April 30th, 2008 10:00am
Nate Legue
The Rockford Chamber of Commerce has created a speakers bureau to provide presenters from its membership for local companies that want a presentation on a specific topic.
There are speakers available in the following topic areas:
The chamber’s website has a full list of speakers and the talks they can give. Click here for more information.
April 17th, 2008 08:55am
Nate Legue
The pension system for city workers in Illinois announced this week that it is 100 percent funded at the end of 2007, on a market value basis.
The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund is the public pension that provides death, disability and retirement benefits to employees who work for cities, villages, libraries, parks, counties and school districts. It has about $24 billion in assets and earned about 8.5 percent last year, according to the IMRF.
There’s a reason why the IMRF wants to toot its own horn about its ability to meet its pension liabilities. In the world of Illinois’ government-funded pensions, IMRF is the exception. It’s separate from the five pension funds controlled by the state legislature. Those retirement systems for teachers, university workers, judges, legislators and other state employees have been shortchanged for years to keep the state budget afloat.
In 2005, lawmakers agreed to put off $4 billion in payments to those funds through 2010, putting them even further in the hole. Last year, the state auditor reported that those state pensions had only about 60 percent of the money needed to pay their expected long-term liabilities.
The moral of the story? You don’t want lawmakers controlling your retirement savings.
April 4th, 2008 11:43am
Nate Legue
Times look tough for hiring in a number of industries, but there’s one profession expected to continue growing; one that everyone wants to see more of: Lawyers.
<insert canned laugh track here>
But seriously folks, a recent survey of 300 attorneys in the U.S. and Canada found that 45 percent of law firms and corporations plan to hire new attorneys in the next several months, according to lawyer staffing agency, Robert Half Legal.
Half of those surveyed said staff at their firm or legal department would stay the same during the next year and only 3 percent expected a drop. Of course, the legal world is somewhat insulated from downturns in the economy, but previous market catastrophes — the savings and loan scandal of the early ’90s and the dot-com debacle earlier this decade — have put attorneys out of work.
Still, the reasons for legal hiring confidence are clear in this survey. Most respondents think that there will be growth in bankruptcy law (25 percent), litigation (24 percent) and ethics and corporate governance practice (17 percent).
So I guess somebody benefits when the economy tanks as businesses go under, people sue each other and new government regulations are proposed.
March 21st, 2008 03:06pm
Nate Legue
Sometimes the Internet is like a used book store. You just amble around, poking through boxes and cubbyholes and occasionally you find gold. Like this Web site, Modern Mechanix.
It’s a blog full of old photos and advertisements, including one for a double-barrelled cigarette holder (from the days when smoking was good for you!) and offers to reach financial freedom by starting an indoor poultry farm.
But my favorite post is about a 1955 article on automation and how it would make everybody’s life easier in the ensuing two decades. It’s from Mechanix Illustrated, a defunct how-to magazine in the tradition of Popular Mechanics. Here’s the article’s money quote:
THE YEAR is 1975. For a man of 50 leaving a factory gate at five in the afternoon, you look remarkably fresh. Your light, comfortable-looking summer suit is pressed and spotless, your face and hands are free of grime, and your features show no sign of the strain that men once associated with the heat and noise of a big factory. There is an extra spring in your step as you walk toward the heliport, perhaps because this is Thursday. Your four-day work week is over, and ahead of you are three full days to call your own.
Few factory workers are punching out after 32 hours a week these days, but the article did make some accurate predictions about automation. Namely, that the big jumps in productivity would mean fewer factory jobs for workers.
March 20th, 2008 04:01pm
Nate Legue
Ever wonder exactly what your employer can and can’t do to you under federal labor law? Or if your boss’ obnoxious comments qualify as sexual harassment? Or whether you should get paid for that 5-minute cigarette break?
Well, there’s a Web site that explains all the federal rules governing workers in straightforward question-and-answer format.
For instance, did you know that federal law does not guarantee you the right to a meal break during eight hours of work? Fewer than half the states have such guarantees (Illinois only protects break times for hotel workers in Cook County).
Nearly all employers give lunch breaks anyway because, well, it’s a smart thing to do to avoid open revolt among staff. I don’t know about you, but if my company forced me to go without food for eight hours, I would incite an uprising.
