Only Human

Not to my knowledge. The reporting form for the ED...

2010-11-30T16:52:19.038-08:00

Not to my knowledge. The reporting form for the EDD requires a social security number but has no mention of requiring confirmation or attestation that it is valid.

There are at least 6 agencies who have criteria for determining who is an independent contractor and who is an employee: EDD, Workers Comp, IRS, Dept of Labor, CA Labor Commissioner, and INS (DHS). The DHS, however, lists no worker documentation or ID criteria.

The EDD and IRS are all over this issue: it is a popular way to avoid paying payroll taxes. I have assisted an employer with an audit by the EDD because one of her contractors applied for unemployment when the employer ended the contract! It took way too much time and effort by an employer who had done (almost) everything correctly.

What if you use independent (1099) contractors? H...

2010-11-30T15:58:02.970-08:00

What if you use independent (1099) contractors? Has DHS put any enforcement requirements on companies that prefer not to hire full-time, regular help?

The DOL has just issued more specifics on the heal...

2010-05-20T10:58:23.745-07:00

The DOL has just issued more specifics on the health insurance for adult children of policy holders. The adult children do not have to be IRS-type dependents, they CAN be married, they need not be students or live at home. For more info go to http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-dependentcoverage.html.

So how do we manage those situations where supervi...

2010-03-10T13:00:09.862-08:00

So how do we manage those situations where supervisors use texting to keep in touch with their staff?

Sounds like an interesting book to read. I'll ...

2010-03-03T12:31:07.163-08:00

Sounds like an interesting book to read. I'll have to keep that in mind.
It reminds me of a book I just finished reading called, "This Hungry Spirit" by C.Clinton Sidle.
I have just become student of leadership and there is one thing I know for sure – the better you know yourself and are grounded in your greater spirit, the more likely you are not only to be happy and successful but also wanting to do good in the world. This book is unique in making that claim – no other book explores the powerful combination happiness, leadership, and positive contribution.

As a huge fan of Steve Farber and his other book, ...

2010-02-17T10:22:20.805-08:00

As a huge fan of Steve Farber and his other book, Greater Than Yourself, I do believe it is possible to both love your job and be the kind of leader it takes to help your employees love their jobs. It is without question that work life has changed, and the first people to let you know about it is this new generation of professionals. They KNOW what they want, they want to make a difference, add value, find success in the collective. It is our job to listen. What was does not exist, what is and what can be are the lessons we bring to the future, a future filled with human relationship building and growing businesses that care.

Hi Betsey, This is a very good list. I feel compel...

2010-01-11T20:25:55.511-08:00

Hi Betsey,
This is a very good list. I feel compelled to comment on #10 "Evaluate the makeup of your workforce for diversity: the most successful companies draw on the talents of a diverse workforce." Diversity in these times makes us think of race, gender and sexual orientation. We should also be aware of the wealth that can be had when we have diversity in temperaments (#1). I found it interesting in '03 when I administered the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator for my IT employees. Every one of them had an introverted communications style while mine was extroverted. This was eye opening to say the least. My focus on the next several months was to insure that how we all interacted was consistent with our temperaments as much as possible. Styles are not wrong because they don't match what I'm comfortable with. They are just different and have every bit as much to offer as I do.

Thank you for diversity.

Greg

Who would I lunch with? Milton Friedman, Aung San...

2009-10-30T09:02:15.215-07:00

Who would I lunch with?

Milton Friedman, Aung San Suu Kyi and Mr. Bean.

Friedman was the pure logic machine. He understood human behavior and hence markets better than anyone. Answers to problems were simple because he knew human frailty and our selfish limitations and understood that we must guard against the oppression of one group over another. And we do that by dispersing power via free markets and limited government.

Ms. Kyi has had the opportunity to leave Burma at any time but she refuses to do so because she knows she would not be able to return as long as the current military regime remains in power. She has not seen her two children nor husband since the coup and her husband recently died. She remains under house arrest and has given all for her country and people.

Mr. Bean would be the perfect entertaining lunch companion- as long as you plan never to return to the restaurant.

Gordon Mullin

Although I think corporate policies that cover use...

