One Billion Women to Enter Workplace in Next Decade: Report

They say it is a man’s world, but perhaps not for much longer as up to one billion women are expected to enter the workplace in the next decade, according to the latest survey from Booz and Co. on women in the workplace.

The report from the global management and strategy consultancy said the surge in women employees, employers, producers, and entrepreneurs in the next 10 years would improve not only gender equality, but global economic growth — however, it also warned that governments could miss out on this potential.

“As the world economy grows and develops, countries cannot afford to ignore over 50 percent of their talent pool, ” Penney Frohling, business strategist and partner at Booz and Co., told CNBC. “There is a view that countries that are able to tap into that talent pool are going to see higher growth. There is a very clear correlation between empowering women and GDP growth , literacy rates, infant mortality rates.”

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Santorum Faces Questions on Women in the Work Force

WASHINGTON — Only days after having to explain a comment about women in the military and emotions in combat, Rick Santorum seemed to struggle a bit on Sunday to explain a remark in his book “It Takes a Family” that accuses “radical feminists” of undermining families and trying to convince women that they could find fulfillment only in the workplace.

Asked by George Stephanopoulos about that remark on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Santorum said that his wife, Karen, had written that section of the 2005 book — though only his name is on the cover and he does not list her, in his acknowledgements, among those “who assisted me in the writing of this book.” He said that when Ms. Santorum, a nurse and a lawyer, had quit her job to raise the couple’s children, she felt that many people “looked down their nose at that decision.”

“Sadly the propaganda campaign launched in the 1960s has taken root,” Mr. Santorum, or his wife, wrote in the book. “The radical feminists succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.”

In the interview Sunday with Mr. Stephanopoulos, Mr. Santorum pleaded unfamiliarity with the citation, saying, “I don’t know — that’s a new quote for me,” before adding that “the bottom line is that people should have equal opportunity to rise in the work force.”

But criticism of his argument that more women should perhaps stay home should not have come as news to Mr. Santorum as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination. The book was sharply debated during his unsuccessful 2006 bid for re-election as a senator from Pennsylvania, drawing pointed criticism from women’s groups and Democratic officials at the time.

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Proposal to Introduce Regulation Regarding Mandatory Health and Safety Training for All Workers and Supervisors

In 2010, the Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety recommended the development of mandatory, basic health and safety awareness training programs for all Ontario workplaces.

The Ministry of Labour proposes to introduce new regulatory requirements that would require employers to ensure that all workers and supervisors complete mandatory occupational health and safety awareness training programs. The proposed requirements would apply to everyone who meets the current definitions of “worker” and “supervisor” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

Over the past year, the Ministry has been developing and has consulted on awareness training productsfor workers and supervisors. If the proposed regulation is made, employers would be required to ensure that workers and supervisors have completed the training developed by the Ministry or a similar training program that would meet the minimum proposed content requirements set out in the regulation, before or shortly after commencing work duties.

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Health and Wellness: Access to Wellbein

The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Eating right, exercising, and sleeping well play an equal role in the prevention of infections and diseases. However, a good sense of self, a loving support network, and the potential for continued personal growth is also important to our overall wellbeing.


Many of us are not in control of the factors that cause us to become ill whether they be genetic, environmental, or something else entirely. There are many avenues we can take to improving our health, which include the use of traditional and modern medicines when we are ill.

However, most people cannot access or afford proper health care such as healthy sanitation and hygiene, which is necessary to prevent the spread of disease.

Moreover, a large proportion of the global population are disenfranchised because of poverty, geographic location, disability, or social stigma against those who are ill. In addition, sexual health continues to be a highly contentious issue around the world particularly with concern to the method of transmission of some of the world’s deadliest diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, one of the most pressing issues in terms of health and wellness is the education, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Millennium Development Goals seek to address this issue specifically in Goal 5: Improve maternal health and Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.

