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Ten years ago, it used to be the running joke in HR – if your facility got unionized, you were a terrible HR person who deserved to be fired for not doing your job.
But today there is no rhyme or reason. Some facilities have union campaigns occur and some do not. That’s the scary part. You might be doing everything right and still have a problem. Plus, with legislation like EFCA lingering out there and the Senate being on the verge of a filibuster-proof super majority, I suspect that we haven’t seen the last of pro-union efforts.
But just remember, it’s like I’ve always said… If you’re not pro-union, it’s not that you’re anti-union; you’re just pro-company. There is a difference you know.
I came across an interesting article at HR Morning which was called “the death of etiquette in interviews.” The article discussed things such as applicants using profanity or talking on a cell phone during their interviews, or those that brought their kids to interviews.
Even though it was an aged post, it was fascinating nonetheless. Because nothing ticks me off more than when an applicant shows up for an interview wearing a baseball hat, ripped jeans and proceeds to respond to a text messages during our time together. The lack of respect shown these days by applicants interviewing for positions at all levels is scary.
It shouldn’t matter what position you’re interviewing for. I mean, I don’t think you need to show up in a suit for an interview with Wendy’s, for example, but at least wear some khaki pants and a button-down shirt.
Look at it this way – you only get that interview to make a first impression.
“The Defense Attorney” was a post I used in part to complain about the ridiculous BWC hearing process in our state. But at the time, I forgot to mention one important thing… So I decided to present that in Q&A form.
Q: How do you know when a BWC claim is past the point of no return?
A: When the claimant shows up to a hearing with their briefcase and pulls out all of his/her neatly organized claim paperwork and correspondence from the BWC.
Yes, that’s right; when they start managing their claim full time, you will never get them back to work – guaranteed. In future posts, we’ll explore how to not let that happen.
Do attorneys ever take a “sue first, ask questions later” approach? I know that some do. But I’d like to believe that it only happens in certain fields of practice – like ambulance-chasing accident attorneys.
But the “sue first, ask questions later” situation is exactly what a District Judge is accusing attorneys from the EEOC of doing. You can read the entire story here, as reported by HR Morning.
The end result – get this – the company will receive $4.5M from the EEOC. Do you know what is pretty interesting? As HR Professionals, we always preach the importance of doing thorough investigations. But it sounds like that is what the EEOC is accused of not doing. It should be interesting to see how this plays out in court, as I’m sure the EEOC will appeal…
Below is a conversation I had with a former employee a short time ago (back when he was employed).
Him: “That’s fine; I’ll just sit at home and earn unemployment.”
Me: “You can always apply for unemployment. But you will not win considering these circumstances.”
Him: According to the Office of Unemployment Compensation, blah, blah, blah…
Yes, this guy actually called me with a State unemployment manual in front of him and started quoting from it. Want to know what happened?
First level determination – we won.
Second level determination – we won.
Hearing level – we won.
Now who’s laughing, bud? If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it one thousand times – if you know what you’re doing, you will NEVER lose an unemployment claim – no matter what it is filed for.
Oh, by the way, to the attorney who sent me a solicitation letter saying she’d represent my company for $800 per unemployment claim – think again – I don’t need your help. If you know what you’re doing, it’s a piece of cake.
In an Internet world full of lousy turnkey recruitment web sites, CareerBuilder continues to shine. They are now viewed by many HR Professionals as the preferred one-stop-shop (a position formally held by Monster).
Here’s an interesting article I came across today. It was published by MSN Careers yesterday.
It’s called “10 Things to Leave Off Your Resume” and in my opinion, you couldn’t pay for better advice. When I’ve taught resume writing classes in the past, these are issues that I bring up too. If you’re a job candidate, enjoy and make sure you read this article very closely.
I don’t know how it is in other states, but it’s always entertaining to attend an Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation hearing at the Industrial Commission.
You’ve never seen so many neck braces, wheelchairs and crutches in your life… But the sad thing is that if the work-related injury was truly legitimate, it should never even end up at a hearing, in my opinion.
Over the years, the employees I’ve dealt with who were truly hurt on the job were my top priority. We took care of them and got them back to work. Unfortunately, it’s the fraudulent claims and/or the companies that fight every single claim to the death that are ruining the system.
And let’s not forget the strange formula system by which premiums are calculated. Many HR Professionals that I know believe that it’s possible for a small business to go bankrupt due to their BWC premiums.
But do you want to know my favorite part of attending a hearing? Watching a defense attorney stand up and call out, “John Doe? John Doe?” Then a claimant comes forward, and the attorney says, “Hi. I’m your attorney.” That’s right; they’ve never even met.
Investigate claims. Use a TPA. Use an MCO. Talk to the BWC. Talk to your injured worker and get them back to work. With the latter being the key. You can always fight a claim if you need to, but if you’re doing everything else right, those will be far and few.
I won another unemployment hearing last week. Thus, my 12-year streak of not losing a claim or a hearing is still intact.
Anyway, I started thinking about it. This blog was kind of new when I wrote “Beating the Unemployment Maze – Part I” last August. I’d encourage you to read it.
Don’t pay an attorney for what you can and should be doing yourself. It’s amazing as to the cost savings you can obtain by just paying a little attention to this area (worker’s compensation too, for that matter).
Take care. I’m going to try to be more active on here moving forward.
Have you heard of GINA? If not, read up…
GINA is the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. The law went into effect on November 21, 2009.
Progressive Business Compliance posted this update today:
“On May 21, 2008, Former President George W. Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008 into law. GINA includes two distinct titles. Title I addresses the use of genetic information in health insurance. Title II of GINA prohibits employers from collecting genetic information from employees, and using this information to make decisions regarding employment.”
As a result of this law, make sure your company is compliant – your Federal EEOC poster must be updated immediately. As a perk for our readers, you can print the poster update for free here. Keep in mind that you almost never need to buy a poster, because they’re usually available online…
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