, false claims for payment under numerous contracts with federal agencies for information technology services.
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2014: A Health Care Odyssey
Just over two years from now, the major provisions of health care reform kick in. Will your company be ready for the changes that are coming your way?
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The Courts Weigh In
As of mid-August, of the more than 12 lawsuits brought against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act four are of any significance, legal experts say.
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5 Questions for Ravin Jesuthasan: Out of Job Site, Out of Mind
To Ravin Jesuthasan, continued high unemployment in America isn't just about tough times for jobless workers. Jesuthasan, global practice leader for talent management at consulting firm Towers Watson & Co., says it's also about bias and missed business opportunities.
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Most Employers Say Workers Need Guidance on Benefit Decisions
The survey included responses from more than 750 human resources managers and benefit managers attending the annual SHRM conference in Las Vegas in June
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High Demand for Executive-Level Talent Keeps Unemployment in C-suite Low
For HR professionals, education and experience are important, but companies are placing a premium on demonstrated accomplishments.
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Mayor Tackles Tenure, Rarefying 'Teacher for Life'
The tenure-denial rate is higher than ever in New York City, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg lauds a rigorous new teacher evaluation system.
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The Last Word Cultural Awareness
Many people yearn to belong to an organization whose principles they share and can embrace in their daily work. And if corporate stewards tend the culture well, they can count on an engaged and committed workforce for many years to come.
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Wedbush Ordered to Pay $3.5 Million for Reprehensible Failure to Compensate Worker
Financial regulatory panel says the brokerage stiffed a municipal sales trader who was owed years worth of incentive compensation.
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Men Dominate MBA Enrollment in Chicago
But East Coast schools such as the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Harvard Business School are enrolling record percentages of women in the upcoming academic year.
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SHRM Survey Cuts in Benefits Causing Headaches for HR
Nearly three-fourths of HR practitioners surveyed reported a negative impact on benefits because of the economy—a 5 percent increase from 2010.
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Sustainability No Buzzword in Running a 21st Century Company
The right management approach for this world is a sustainable one that enables organizations to perform well financially, socially and environmentally.
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Employment Law Landscape Changes With Wal-Mart Ruling
The decision makes it more difficult for employees to file large class-action lawsuits unless they are able to clearly identify a common injury, such as a companywide discriminatory policy.
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Aon Alleges Employee, Client Poaching by Another Firm
In a chancery suit filed June 15 in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, Aon Risk Services Cos. Inc. and Aon Risk Insurance Services West Inc. alleged that the former executives violated their employment agreements with Aon.
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Democrats Question Validity of McKinsey Health Care Plan Survey
The survey of more than 1,300 employers of varying sizes found that 30 percent 'definitely' or 'probably' will stop offering coverage after 2014.
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Students Irk Prosecutor With Insider Trading Query
The U.S. attorney cracking down on Wall Street is bringing his message directly to MBA students. Problem is, they're asking precisely the wrong question.
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Protest Group Calls News Conference on Opening Day of SHRM Confab
SHRM Members for Transparency plans to air its grievances following the association’s failure to respond to repeated invitations for a summit.
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Benefits Managers Turning to HR Blogs for Advice and Insight
Are benefits managers following blogs or social media to help them make informed decisions, and if so, which ones are they following? Which human resources bloggers do they trust and what kinds of information are they seeking?
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Minimizing Contingent Worker Risks
Choose the staffing agencies that supply your workers carefully, and make sure your contract with them protects you from legal liability.
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More Employers Take on Temps, but Planning Is Paramount
Some companies aren’t waiting for the government to be their guide on this journey. They use a stringent vetting process where workers must answer questions that go beyond what the government requires.
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Labor Department Extends Date to Comply with 401(k) Fee Disclosure Rule
Calendar-year plans now have until April 30, 2012, to provide the information as employers will welcome the extra time, experts say.
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Cubicle-Sharing Website Seeks to Match Telecommuters and an Office
Loosecubes, which helps users share their underutilized office spaces is tapping into Facebook to expand its network; specializing in interesting venues.
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Ford Improves Worker Safety, Hollywood-Style
Researchers are creating a multinational avatar based on Ford’s North American virtual workers Jack and Jill. The new avatar will reflect the sizes and shapes of workers at assembly plants across the globe.
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Survey Notes Employee Health Care Deductibles Rising
Rising health care costs add pressure on employers already affected by the difficult economy, but boosting employee cost-sharing may make employees more careful consumers of services, says one expert.