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Discriminated School Teachers Often Have Difficulty Proving Their Cases

Furthermore, it is illegal to discriminate against people solely based on any handicap they may have or if they’ve been discharged unfavorably from the military.  For many school teachers who are fired, inevitably the reason for such termination is that they don’t fit in with what administrators view as the culture of the school.  They may not be the right color or perhaps practice a different religion that isn’t as tolerated as it should be.  Whatever the case may be, the only course of action for many of these teachers is to seek out a remedy through the courts.

Successfully suing a school district and its administrators, even when the case appears to be solid, isn’t as easy as one would imagine.  Unfortunately, the majority of those who would break the law know about it all too well.  As such, they usually give cause during a termination which they hope is enough to protect them from liability.  An experienced attorney, however, understands too well how this particular game is played.  They know that in many of the cases where cause is given for firing a teacher, the reason for the termination doesn’t warrant such a rash decision to begin with.  For example, when one teacher is fired for an offense that other teachers wouldn’t be fired for, then the cause given is questionable.  In this situation, the attorney can pursue other possible reasons for why the termination happened, including the likelihood of discrimination.

Still, it is never an easy process.  Often it takes years for the cases to fully work their way through the court system. During this time, a teacher has a damaged reputation which often prevents them from working within their profession.  To make matters worse, it is required by law for the plaintiff, meaning the teacher, to prove the discrimination alleged in the lawsuit.   In other words, the teacher through his or her attorney must have evidence which fully supports the claim that the initial reason for termination provided by the employer was only a pretext.  Unfortunately, this can be difficult to nearly impossible to accomplish, even in cases where legitimate discriminatory practices are believed to exist.

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Four steps to legally defendable drug testing in the workplace

Drug testing is often a sensitive issue in the workplace that can lead to challenging situations for both employers and employees. Around 5% of the UK’s working population actively use drugs, according to the Government’s latest British crime survey, but how can organisations ensure that their drug and alcohol testing is following best practice and securing a safer working environment for their employees?

The importance of drug testing has been increasingly recognised across all sectors in the UK. In industries such as rail and maritime, drug and alcohol testing is mandatory and is necessary to fulfil regulatory requirements. In industries that are non-regulated, it is important for companies to understand the risks that they may be facing by not implementing an active drug and alcohol policy.

In many cases, the risk of not testing is far greater than the cost implications of doing so. For example, a logistics company where employees drive as part of their job must be confident that all of their drivers are fully alert and putting safety first for the sake of themselves and the public.

Employers will decide to test their employees for a number of reasons, whether because of industry regulation, laws, as a requirement for employment, best practice in the workplace or following a number of drug- or alcohol-related incidents in the workplace. As part of the Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974, employers have a duty of care to provide a safe working environment, which includes ensuring that they do not knowingly allow an employee to work when impaired by alcohol or after misusing illegal drugs – and ignorance of the issue is not an excuse.

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The Facts about Workplace Drug Testing

Since the 1990s, studies have shown that substance abuse is not only prevalent in the workplace, but that it is extremely costly to employers.About 70 percent of all drug users (including those that drink alcohol heavily) hold a job.


The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that drug use costs employers between $75 billion and $100 billion each year in lost time, accidents, health care and workers’ compensation costs.

The Small Business Administration further determined that employees with substance use issues cost their employers an average of $7,000 annually.

Sixty-five percent of all accidents on the job are related to drugs or alcohol, and employees who abuse substances cause 40 percent of on the job injuries.

The workers with a high rate of illicit drug use include construction workers, sales personnel, food preparation, wait staff, bartenders, handlers, helpers, laborers, and machine operators and inspectors.

For the many benefits of a drug-free workplace, more private sector employers have implemented drug testing as a cost effective means to eliminate harmful and unproductive employees, and stop these figures from trickling to their work environment.

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Workplace drug testing

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2012 – Employment drug testing laws affect job applicants, those employed, and employers. You should be familiar with drug testing laws to assure your rights are protected and to avoid liability.

Pre-employment drug testing is a common condition for a job offer. Is it always legal? Once an employee is hired, when is it legal for an employer to ask for a drug test as a condition of continued employment?