I’m not a union agitator. But when I get hungry, I’m not responsible for my actions.
Anyway, workplacefairness.org is a wealth of information about all facets of workers’ rights. Check it out.
March 17th, 2008 04:07pm
Nate Legue
After four months locked out of brake foundry Gunite Corp., the United Auto Workers Local 718 went back to work today.
Now that the ordeal is over, I just discovered a Windows Live Spaces page run by the union that was used to keep members informed during the work stoppage.
Wish I would’ve found this site earlier because it would have made my job easier.
March 3rd, 2008 05:10pm
Nate Legue
The Department of Labor just proposed new rules for the Family Medical Leave Act, the 15-year-old law that was a centerpiece of President Bill Clinton’s first-term agenda.
The law was created in 1993 to give workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a sick family member or a newborn child. Of course, the law is a bit more complicated in the real world. In the 15 years since its enactment, the law has been through legal battles, including some Supreme Court decisions. The DOL has extensive compliance requirements — the new regulations alone are more than 120 pages long.
The biggest changes to the law concern new entitlements. Under the proposed rules, a worker can take up to 12 weeks off when family members are called to active military duty. Workers can also take up to 26 weeks off in a 12-month period to care for an injured service member.
A local human resource management firm is offering a free breakfast seminar to educate companies about how the proposed rules could affect them.
Samuel J. Castree, senior vice president and counsel at Staff Management Inc., will explain the new rules from 8 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Giovanni’s Restaurant and Convention Center. A continental breakfast will be served beginning at 7:30 a.m.
To reserve a spot, call Barb Heinzeroth at 815-282-3900 or email her.
February 28th, 2008 03:05pm
Nate Legue
I hope you’re not reading this while you’re at work.
Because if you are, your employer could be watching. Actually, there’s a two-in-three chance your company is looking over your shoulder. Sixty-six percent of employers say they’re monitoring workers’ Internet connections and 65 percent say they block access to certain Websites, according to an annual electronic surveillance survey by the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute.
It’s no surprise that 96 percent of employers who block content are concerned about employees visiting adult sites. Other concerns include game sites (61 percent), social networking sites (50 percent) and entertainment sites (40 percent). Only 27 percent were worried about online shopping or auction sites and one in five cared about sports sites.
The poll of 304 U.S. companies also found that 28 percent of employers have fired workers for email misuse. Violations of company policy led to 64 percent of dismissals and inappropriate or offensive language was included in 62 percent of firings. Using company email too often for personal messages led to only a quarter of terminations, so most employers don’t care much if you’re corresponding with buddies.
To read the entire release, visit here.
February 5th, 2008 07:40am
Nate Legue
Lots of companies are making it easier to work while raising kids, according to a survey commissioned by a staffing agency.
More than three in five companies surveyed have made policy changes in the last five years to accommodate working parents, according to OfficeTeam.
The survey was given to 150 randomly selected senior executives at largest 1,000 U.S. companies: 62 percent said their companies had made changes, 33 percent said no and 5 percent weren’t sure.
These kinds of perks — telecommuting, flex time, extended family leave — are fast becoming industry standards as more folks demand a “work-life balance.” It’s a buzzword that’s getting tossed around HR circles a lot lately, but it basically seems to mean that the incoming generation of professionals just won’t work 60 hours a week to accumulate toys. In fact, when people say that this next generation won’t make as much money as its forebears, I sometimes wonder whether that will be as much a sign of economic instability or a conscious choice of individuals.
Here’s an example: I have a old friend right now who quit his stable government job last year and is now traveling through Africa. He just doesn’t see work as an end in itself; he’d rather just work for a while, then do what he wants to do, then come back to work only when finances require it.
January 31st, 2008 06:43am
Nate Legue
There’s been a lot of talk about the effect of baby boomers’ looming retirements on the work force. But there’s some evidence to indicate that many will remain beyond traditional retirement age because of the cost of health care and paltry savings.
Some companies are taking advantage of this phenomenon and touting their willingness to hire older employees. While tales of ageism abound, there are employers eager to garner the experience those workers bring with them.
Here’s a Web site full of companies dubbed the National Employer Team; they’ve partnered with the AARP to attract older employees.
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