April 23, 2004

Wal-Mart, health insurance and more
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 3:47 PM -

Nothing better on a rainy Friday afternoon here in Boston than a story which will set your blood boiling.

A blogger tells of how she works at an HIV clinic, and how it surprised her when she was visited by an uninsured full-time Wal-Mart employee.

She works 40 hours a week at Wal-Mart. Like many of their employees, she can't afford their health insurance plan. Even if she could, they wouldn't cover her HIV care because it's a pre-existing condition. It isn't even about paying for the drugs, which are expensive - she qualifies for the state AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which picks up all of her prescriptions for her. Wal-Mart won't pay for office visits to an HIV specialist, and they won't pay for the blood tests she needs to monitor her condition.

So you, the federal taxpayer, will be paying for her medical care. Today you also gave her $40 worth of food vouchers, because after she pays her rent (which eats more than half her wages, and she lives in a slum) there's not a lot left over to buy food. I'm sure you're glad to do it, right? You don't want her to die.

Make sure to click on the comments link; several insightful commenters on both sides of the issue have weighed in.

For what it's worth, I shop at Costco. Costco believes in taking care of their workers.

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Earthlink CEO gets raise amid layoffs
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 3:02 PM -

Earthlink lays off 25% of its workforce. The Chief Executive Officer gets a 76% increase in bonus.

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Old boy's network - London style
Posted by diane@downtownwomensclub.com">Diane Danielson at 9:55 AM -

It looks like our female colleagues in the UK are not much better off when it comes to the glass ceiling (unlike our Scandinavian counterparts). Here's an interesting article from across the pond that accurately depicts some important changes in the old boy's network dynamic.

The old boys' network is still alive and kicking, with a new form of informal male bonding reinforcing the glass ceiling against women, says a report published today.

Policies that were intended to help female workers, such as flexible employment, may even be making the position worse because they miss out on after-hours drinking and other social occasions, research by the think-tank Demos has found.

But there is some good news. In the Demos report, they also found "growing evidence that women’s professional networks have the potential to change work place culture in a way that benefits women." So whether you have a flexible work schedule, or are considering one in the future, it's time to make an extra networking effort. Check out www.bizwomen.com for a comprehensive list of women's organizations in the Boston area.

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Clueless managers try to be spin doctors
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 6:04 AM -

The Wall Street Journal has an outstanding article on managers who try to spin bad news.

These spin measures might be well-intentioned efforts to preserve the fragile filament of workplace morale, but bosses often torch them. Resistant to admitting a mistake or leveling with employees, executives endlessly find themselves putting lipstick on pigs.

As it turns out, employees aren't stupid; they often resent being treated like idiots.

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April 22, 2004

The joys of Spring
Posted by noseworthy@bostonworks.com">Nicole Noseworthy at 4:38 PM -

There's nothing like the rapidly changing weather of a New England Spring to make you feel great. The birds... the bugs... the flowers... the spring colds!?

For those of you who like to go to work hacking, sneezing, and coughing, and think you're doing the company a favor when you show up sick, think again. Read: Study: Do your boss a favor and call in sick

Sick employees have difficulty concentrating, work more slowly and have to repeat tasks, bogging down productivity, according to the study. (They also get their co-workers sick, but those costs were not counted in the study.)

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You get what you pay for
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 11:45 AM -

USA Today has an interesting write-up on whether hiring interns is legal or illegal and/or whether it's a good and/or bad thing for both intern or employer. The answer as Jason might put it is, well, "it depends."

As we enter intern-hiring season, employers should remember that internships -- paid or unpaid -- sap enough of an employer's resources to make sense only if you hire many of your interns after they graduate. Better pay lures better interns. Better interns mean more employees you'd want to hire. While unpaid internships save a company money for a summer, in the long run, they're just bad business.

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Romney: Towns pay workers too much
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 6:13 AM -

Governor Mitt Romney is trying to shift blame for municipal shortfalls.

Romney said that despite substantial cuts in state aid to cities and towns over the past two years, "the idea that somehow the state has caused cities to see a huge reduction in their revenues isn't quite right." Property tax revenues have continued to increase in almost every city and town across the state, the governor said, keeping municipal finances fairly stable. So if local officials are cutting services and firing workers, it's because they haven't controlled spending.

