First Comment

On Labor Day, be thankful to those who do labor for you: your employees. But while you and they are probably enjoying a day off, let's take a look at some links about your labor force.

First from the Wall Street Journal, an article from two weeks ago that got a lot of attention: "The End of Management." It's a provocative piece that makes you think if you would really be better off having managers who act like venture capitalists. It would certainly mean interesting things for the labor force.

Also from the Wall Street Journal, an older article that talks about how Goldman Sachs is banning naughty words in their e-mails, making sure their labor force doesn't use any language that will show up controversially in a congressional hearing like they had this past summer.

Next, from Yahoo! Finance via Bloomberg Businessweek, a nod to napping in the office (H/T Wendy). While before it was an act that could get employees fired, this article says that companies are more and more encouraging their labor force to get some zzz's at the workplace.

Lastly, from the New York Times Career Couch, a Q&A that asks about the separation between church and cubicle, among other labor-related topics.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your holiday BBQs!

From New York Magazine's always excellent Grub Street:

When Marc Murphy testified against a proposed bill mandating that restaurateurs provide paid sick leave, his director of operations made sure to point out that Landmarc treats its employees very well, thank you (among other things, they get five sick days after they’ve worked there a year). But here’s something interesting — another restaurateur who testified against the bill on Tuesday, Irene Lo Re, also happens to be the owner of one of 25 Park Slope restaurants that were busted by the state Department of Labor for underpaying workers.

Though the eateries weren’t named in yesterday’s press release from the labor department, the NY Daily News today revealed that the restaurants include Olive Vine Café, Sotto Voce, Sweet Melissa Patisserie, Baluchi's, Sette Enoteca e Cucina, and Aunt Suzie’s. And a call to Christine Quinn’s office reveals that Aunt Suzie owner Irene Lo Re spoke against paid sick leave. To make matters more interesting, Lo Re is president of the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District and she has also been a chairperson of Community Board 6. We’ve called Lo Re to find out what, exactly, it is that she doesn't like about the bill. 

That's not good news. One usually thinks of restaurants as places where labor laws are a gray area (many New York restaurants have undocumented workers and the wages paid aren't always "fair"), but there are still consequences for violating the law even within the food services industry. Mama Mexico faced a lawsuit earlier this year and the question of paid sick leave has become a hotly debate topic. Those are just two examples but it shows that no matter what industry you are in, you need to treat your workers right.

In was Patriot Day up in Boston today and here are some links to celebrate:

-The Laconic Law Blog tells us how making a profane comment about your employer can result in your loss of labor protections

-Don't have time for social media? Collegerecruiter.com say to hire an intern!

-HR World says less structure, more profit and to do this they recommend hiring recent graduates and having them work in a virtual office.

-RoundPegg has some thoughts on brown-nosing, sycophantism and sucking up including urging us all to not give in

-Want to know how a company can blow its trade secret protection? George's Employment Blawg has some details

-Goals vs. Commitments. Fistful of Talent has the battle

-Lastly, Benefits Buzz urges it to be done pro bono to get the most from time off spent to volunteer

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

Here's a list of seven employee complaints for this Monday:

1) Your employer is watching over you...even as you work at home (an article about telecommuting surveillance from the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal): click here

2) Your former employer is delighting in your layoff (well this Workforce Management article says that if they do, they're going to hell -- Management hell): click here

3) Your former employer is suing you (this may turn out really, really poorly according to the Laconic Law Blog): click here

4) My employer is making me copy on both sides of the paper among other money-saving operations (Fistful of Talent talks about Budweiser's integration into InBev...a good article also about combining cultures in company's and HR's responsibility in that): click here

5) The superstar employee on my team is getting $20-$25 million in severance (while this is probably not your company, this article is an interesting view on the Brett Favre situation in Green Bay from the HR Capitalist and how they blow the term "Golden Parachute" totally out of the water): click here

6) My young co-workers are hopping from job to job and making more money than me (Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 has an article confirming job hopping among Gen Y/The Millenials): click here

7) I just have lots of complaints (well About.com's Human Resources blog compiled a list of the top ten employee complaints): click here