Delaware Employment Law Blog

Work-life balance, toxic bosses, and generation gaps.  Three of our favorite topics at the Delaware Employment Law Blog.  They're also the focus of a Special Edition of Businessweek.  The magazine, on stands Monday, has a feature called Business@Work.  The workplace special report was created, really, by readers.  In surveys, blogs, and polls, readers talked about their top concerns at work and their strategies and practical tips for how they deal with it all.  The topics covered include, in addition to the ones above, how to stay creative and entrepreneurial in uncertain economic times, time management, and managing the bureaucracy of Corporate America.

There were lots of fascinating tidbits among the nine pages of text.  One of the main articles deals with the initiatives being taken by employers that focus on their employees' "happiness."   Go figure.  A "happiness initiative" is not necessarily a new idea.  After all, that's what employee benefits are, for the most part.  But some of the efforts being made by companies like Safeco, IBM, and BMW N. America, are new to me. 

How would your employees like the idea of being flown to Disneyland for the day--families included.  (If you like it enough to transfer, you'd want to apply at the L.A. office of law firm DLA Piper).  Or maybe you'd be interested in hiring a Chief Happiness Officer, who, if he's like the CHO at London ad agency, iris Worldwide, is in charge of managing regular pub crawls.  And for the academics in the group, there is happiness learning just around the corner.  Companies including Qantas and Sanofi-Aventis have called in experts to assess the emotional health of their employees. 

So are these "perks" really seen as perks by the employees who receive them?  Or does the fact that they occur during working time with coworkers and monitored by management make them any less enticing?

Employers know that recruiting is tough.  An entire industry is devoted to doing it just so employers won't have to.  But once you get a desirable candidate in front of you, how do you convince her that she should want to work for your company?  In other words, what are the top 10 reasons that the candidate should want to jump on board? 

Insincere Recruiting Does Not Work

Insincerity is the worst approach. 

The candidate sees through it most of the time and, if they don't, they'll feel betrayed the moment they realize you mislead them with a fantasy story about the wonderful workplace your company promotes. Sincerity, on the other hand, is the way to go.

Be honest.  Tell applicants and recruits the truth.  You may even be surprised how many great things there really are about your workplace once you start to list them. 

And the truth will help you avoid generic responses that are sure to turn off the person sitting across from you.  Things like, "Oh, the corporate culture here, it's great." Bleck. Please, you don't really believe that do you?  Or, "We have a great work-life balance."  Again, bleck.  These phrases mean nothing to anyone who actually listens. 

Be Candid With Candidates

How about, "Well, my direct supervisor is a riot.  He has the greatest way of lightening the mood when someone is having a rough day.  It's a huge relief to everyone in our group." 

Or, "We go out sometimes together as a group.  But it's a spontaneous thing--never forced or 'required.' The fact that it's a spur-of-the-moment event means that no one is obligated to go.  Anyone can say, 'I have to pick up my kids before 6,' without feeling guilty about it.  The truth is, though, no one ever does--everyone always goes.  And the fact that we usually start happy hour at 4 or 4:30 helps, too."

Ask Yourself Before a Candidate Asks You First

You should ask yourself this question before you conduct your next interview.  Even better, get the hiring managers together and talk about it.  Likely, you'll hear others' comments that you hadn't thought of but that are really on point for you.  This does not mean you should have a script--remember, sincerity is key.  But you should know what you love about your job so you can communicate that with energy and honesty to a curious candidate. 

Long ago, Google published a "Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google."  And, hey, it's worked.  Google obviously knows its values and priorities when it comes to employee recruiting and retention.  And they've attracted the best of the best by communicating those values and priorities in a heartfelt way. 

Give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised at your own Top 10 list.

"The four-day workweek, with 10-hour workdays for the first four days of the week and a fifth day off, could become a popular option for the cost-conscious commuter."  In my post earlier this week, How the Current Economy Could Affect the Future of Flextime, I considered whether the price of fuel might push employers to be more permissive of alternative and flexible schedules.

Well, I hate to say "I told you so," so I'll say instead that, "Great minds think alike." There has been a flurry of similar speculations in the news all week. 

Ohio's Kent State University has already made the switch, permitting custodial employees to elect to work a four-day week.  And municipal governments across the country, from Hollywood, Florida, to the Webster Parish in Louisiana, to St. Lawrence County in N.Y. are considering making the change. 

The N.Y. Times reports that even school districts are moving to a shortened week to help cut fuel costs.

USA Today has the following to report:

In Alabama, the city of Birmingham decided to adopt a four-day week for employees starting July 1.