The attendant conflicting legal issues here are very clear.  First, privacy issues are abundant for those to be tested. Applicants and employees may well have claims when employers fail to implement drug testing in a manner that assures personal or constitutional rights, such as privacy rights or protections against unlawful searches and seizures.

The flip side understandably finds employers with a legitimate basis for concern about decreased productivity, increased liability exposure, and higher Worker’s Compensation insurance premiums.  Employers also have a substantial interest in providing a drug-free workplace for the safety and welfare of employees and patrons. Aside from the legal issues, drug testing serves as a hedge against increasing costs. Employee drug and alcohol abuse costs employers billions of dollars each year.

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Is Workplace Drug Testing Really the Best Thing for Your Business?

Personal accountability is especially important in a small business to meet deadlines, satisfy clients, control budgets, and produce positive results. With fewer employees to run day-to-day operations, small-business owners rely even more on individual contributions than do larger corporations.

A small-business owner has two choices to ensure his company employs personally accountable and law-abiding individuals: (1) a system based on trust, or (2) a system based on test results.

Surprisingly, however, a system based on trust yields higher productivity and employee morale than one based on testing. Take, for example, drug testing in the workplace.

More than half of employers in the United States (57 percent) still conduct drug tests on job candidates, and many employers (36 percent) continue to conduct periodic drug tests on current employees, according to 2011 research by the Society for Human Resource Management¹.

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Drug Testing Promotes Workplace Safety

An effective drug testing program promotes a safe, productive workplace in addition to a multitude of other benefits, according to a recent industry poll. This article explores the many advantages of employee drug testing and illustrates how a program’s effectiveness is directly impacted by quickly evolving industry trends and federal testing legislation.

How Effective is Drug Testing?

Employment drug testing is a powerful risk tool that provides far-reaching organizational benefits. In addition to promoting a safer, more productive workplace, it can help to decrease employee turnover and absenteeism, reduce employer risk, and lower workers’ compensation incidence rates, according to Drug Testing Efficacy 2011, a recent poll conducted by The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA). The poll, one of the most comprehensive and current surveys regarding drug testing available today, questioned employers ranging from 500 to 2,500 employees, most of which were publicly owned, for-profit organizations.

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Is Beer In the Workplace an Employee Benefit?

Providing beer to employees is one of the more atypical employee benefits, but it does say something about the company’s culture and the employees who will thrive there. Some HR leaders discuss their benefits philosophies.

Struggling with a project during a late-February afternoon last year, I stopped to assess the situation and realized I was dispirited.

I had recently returned home after three weeks of business travel that was hampered by four nor’easters and wasn’t able to get outside to work off my stress due to head-high snow banks.

Since I enjoy the sometime luxury of a home office, I decided sprints up and down the stairs that run from my basement to the second floor would help me let off some steam. On one of my passes through the dining room, I spied a decanter of wine remaining from the prior night’s dinner.

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Drug-Free Workplace Advisor

“I know all of my employees personally. Substance abuse isn’t a problem in our workplace.” “It would be obvious if one of our employees was using drugs or alcohol at work.” Fortunately, comments like these are no longer as common as they once were as a result of the significant strides that have been made in educating employers about substance abuse and how it can affect the workplace. There is still, however, a great deal of denial as well as numerous misconceptions among many employers about who is using illicit drugs and alcohol, and how this can directly impact their bottom line. The following statistics and anecdotes are intended to further educate and inform employers about the prevalence of substance abuse in the workplace, the impact that it has on the workplace and employees, and the benefits that employers have experienced as the result of implementing prevention programs.

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Male Entitlement And Sexual Harassment In the Workplace

Women were the plaintiffs in nearly eighty five percent of those cases.  While the days of groping the office secretary or calling her “sugar britches” are long gone, the possibility of harassment still looms for most women in the American workforce.  It is a throwback of an earlier time period just after World War 2, when the white male reigned supreme both economically and socially.