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Living Wage Backers Storm City Hall in New York
The bill, which would compel employers at projects that receive $100,000 or more in city subsidies to pay workers $10 an hour plus benefits or $11.50 without benefits, was expected to draw passionate testimony from supporters and opponents.
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Health Care Industry Continues to Show Positive Job Growth
The growth—the strongest in six months’ time—put the 12-month growth rate at 2.3 percent, or 317,000 total jobs.
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Obama Signs Bill Repealing Health Care Reform Law Vouchers
The voucher repeal provision is part of an appropriations measure, HR 1473, that the president signed April 15 after final congressional passage of the bill.
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Bloggers Hit Huffington Post With Labor Lawsuit
A class-action lawsuit alleges that as many as 9,000 unpaid bloggers for the Huffington Post were unjustly denied compensation.
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Iranian-Born Worker Can Sue Defense Firm for Bias Over Security Clearance Firing
Hossein Zeinali filed a lawsuit under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act claiming he was terminated because of his race and national origin.
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The Last Word: The New College Try
I realized just how cutthroat the admission process had become when my son and I attended a college information session last summer in Massachusetts. It’s all about 'the strategic packaging of yourself,' the admissions official said. 'This is no time for humility.'
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Staffing Company Changes Name to ManpowerGroup
Additionally, ManpowerGroup Solutions will be the brand for the company’s recruitment process outsourcing, managed service provider and more complex solutions offerings.
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High Court to Decide if Religious School Allowed ADA Ministerial Exception
Qualifying as a called teacher requires a certificate of admission into the teaching ministry. A called teacher receives the title of ‘commissioned minister,’ but religion consumed only 45 minutes of Cheryl Perich’s seven-hour school day.
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UAW Says Nearly All Laid-Off Detroit 3 Workers Are Back to Work
Since the last bargaining convention in 2007, GM’s UAW-represented work force has dropped from around 75,000 to 49,000 as plants have closed and workers departed either through attrition or retirement.
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Create a Great Place to Work in Four Easy (and Four Hard) Steps
Employees and candidates alike are skeptical of companies that spend money to chase the easy parts of the great place to work award without attempting the hard stuff.
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Chrysler's F-Bomb Rift Underscores Workplace Social Media Turf War
The incident may have shined a light on a continuing battle between marketing and communications departments over who should own and manage social media.
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The Last Word: Pride vs. Prejudice
Gays who were just beginning their careers back in 1974 are still vulnerable to workplace homophobia.
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Numbers Game: Companies Utilize Data to Predict Workforce Needs
Operation Workforce Tomorrow is under way at weapons-maker ATK and other companies that are using advanced metrics to prepare for the future.
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Gay Groups Refocus on Workplace
Efforts to bar employment discrimination against gays on a national level date back to 1974, and the ENDA legislation itself has floundered in Congress since 1994. Opponents contend the act would create a more litigious workplace.
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Weapons-Maker ATK Practices Personnel Precision
To stay on target in its workforce planning, weapons-maker ATK uses sophisticated metrics analysis to anticipate flight risks and the need for reinforcements.
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Employer Liable for Discriminatory Adviser in Firing Supreme Court
The high court ruled 8-0 in favor of overturning the 7th Circuit opinion, with Justices Samuel Alito Jr. and Clarence Thomas supporting a concurring opinion, and Justice Elena Kagan not taking part in the decision.
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Taxes Complicate Rule on Adult Children Coverage
While most states automatically conform their tax laws to federal tax law any time it changes, roughly 15 to 20 states do not. Unless those states update their tax laws, employees who have added their adult children to their policies will face additional state taxes.
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Despite the Downturn, Infosys Focuses on Full-Time Staff for the Long Term
The decision to honor hiring commitments made to thousands of new college graduates and to avoid layoffs of existing staff stems largely from the company’s goal to be an employer of choice over the long haul.
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Caterpillar Doubles Its Flexible Workforce
The Peoria, Illinois-based maker of heavy equipment saw its full-time workforce rise by 11.4 percent in 2010 to 104,490.
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Employers Turn to Creative Strategies to Reward Employees
As salaries slowly stabilize, employers are still seeking creative methods for rewarding employees. Noncash compensation and variable pay programs are on the rise and may be part of a new model for attracting and retaining employees.
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New York Mayor Says Its too Hard to Fire, Punish City Workers
A mayoral task force calls the city’s civil service system ill-suited for a modern workforce and suggests changes to get rid of the bad and retain and promote the best. Unions howl.