"We are doing it in an effort to help employees save some money on gasoline," says Deborah Vance, chief of staff to the mayor. "Offices and departments that deal directly with the public will maintain their five-day schedule."

On June 2, road crews in Walworth County in Wisconsin will start working four-day shifts. Shane Crawford, a deputy administrator, said his county experimented with four-day workweeks last summer. Crews spent less time on the road driving to and from work sites, reducing fuel and overtime costs.

Starting June 1, Avondale, Ariz., will move to a four-day workweek at City Hall. That eliminates one day of commuting for about 150 employees. Claudia Whitehead, the town's economic development director, who says her monthly gas costs were starting to rival her car payments, spends about two hours a day commuting. "It'll have a real positive impact," she says.

Among businesses, 26% are offering a flexible schedule to help employees with high gas prices, a May survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found. And nearly half of professionals say higher gas prices have affected their commutes, according to a recent survey by Robert Half International, up from 34% two years ago in a similar survey.

Some employers that can manage it are moving to shut down for one day. For one day a week, vehicles used for work can sit idle, or air conditioning can be kept off.

Good management is learned.  No one is born a good manager.  But we learn as we go. Well, at least some of us do. Others maybe haven't gotten that far.  And how do you know which one of the two categories you're in?  For one Post Office manager, the signs are pretty clear.

Earlier this month, about 100 postal workers put up a lively picket line that stretched half a block long.  And what were they protesting?  Their boss.

That's right, the employees had established an informational picket demanding that an abusive supervisor be removed.  Their signs read, "Ron Malig Is Hostile and Cruel," "It's Impossible to Work With Ron Malig."

A press release issued by the picketers read: "His behavior there was chronically abusive and resulted in numerous grievances and EEO complaints and a petition to Congressional representatives."

I think it's safe to say that Mr. Malig could use some additional training. 

Source: San Francisco Indybay.org, "San Francisco Postal Workers Call for Removal of Abusive Boss."

Engaged employee. Engaged workforce. Management and leadership gurus love these words. Employers don't care what you call it--they just want to achieve it. If you're discouraged about your attempts to motivate employees, here's a story to lift your spirits. Hopefully, you have had more success than this young woman's managers.

Employers at the top of the game know the value of a workforce full of engaged employees.--employees who take ownership of their work. Well, if there ever was a story to demonstrate what an engaged employee is not, this is it.

An Iowa Administrative Judge denied unemployment benefits to Emmalee Bauer, 25. Bauer was formerly employed by Sheraton as a sales coordinator. Apparently, she did not do much coordinating, though. Instead, she spent her time at work scribing heart-felt journal entries she hopes may someday be published. But this is not the journal you might picture.

Her journal was devoted entirely to her work-avoidance strategies.

That's right. Every day, throughout her shift, she journaled away. And, by the time the Sheraton gig was over, she'd created a 300-page, single-spaced Manifesto of a Slacker.

I'm only here for the money, and, lately, for the printer access. I haven't really accomplished anything in a long while . . . and I am still getting paid more than at any job I ever had before.

I am going to sit right here and play Elf Bowling or some other nonsense. Once lunch is over, I will come right back to writing to piddle away the rest of the afternoon.

The judge who denied Bauer's unemployment appeal, said that the journal demonstrated Bauer's refusal to work as well as her "amusement of getting away with it."

If there was ever a case where an employer should be able to sue an employee to recoup the money it lost by employing her, this sure seems to be the one. Can you say "refund"?

[Hat tip to the Manpower Employment Blawg]

How loyal are your employees? Really, how loyal? How about $276 million dollars worth of loyalty?

Apparently, the Tax Office at the Monogalia County Sheriff's Department in Charleston, West Virginia is doing something right because that is exactly how loyal their employees are. Eight employees of the Tax office claimed a winning Powerball ticket worth $276.3 million on Tuesday, having seen their numbers selected during the Saturday night drawing. But that was only after they reported to work on Monday, business as usual.

The "Lucky Eight" range in length of service at the Tax Office from 1 yr to 35 years. But they all went back to work, though Linda Fominko, who bought the winning ticket, said that they weren't necessarily going to work forever and some may consider retiring early. But not right away she said, "Who knows, down the line, in a few months or a year?"

After taxes, each woman will take home $11.9 million. Yet each of them felt passionately enough about the work that they do and about the community that they believe relies on them, to return to work on Monday morning. Obviously, these individuals are pretty level-headed to reserve the major celebrations for after they check in with financial planners, attorneys, and the like. But level-headed or not, their extreme loyalty to their work must say something about their working environment and, likely, their employer.