April Jobs Report – The Good, Bad and Ugly

April Jobs Report – The Good, Bad and Ugly

The April Jobs report fell wildly short of expectations for myriad reasons.  Unpacking these numbers reveal the crosscurrents in the U.S. economy. The Good The hardest-hit sectors during the COVID pandemic were dining, hospitality and entertainment.  Low-wage workers...

New Salary Floor Has Big Organizational Implications

Most all of the news reporting on the new exempt salary floor taking effect on December 1 has focused on the financials.  The new floor will be $47,476.  The Department of Labor estimates that 4.2 million more workers will be eligible for overtime pay triggering...

NLRB Stretches Concerted Activity to New and Dangerous Level

   We have all heard this one before in a break room, outside in a parking lot, at a bar after work:  Employee A laments “My boss has really been on my back.  She’s blamed me for things that went wrong that really were not my fault.  I’m pretty sure...

NLRB Upends the Franchise World

    Here’s a quick quiz for HR professionals: Company A solely defines all terms and conditions of employment for all of its associates.  It further solely determines the price of all of its products and determines its hours of operation.  Finally, it is solely...

Does Emotional Intelligence Have Practical Limits?

    Emotional intelligence (EQ or EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. Peter Salovey and John Mayer have been the most recent leading researchers on emotional intelligence. In their influential article “Emotional...

Is “It Depends” Really a Soft Answer?

       HR professionals are widely known for answering “it depends” in response to a question from management regarding a human resources issue.  And often times the response frustrates the manager who expects equivocation.  Is this fair?  Well, it depends (just...

Four Myths Regarding the Hobby Lobby Case

    Not sure what to make of the Hobby Lobby Case?  Join the crowd.  We have been inundated in the past weeks with interpretations of the decision.  Here are just a few: Nancy Pelosi – “…five men could get down to specifics of whether a woman should use a...

Workplace Flexibility Faces Daunting Challenges

    “No One Should Have to Choose Between Caregiving and Work” is the title of an article by Jody Gastfriend, VP of Senior Care Services at Care.com, that appears in this week’s Harvard Business Review Blog.  She makes a poignant and passionate argument for greater...

How do the Halbig and King Decisions Affect the ACA?

    Two decisions regarding the permissibility of federal subsidies granted to ACA Federal Insurance Marketplace enrollees were released yesterday.  The two courts arrived at opposite conclusions. The far more significant court, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, heard...