2009-10-07T14:18:08.962-07:00

Although I think corporate policies that cover use of the social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace are important, I think it's equally important that companies ask their IT departments to block these sites to discourage employees from using them during working hours. Blocking, of course, won't stop the more determined employees from accessing these sites from their personal cell phones, but it can help to cut down on lost productivity.

Unfortunately, I think there is a much larger problem that face employers and workers. The problem is the "blurring" that has become so prevalent between work and non-work time. Since so many employees end up bringing work home in the evenings, or answering work-related calls after hours, there's no longer a clean line between the two. The lack of clear boundaries between work and off hours not only encourages employees to work during their time off, but it also tempts people to bring non-work-related activities into the office.

This is definitely a dilemma for most companies and there are no easy answers.

Great insights -- thanks for sharing.Speaking of u...

2009-10-02T14:05:11.148-07:00

Great insights -- thanks for sharing.Speaking of unions, a ruling just came down that a union did not violate any laws or regulations when it conducted a harassment campaign against a business owner AND HIS FAMILY. The National Labor Relations Board ruled that it was OK for the union to pass out leaflets in front of the the CEO's office and home, interrupt business meetings and charity events that he and his wife were being honored at for the charitable work they had done.Obsenities and threats such as "we know where your children go to school" were shouted at both the employer and his wife when they were out in public.

I believe that unions have done a lot for US workers, and they are just as suseptible to power plays and fear-based actions like this as employers.This ruling will not help gain support for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would give unions easier access to employees to convince them to unionize.

Paid to do nothing. I’m reminded of an earlier li...

2009-10-02T11:50:37.289-07:00

Paid to do nothing.

I’m reminded of an earlier life when I worked in a kitchen cabinet factory in Canada. I was young and knew in my heart that the bosses were out to abuse the workers and the only protection we had was under the shelter of our union.
Life, and my place in it, was easily understood by who you were. Bosses were exploitive capitalists and all workers were downtrodden and our union reps wore halos for hats.
Although there were some on the factory floor who took pride in their work, mostly immigrants who obviously knew no better, many of us spent much of our time figuring out methods to avoid any physical labor. Indeed, often the conversation over beers after work went on about how little work we had done. It was a point of pride to offer up stories about how we got out of doing a chore assigned by the foreman, who of course always was a jerk.
So, in that vein, I ran for a seat on the union’s plant committee and the following year I became the chair of the committee, largely based upon my boastful position of filing constant grievances against the management.
And then I changed.
I understand the mindset of the do-nothing crowd. It’s often rationalized in one’s mind that the boss is a jerk and therefore it’s OK to steal his time. We usually don’t steal from our friends and it only lightly, if at all, touches our conscience if we steal time from our employer, who we know ‘doesn’t care’ about us.
We’ve developed a sense of entitlement to our jobs. They are now ‘Our jobs”, the worker’s job, not the employers. We feel we should have the deciding vote as to what we do and how we do it. And if the boss has the audacity to fire us, we’ll sue.
In short, albeit I don’t know the study you reference in your blog, it doesn’t surprise me.

Gordon Mullin
dgmullin@yahoo.com

I'm glad to see the blog is being kept up! Thi...

2009-08-05T12:35:51.344-07:00

I'm glad to see the blog is being kept up! This was a great article, it's nice to see a realistic perspective about some of these archaic interview questions.

In my limited experience, a short conversation can tell you a whole lot more about a person than any rehearsed one-liners. I think it would also lead to better job matching if the candidates are less concerned with touting their "perfect" answers, and are able to see how well their personalities and qualifications actually fit the job.

My comment about unions was a comment about the wh...

2009-06-10T20:20:36.178-07:00

My comment about unions was a comment about the whole playing field having nothing to do with a great employee who you would like to keep because it is good for business.

Great point. With Unions, the whole playing field ...

2009-06-10T16:53:53.741-07:00

Great point. With Unions, the whole playing field is different. My comments come from the "how to keep from getting sued for wrongful termination" perspective, and if you follow the union rules, I guess there is little chance of that.

What about the union contract that speaks to senio...

2009-06-10T16:46:25.776-07:00

What about the union contract that speaks to seniority? Regardless of productivity and a positive employment profile, a simple hire date dictates the bye-bye, it's been fun note.