Author: Wendi Watts

Good and Bad News in 2011 Compensation Survey Results

There’s good news and bad news to be found in the results of HRHero.com’s 2011 Compensation Survey. The good news is that last year 32 percent of respondents said they were going to have a wage freeze in 2010, but this year only 21 percent say they are planning to have a wage freeze in the […]

Making ‘Subjective’ Employment Criteria ‘Objective’

Most employers understand that they should discourage the use of subjective criteria to make hiring, advancement, and severance decisions. However, many supervisors still insist that they must consider subjective criteria because factors like “attitude,” “initiative,” and “reliability” simply can’t be made objective. True or false? Let’s break it down. Every employee undoubtedly has certain tasks […]

Competing for Talent with Your Own Clients

By Joel Henderson and Stephen Acker Julie is an IT consultant working for NoProblemo! Tech Solutions (NP), a technology consultancy. Julie has worked at NP for six years, is well-educated, and has important certifications and transportable skills. What can NP do to reduce the risk of her being hired away by a client? The scenario […]

Supreme Court Agrees to Review Massive Discrimination Case Against Wal-Mart

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review what has been called the largest employment class action in U.S. history — Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes. The class of plaintiffs is estimated to include approximately 1.5 million former and current female Wal-Mart employees seeking monetary relief that could amount to billions of dollars in back pay. […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times with data from Nielsen BookScan on December 6. 1. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh. The visionary CEO of Zappos explains how an emphasis on corporate culture can lead to unprecedented […]

Unchain Yourself from Your Desk

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, my youngest son pulled out his favorite holiday movie to get himself in the Christmas spirit. You see, my wife was planning a day of putting up the Christmas tree, stringing lights outside, and generally decorating our home for the holidays. You might say that not everyone in the family shares […]

It’s Not Easy Being Green

Litigation Value: Front-row seat for the epic Michael v. Oscar battle of the wits = $0; coffee from the office coffee bar = a shocking $8 per cup;  watching Dwight fail miserably at drinking coffee with his toes = priceless. In this week’s episode, Oscar and Michael battle it out to see who is the […]

OSHA Says Employers Must Ban Texting while Driving

by Boyd Byers Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an initiative to combat work-related distracted driving. OSHA’s first point of focus is texting while driving. Audio Conference: Monitoring Employee E-Mail, Texting and Facebook: What’s Off Limits Safety concerns prompt new laws Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of worker fatalities, and […]

Behind the Scenes

With The Office closed (i.e., not airing a new episode) when it became this blogger’s turn to write again, he found himself with a dearth of fresh material.  So, instead of quantifying hypothetical litigation value, this post will tie up a loose end from his last entry in October, when he cryptically referred to “where […]

3 ECN Member Blogs Nominated for ABA Blawg 100

Three blogs written by members of the Employers Counsel Network have been nominated for the American Bar Association Journal’s annual Blawg 100 competition. For the fourth year in a row, That’s What She Said, a blog written by attorneys at Ford & Harrison LLP, has been selected as one of the 100 best law blogs […]