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Federal, State Governments Take Keener Interest in Employee Classification
During the past two years, the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department has hired more than 350 investigators to uncover employment violations, including misclassification. President Barack Obama has requested $25 million in the fiscal 2011 budget to target the issue further.
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Why You Need to Send Your Kids to Work in a Sweatshop of the Information Age
Welcome to the sweatshop of the 21st century, kids. We're running a contest this week. First one to make quota gets a trip to Spain next month. Second prize is a new Android smart phone. Third prize? You're fired. No, really, you're fired.
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Report Notes Lower Vaccination Rates, More H1N1 Hospitalizations Among Minorities
Last year’s flu pandemic, which infected about 20 percent of the U.S. population and resulted in about 274,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths, resulted in historically high rates of flu vaccinations.
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Caterpillar Adds 9,000 to Flexible Workforce
The flexible workforce includes workers from staffing firms as well as part-time and temporary Caterpillar employees.
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Recruiting Film Aimed at Boosting Diversity Unveiled by Ad Industry Firms
Targeted at high school students, the film is lauded as a rare effort of good advertising for an industry often criticized for its lack of diversity.
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Avoid These Hurdles to Adopting HR Mobile Apps
Companies must decide how they'll secure corporate data on mobile devices and integrate mobile apps with existing HR information technology infrastructure. If they're thinking of developing their own app, they must select an outside contractor to work with.
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Black Workers, Applicants Allege Discrimination by Iowa
The lawsuit alleges disparate-impact or adverse-impact discrimination in hiring and promotions in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state law.
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Bloomberg Freezes New York Hiring as Layoffs Become Likely
In a couple of years, one out of every eight dollars the city spends will go to providing health care benefits to retirees, says one leading administrator.
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New York Home to Many Mom-Friendly Firms
Working Mother magazine cites 24 companies for their policies and perks; number of employers offering back-up child care soars.
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Legal Static Over Issuing Smart Phones to Workers
A lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department is an example of a clear warning to employers to put a smart-phone usage policy in place before they end up in potentially costly litigation, lawyers say.
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The Last Word A Tweet Too Far
Although I certainly appreciate and benefit from my cyberspace connections, they don't create what I consider a true sense of community.
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Survey U.K. Firms May Cut Benefits Under New Pension Law
In June, the recently elected U.K. coalition government said it was conducting a review to determine how best to support the implementation of automatic enrollment into company pension plans.
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Chambers of Commerce Unite to Urge Congress to Repeal Health Care Laws 1099 Provision
Currently there are bills before Congress to repeal the 1099 provision, but such bills should not seek to make the repeal revenue-neutral by increasing taxes or removing tax incentives from business, according to a letter from the coalition.
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Yahoo Takes New 'Road' on Ethics Training
A tailored training package replaces one seen as too middle-American and middle-aged for a multinational company with a youthful workforce.
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Plenty of New York Jobs Await Tech Workers
An IT career website reports that the Big Apple leads other major metro areas, with 8,200 employment openings in July.
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Department of Labor to Conduct FMLA Study
The most recent survey, released in 2007, estimated that 8 to 17.1 percent of employees took FMLA leave in 2005.
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Workforce Staffing Could Hit Pre-Recession Levels in Two Years at Many Large U.S. Firms
Among all U.S. companies surveyed, only 13 percent of executives say they plan to reduce their employee base over the next 12 months.
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Hotel and Garment Unions Settle on Breakup
After the failed marriage of the two big unions, garment workers will keep longtime cash cow Amalgamated Bank, while hotel workers will walk away with a New York City office tower worth $70 million.
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UAW Targets Toyota Dealers to Prod Automaker to Unionize
In his speech, United Auto Workers president Bob King says all members must support organizing efforts at the U.S. plants of Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Volkswagen.
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Former UAW Boss Says New Leader Will Grow Membership
Ron Gettelfinger, elected to the first of two terms as president eight years ago, has guided the United Auto Workers through perhaps the most tumultuous period in the union’s 75 years of existence.
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It's 'Game On' for Training in Virtual Worlds
A new book depicts growing corporate support for using virtual worlds to deliver certain types of employee training.
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The Road to Recovery Four Crucial Steps to Regain Employees' Trust
As the recession wanes, it's likely some of your best talent will head for the exits. Employees hang tight when times are tough. But don’t confuse stability with loyalty. Your people have been in survival mode.
