HR Briefing articles from March 2003

HR Briefing archives from March 2003

Hiring displaced workers tops DOL's workforce agenda: pension protection and safety in FY 2004 budget. (Labor Department Update).(United States Department of Labor)(fiscal year 2004)
March 15, 2003... U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Elaine Chao released details of her department's fiscal year (FY) 2004 budget, which would set aside $2 billion to help displaced workers find jobs and another $9.2 billion for job training. This...

More workers dropping out of workforce, giving up on job searches.(United States Department of Labor)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * The U.S. Labor Department reports that 1 million Americans have dropped out of the workforce since June 2002--the largest decrease since the months following September 11, 2001. Employment analysts say that this disturbing trend...

Employers must prepare staff for change in uncertain times. (Practices and Procedures).
March 15, 2003... The last few years have not been easy for Corporate America, nor for the American worker. We've had to deal with a recession, record-breaking bankruptcy filings, corporate scandals, and endless downsizings. And as if these events weren't...

Labor moves battles into the board room.(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * Unions such as the AFL-CIO are proposing shareholder resolutions in response to the wave of corporate scandals involving the mismanagement of publicly held stock. Shareholder resolutions are proposals that corporate stockholders,...

DOL charges Whirlpool with discrimination.(United States Department of Labor)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) accused the Whirlpool Corporation of discriminating against more than 650 minority applicants in its hiring process at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, plant. The DOL has filed a complaint asking that the appliance...

Defamation. (You Be The Judge).(Griggs v. Wal-Mart Stores)
March 15, 2003... After waiting on at least a half-dozen customers, George Woodruff, a sporting-goods clerk in a discount retail store, welcomed the first of his two 15-minute breaks. "I thought that last customer would never buy that basketball for his...

Weak job market shows ill effects of outsourcing U.S. jobs.(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * American workers have been worried about the widespread loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs and low-wage service jobs to foreign countries for a long time. Now that the job market is weak, researchers and labor groups are beginning to see the...

Use a checklist to coordinate a layoff.(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * The attorneys at Fair Measures Corporation offer the following checklist for handling layoffs, starting with the elimination of nonessential workers and services: --Identify employees, functions, departments, and divisions to be...

Layoffs: consider the options, know the law, and plan the process. (Layoffs).
March 15, 2003... While nothing can make the bad news about an upcoming layoff sound good, there are ways to conduct staff reductions that can make the process less painful. A first step is for HR managers to think of layoffs as a way to rebuild their...

The work ethic is under attack, says professor.(Edward Younkins)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * There is an ongoing assault on the work ethic and work itself, according to Edward Younkins, professor of business administration at Wheeling Jesuit University (Wheeling, W. Va.) and author of Capitalism and Commerce: Conceptual Foundations...

AFL-CIO expands member housing-assistance program.(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * Extending an experimental initiative that helps workers afford their own homes and helps fund union pension plans, the AFL-CIO is now making the program, called Hit Home, available to members of all its union affiliates. The Hit Home...

Layoffs are fueling employee lawsuits, say labor experts. (Liability).
March 15, 2003... As employers continue laying off workers, they'd better be prepared for an onslaught of wrongful discharge claims this year, warns the D.C.-based law firm of Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC. In a new survey by the Employment Law...

Video addresses offensive language in workplace.(G. Neil Cos.)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... * G. Neil, publishers of employment-related posters, brochures, and other materials, has released a video on the "Top Ten Things You Shouldn't Say in the Workplace." The video addresses language that could be considered offensive and...

Race bias found in resume reviews. (Survey results ...).(Brief Article)
March 15, 2003... Researchers from the University of Chicago Graduate School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that recruiters were more likely to reject resumes from candidates with black-sounding names than resumes from candidates...

Companies taking succession planning more seriously. (Business trends ...).
March 15, 2003... U.S. employers are more serious about management succession planning than they were five years ago, according to a study by consultants J. Howard & Associates (Boston), a unit of Novations Group, Inc. More than two-thirds of the...

There's help for the workplace in stress-filled times. (Health & Safety).
March 1, 2003... The ever-present threat of more terrorist attacks, a pending war with Iraq, and escalating tension among nations make these unusually stressful times. September 11, 2001, marked the beginning of this era of heightened stress. It also proved...

Labor secretary renames PWBA.(Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration now Employee Benefits Security Administration)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... * U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has renamed the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA), the Department of Labor (DOL) agency that oversees private-sector retirement, health, and other employer-sponsored benefit programs. The...

Get the right self-service system from the best vendor. (Technology).(purchasing employee self-service systems)
March 1, 2003... There are many sound, bottom-line reasons for HR to trade in many manual tasks for an employee self-service system (ESS). One reason is the significant "hard" savings in administrative costs and time spent, for example, on updating employee...

Working poor paying double for health coverage.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... * A study by the Service Employees International Union's (SEIU's) Chicago-area Hospital Accountability Project, shows that the people who are least able to afford health care treatment are often charged twice as much for it. According to...

Age discrimination. (You Be The Judge).
March 1, 2003... "It's not just your management style that's a problem, Stan, it's also your performance," said Loretta Elder, BlanCo & Company's vice president of HR. She looked over at the pile of documented complaints against Stan Homer, a 52-year-old...

Do you have a disaster emergency plan?(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... * The National Partnership for Workplace Mental Health says that your organization can prepare for natural and man-made disasters by creating a disaster plan. The plan requires you to do the following: * Discuss with decision makers...

HMOs are down while PPOs are up.(health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... * The number of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) has been decreasing nationwide, while the number of preferred provider organizations (PPOs) has been increasing, according to research by the Managed Care Information Center (MCIC). ...

HR should be a champion of innovation, says author. (Staff Development).(human resources department)(Jacqueline L. Byrd)
March 1, 2003... When was the last time an employee's idea turned out to be a big money maker for your organization? Better yet, when was the last time an employee presented an idea for consideration? If you can't recall either situation, your organization...

Universal health plan proposed.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... * In response to the rising health-care crisis, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) unveiled a new plan that would provide health insurance for the millions of American workers without employer-provided medical coverage. An estimated 50...

Unemployment up worldwide.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... * American workers aren't the only group straggling with joblessness. The United Nations' International Labor Office just released a study showing that, during the past two years, about 20 million people across the globe have lost their jobs....

Dress codes: "business conservative" is making a comeback. (Policies & Procedures).
March 1, 2003... Editor's note: HR Briefing is pleased to introduce Marjorie Brody, president of Brody Communications Ltd. (Philadelphia), as a new contributor. Her firm specializes in business communication and executive coaching. She is the author of 15...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2003... * The employment screening checklist on page 5 of the February 15, 2003, issue of HR Briefing was reprinted with permission from Employment Screening Resources (ESR), specialists in background checks. Visit ESR's Web site at www.esrcheck.com.

Our readers ask ...(hostile work environments)(employee promotions)
March 1, 2003... Q We recently fired a male employee for sexually harassing a female co-worker. We had reprimanded him last year after another female employee accused him of using sexually offensive language in a conversation with her. We conducted a thorough...