All us HR types figured we see a shift to employee-supportive legislation once Arnold left, and there is much evidence to support it.
Recent events include the passage of a bill allowing Agriculture Workers to unionize without a secret ballot election.
Pending legislation (AB 325) includes a mandate that employers provide up to 4 unpaid bereavement days and the employee can sue the employer if they feel discriminated against because they requested or took the leave. The bill is in committee.
AB 877 is a Gender Non-Discrimination Act that adds transgender employees to the protected class. Sexual orientation is already protected from discrimination and this law would add gender identity. This bill has passed the Assembly and is now under review in the Senate.
We can recite my mantra in unison: If we hadn't chained women and children to sewing machines for 18 hours a day in airless, locked warehouses, we wouldn't have needed unions and these kinds of laws. Same goes for farm labor, the use of short hoes and such. In the name of profit we have been horrible to our employees for over a hunderd years and now we are paying for the sins of our fathers.
The good news is that in the last 20 years our management techniques have reflected the realization that our employees are the key to our success. If we take care of them, they take care of the customers, and help breed our success.
Now we wait for the tipping point: when the majority of employers are so good to employees that these laws are no longer needed. My experience working with the wide variety of employers I do offers me hope that this point may be seen in the next 20 years.
Showing posts with label employer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label employer. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Why We Have Employment Laws
If we want to understand why this country has so many draconian safety regulations we need only wait for the next fire on a drilling platform and learn about the alarms turned off so that the crews could sleep. Or we can wait until there is a cave-in at a mine & hear about the hundreds of short-cuts taken and violations for which the mine was cited over the years.
It is not always that clear in employment law – I have said before that if it weren’t for the industrial revolution we wouldn’t have as many laws. But employers chained women and children to sewing machines and they worked 18 hour shifts in locked, airless rooms. For a pittance.
If this country had a history of treating its employees well, then maybe by now employees could decide if they need a break every 2 hours; and maybe it would be left to the employer and the employee to decide what schedule worked best for them both.
So if our current regulations are a response to the past, I wonder what will be the legacy of the current employment relationship.
It is not always that clear in employment law – I have said before that if it weren’t for the industrial revolution we wouldn’t have as many laws. But employers chained women and children to sewing machines and they worked 18 hour shifts in locked, airless rooms. For a pittance.
If this country had a history of treating its employees well, then maybe by now employees could decide if they need a break every 2 hours; and maybe it would be left to the employer and the employee to decide what schedule worked best for them both.
So if our current regulations are a response to the past, I wonder what will be the legacy of the current employment relationship.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Employer Resolutions for the New Year
Forgive me: I cannot resist the urge to jump on the New Year’s LIST bandwagon. At this time of year we see countless TOP 100 Lists: books, movies, U-tube videos, excuses for missing school or work, and on and on. That’s not the bandwagon of which I speak, although it might be fun to see what list I could come up with: The Top 100 HR Conundrums. Now, that’d be interesting reading.
Nope, I am all over lists of New Year’s Resolutions. For the employer and the employee. In this column we’ll list 12 things an employer/supervisor can do to improve the workplace and their experience in it. Next column will contain a similar list for employees. I made the list include 12 things, but not so you rush through them like the 12 Days of Christmas. (OH! That’s another great idea: “The 12 Days of HR”. “Five golden parachutes!”) Anyway, I picked 12 things because you may want to take a month for each one to be accomplished or developed into a habit.
In no particular order, here are things an employer and/or supervisor can resolve to do during 2010:
1. Determine the temperaments of your employees: once you know how they process information you can more effectively match their work assignments.
2. Discover the strengths of your employees: build on these strengths and find ways to work around their weaknesses. This will result in better results for all.
3. Greet them every day: not as obvious as you might think. It matters.
4. Ask them what will keep them working for you: discover what turns them on about working for you.
5. Ask them what would prompt them to leave: don’t wait for the exit interview to find out what you could have done to retain good employees.
6. Read The Radical Leap, by Steve Farber: it defines leadership as cultivating love in order to generate boundless energy and inspire courageous audacity.
7. Learn how to delegate: no, it is not dumping, and you do have to follow up. It is great for both parties and the business.
8. Re-read the One Minute Manager: the simplest management book and still one of the best.
9. Determine your temperament: oh yeah, you should know how you process information and communicate, too.
10. Evaluate the makeup of your workforce for diversity: the most successful companies draw on the talents of a diverse workforce.
11. Review your Employee Handbook: does it reflect the company’s personality? Toss out anything that doesn’t sound like you (except the legal stuff). Do you really need that long list of ways to get fired?
12. Have every employee write their job description: does it match what you think they are doing? What they should be doing?
OK, that’s it. Let me know what you think. What I think is that in 12 months you will have a happier and more productive workforce made up of employees who love what they do. Happy New Year!
Nope, I am all over lists of New Year’s Resolutions. For the employer and the employee. In this column we’ll list 12 things an employer/supervisor can do to improve the workplace and their experience in it. Next column will contain a similar list for employees. I made the list include 12 things, but not so you rush through them like the 12 Days of Christmas. (OH! That’s another great idea: “The 12 Days of HR”. “Five golden parachutes!”) Anyway, I picked 12 things because you may want to take a month for each one to be accomplished or developed into a habit.
In no particular order, here are things an employer and/or supervisor can resolve to do during 2010:
1. Determine the temperaments of your employees: once you know how they process information you can more effectively match their work assignments.
2. Discover the strengths of your employees: build on these strengths and find ways to work around their weaknesses. This will result in better results for all.
3. Greet them every day: not as obvious as you might think. It matters.
4. Ask them what will keep them working for you: discover what turns them on about working for you.
5. Ask them what would prompt them to leave: don’t wait for the exit interview to find out what you could have done to retain good employees.
6. Read The Radical Leap, by Steve Farber: it defines leadership as cultivating love in order to generate boundless energy and inspire courageous audacity.
7. Learn how to delegate: no, it is not dumping, and you do have to follow up. It is great for both parties and the business.
8. Re-read the One Minute Manager: the simplest management book and still one of the best.
9. Determine your temperament: oh yeah, you should know how you process information and communicate, too.
10. Evaluate the makeup of your workforce for diversity: the most successful companies draw on the talents of a diverse workforce.
11. Review your Employee Handbook: does it reflect the company’s personality? Toss out anything that doesn’t sound like you (except the legal stuff). Do you really need that long list of ways to get fired?
12. Have every employee write their job description: does it match what you think they are doing? What they should be doing?
OK, that’s it. Let me know what you think. What I think is that in 12 months you will have a happier and more productive workforce made up of employees who love what they do. Happy New Year!
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