Delaware Employment Law Blog

Employees in cubicles across the U.S. take lunch very seriously.  Especially when it's their lunch.  And especially when their lunch is swiped from the fridge in the lunchroom.  Nearly 98% of employees surveyed said that eating someone else's food from the office fridge was unacceptable. 

When asked what was the most offensive breach of office etiquette, respondents were nearly unanimous in their agreement.  The "fridge raid" took the first-place prize for the Number 1 worst office behavior. 

Taking second place at 96% is bad hygiene.   And a variety of bad-manner conduct made up the rest of the most cited offenses.  The bad habits that are most likely to get you fired include:

1. Drinking on the job;
2. Wastefulness with paper;
3. Swearing in the office;
4. Cooking smelly food in the office microwave; and
5. Using Blackberry devices at meetings.

I was surprised to see #2, wasting paper, on the list.  I wouldn't have guessed that coworkers paid that much attention to others' paper usage.  But I think it's a positive sign.  Yes, really.   I'd dare to say that the fact that wastefulness with paper appears on this list is actually a strong indication of engaged employees. 

What's the connection?

Wasting paper is wasting company resources.  If employees are getting angry with their coworkers who waste company resources, it seems to me that they are invested in the company's fiscal health. Conversely, when employees flip over to the dark side and become disengaged and bitter, there's almost a satisfaction in wasting company resources.  It's a silent, albeit relatively small, way to "get back" at their employer.  So take it as a positive sign if employees take offense when others engage in miniature assaults against the organization.

Employees in cubicles across the U.S. take lunch very seriously.  Especially when it's their lunch.  And especially when their lunch is swiped from the fridge in the lunchroom.  Nearly 98% of employees surveyed said that eating someone else's food from the office fridge was unacceptable. 

When asked what was the most offensive breach of office etiquette, respondents were nearly unanimous in their agreement.  The "fridge raid" took the first-place prize for the Number 1 worst office behavior. 

Taking second place at 96% is bad hygiene.   And a variety of bad-manner conduct made up the rest of the most cited offenses.  The bad habits that are most likely to get you fired include:

1. Drinking on the job;
2. Wastefulness with paper;
3. Swearing in the office;
4. Cooking smelly food in the office microwave; and
5. Using Blackberry devices at meetings.

I was surprised to see #2, wasting paper, on the list.  I wouldn't have guessed that coworkers paid that much attention to others' paper usage.  But I think it's a positive sign.  Yes, really.   I'd dare to say that the fact that wastefulness with paper appears on this list is actually a strong indication of engaged employees. 

What's the connection?

Wasting paper is wasting company resources.  If employees are getting angry with their coworkers who waste company resources, it seems to me that they are invested in the company's fiscal health. Conversely, when employees flip over to the dark side and become disengaged and bitter, there's almost a satisfaction in wasting company resources.  It's a silent, albeit relatively small, way to "get back" at their employer.  So take it as a positive sign if employees take offense when others engage in miniature assaults against the organization.

The so-called “anti-Mommy bias” has garnered a lot of attention recently. A type of workplace discrimination, “anti-Mommy bias” is also known as maternal profiling, or family responsibility discrimination. (See this recent article in the Cincinnati Enquirer and my earlier post on Family Responsibility Discrimination).

Groups such as the Center for WorkLife Law and 9to5, National Organization of Working Women, have reported alarming statistics regarding the increase in this type of discrimination. Kohl’s was recently hit with a multi-million dollar verdict (for allegedly discriminating against one of its managers because she was a mother.

Nevertheless, a recent survey suggests that the mommy bias may be more fiction than reality. According to the survey, only 15% of mothers say that becoming a mother has had a negative impact on their career, while 65% say that it has had no impact on their career path. If these survey results are correct, the problem may not be as widespread as it seems.

Nonetheless, given the national attention to this topic, and the EEOC’s focus on it (see EEOC’s Guidance on Caregiver Discrimination), I expect we will continue to see a rise in these types of claims. For tips on avoiding this type of claim, see the free corresponding handout, which can be downloaded from my prior post.

[H/T to Ohio Employer’s Law Blog]

Delaware has been ranked first among all fifty states in the quality and fairness of its litigation environment, according to an annual study titled "Lawsuit Climate" published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform. Delaware has been awarded this honor for six straight years.

The survey polled approximately 1000 corporate attorneys at the nation's largest employers and took into consideration factors such as judge competence and impartiality, jury fairness, quality of attorneys, and timeliness for trial. Along with Delaware, Nebraska, Maine, Indiana and Utah were ranked in the top-five. Rounding out the bottom five were Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Illinois and West Virginia.

Inter Alia, (a/k/a) the Best Legal Research Blog, features Delaware Employment Law Blog as the Blawg of the Day

Inter Alia is the favorite weblog for legal research and reference (if you didn’t already know). Each day, Tom Mighell, blogger extraordinaire, posts about a legal research “blawg” (law + blog). Today, the Blawg of the Day is the Delaware Employment Law Blog!! Many gracious thanks to Tom for the recognition.

As a side note, for those of you who may still be new to the world of blogging, Inter Alia is the ultimate resource to find blogs of interest as you develop your list of feeds.

But, wait! There’s more! Tom also publishes Internet Legal Research Weekly, an e-newsletter readers can subscribe to for free, that covers anything and everything legal research, and then some. It often contains great information about other resources, such as Web 2.0 and other online tools. The current issue of the ILRW is available online or via subscription, and, when you have something specific in mind, check out the Internet Legal Research Weekly archives.

Really, there's more! Tom and his co-author, Dennis Kennedy, recently published the hottest book in the world of Legal Technology and Law Firm Practice Management, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together. Published by the ABA, the book is written in plain-English suitable for both the tech savvy and the not-so-tech savvy and provides detailed information on how to effectively collaborate using the multitude of online tools availble in today's internet-driven world.

The book is the talk of the blogosphere at: Between Lawyers, at David Maister's Passion, People, & Principles Blog, and the Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, just to name a few.

And Dennis Kennedy has a comprehensive post on his blog with lots of information about the book.