"If you add costs faster than the revenues are likely to come in, at that point when you sign that contract, when you add those costs, you're saying, 'yes' to layoffs," Romney said. "We in the public sector have gotten used to the idea that we can just keep on growing and growing and grow faster than the rate of the incomes of the people we tax."

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April 21, 2004

One very expensive diversity training program
Posted by diane@downtownwomensclub.com">Diane Danielson at 1:38 PM -

According to today's NY Times business section, the amount of money Merrill Lynch is paying out to female employees on discrimination claims just went up another $2.2 million (so the count is now $102.2 million with more claims to go).

Merrill Lynch & Company, the nation's biggest brokerage firm, discriminated against women who worked as stockbrokers, according to a panel of arbitrators that has awarded $2.2 million to one of them.

That decision, which was made Monday but not disclosed until yesterday, was the first legal ruling to find that a Wall Street firm had engaged in systematic discrimination. The finding could be used to bolster the claims of about 40 current and former Merrill brokers who have not settled their discrimination claims against the firm. Merrill has already paid more than $100 million in settlements with hundreds of other women who joined a class-action case against the firm more than five years ago.

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April 20, 2004

Overtime guideline changes... will they impact your pay?
Posted by noseworthy@bostonworks.com">Nicole Noseworthy at 3:49 PM -

How will the proposed new overtime guidelines affect you? Check out the latest on the revisions: White House revises overtime overhaul

[Labor Secretary Elaine] Chao said the regulations would allow more white-collar workers and low-wage earners to remain eligible for overtime than in a draft proposal issued 13 months ago. The election-year revisions would permit those earning up to $100,000 a year to continue collecting premium pay if they log more than 40 hours a week.

The initial proposal ... marked the first comprehensive revision of the overtime standard since 1949. The guidelines were drawn up at the urging of businesses and employer groups, who said that out-of-date standards were creating confusion in the modern workplace about overtime eligibility. The result, they said, was a wave of lawsuits by workers demanding overtime eligibility.

Learn more about overtime and fair labor laws at the U.S. Department Labor's website: www.dol.gov/fairpay. For Massachusetts-specific laws, visit the Department of Labor and Workforce Development's website: www.mass.gov/dlwd.

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Today is Equal Pay Day
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 1:41 PM -

A Globe op-ed piece today highlights the fact that today is Equal Pay Day, the date that women, counting from January 2003, will pull down as much in earnings as men had by Dec. 31. The article also squares off on the fact that women still continue to earn an average of 76 cents for every dollar earned by men.

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When I grow up I want to be: An astronaut, a race car driver, a ballerina...an IT manager??
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 12:56 PM -

Although it's doubtful Little Johnny or Little Mary have voiced aspirations to become middle management when they grow up, Intel has created a Flash-based, "Sim City" -like game that simulates what it'd be like to run a corporate IT department.

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How to deal with "You're fired!"
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 10:29 AM -

From CNN/Money, five tips to keep in mind if the Axe "HR" man/woman cometh to your door.

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Marathon bloggers
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 6:03 AM -

Congratulations to our very own Job Blogger, Sarah Hubbell, on her running of the Boston Marathon yesterday. Sarah finished in 4:41 while raising money for Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Congratulations also to BostonWorks GM Tim Murphy, who finished in a speedy 3:23.

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April 18, 2004

Answering the weakness question
Posted by jr@jrothman.com">Johanna Rothman at 4:35 PM -

I don't entirely agree with Michael Neece's advice in What Are Your Weaknesses?. Neece claims When interviewers ask this question they really don't care what your weaknesses are. Well, I wish I believed him. I don't. I know too many managers who think candidate will answer this question blindly.

My initial advice is to answer the question, couching the answer in a way that turns a weakness into a strength: "Well, during the end of a release, I tend to work too many hours to make sure the release is successful." Neece claims interviewers see through this answer. My experience is different. The people who ask this question don't see through this kind of answer. They really are looking for an answer about strengths or weaknesses.

But if you're concerned your interviewer is more experienced, here's my advice for answering this question: "Tell me more about your concerns. Then I can explain some experience from my background that will answer your concerns more fully." If you've built rapport with your interviewer, stop there. If you need more information, add "I can address how I plan and finish my work, or how I get along with people, or how I solve problems."

What you want is to understand the interviewer's concerns and address them. That requires more than a canned answer. Make sure you reframe the weakness question, whether you use Neece's advice or mine or some other technique.

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