To better understand how sexual harassment is still so prevalent, one has to appreciate the unique burdens placed on women who choose to compete in business arenas primarily dominated by men.  From the very start, the woman is at a significant disadvantage.  For example, while doing the same job as her male counterparts, she is paid significantly less for her work on average.  Studies have also shown that women are intimidated into silence, often fearing to even advance a new idea which may conflict with a male co-worker’s point of view.  This not only affects a female worker’s self esteem, but hinders the advancement of her career due to a perceived lack of drive.  Given this degree of disenfranchisement, it isn’t any wonder that some male workers would begin to view females in the workplace as less than equals, or perhaps easy targets for their unsolicited affections.

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More Companies Recognize the Benefits of Workplace Equality

Research consistently shows that unfair and discriminatory work environments cripple an employer’s ability to recruit and retain the best and the brightest. These negative environments also stifle job performance and productivity. In this way, workplace unfairness introduces otherwise avoidable inefficiencies and costs that detract from companies’ bottom line.

Workplace benefits are an important component of employee compensation. As of June 2012benefits packages comprised 31 percent of total employee compensation. Employer-sponsored health insurance in particular is a critical workplace benefit. It helps ensure that employees and their families receive the health care they need during times of illness without having to spend their savings to access that care.

Yet all too often, workers with same-sex domestic partners or spouses do not have the same access to the workplace benefits offered to their peers with opposite-sex partners or spouses. But new data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust, released earlier this week, indicate that an increasing number of employers have taken steps to ensure equal benefits for equal work, regardless of sexual orientation.

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Working From Home – Home Based Business Freelancing

When you wake up in the morning from a rough night out and you really don’t feel like getting dressed, dragging yourself to work and doing whatever it is you do; you suddenly get a huge smile on your face knowing that you work from home.  You set the schedule, you set the pace, and you set the dress code.

Working from home is becoming more and more prevalent as people are starting to begin self-employment.  Working from home has a large list of good and bad benefits.  For example, if you did actually have a rough night you can work in your pajamas; I don’t foresee any employer letting this fly anytime soon.  Working from home usually gives you the luxury of doing what you want to do, when you want to do it.

Some of the downfalls are the pay, benefits, and other things a company can offer.  Not to say you can’t get the same thing from a home based job, it’s just not going to be the same.  For some people it’s harder to work from home because there is no structure.  When you set the schedule, you can work as fast or as slow as you want to.  It takes a great deal of dedication to work from home and be successful at it.

Freelancing is one of the most common things to do from home.  Freelancing basically means that you do something for yourself, freelancers are individual people who don’t specifically have a company or even a business, writers, photographers, and more all have freelancers in their industry.  These individuals went off on their own, to be the CEO of themselves to line their own pockets with the gold.  It’s sometimes quite difficult but most make it work.

Working from home has other great benefits as well, single mothers can easily make the money they need and still be home for the kids, students can take classes and not have to worry about a work schedule.  The key isn’t to start freelancing; it’s to work doing what you love.  A common saying is “When you do what you love, you’ll never work again”.  It’s very true, when you are passionate about something, and get paid for it, you don’t work, you simply enjoy being paid to do what you love.  Very few places can offer that.

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Nine Signs of Age Discrimination

In my experience as an employment lawyerrepresenting employees, I’ve found that the recession was particularly hard on older employees. They seem to have been disproportionately targeted in layoffs, and they have a much harder time finding new jobs.

Employers might assume you’re close to retirement and don’t need a job, but that’s far from true for most Americans. They might also assume that older employees will miss more work or have more medical issues. Yet statistics show that older employees tend to be the most reliable. It’s not only foolish to discriminate based on age — it’s also illegal for most companies to do so.

Who’s Protected From Age Discrimination?

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act says that it’s illegal for an employer to discriminate against you because of your age, but that only applies if you’re age 40 or older, and only if the employer has at least 20 employees (or is a government of any size). Some states, counties and cities have laws that protect employees of smaller organizations. Some states also have laws that further limit age-based discrimination. Always check with an employment lawyer in your state when in doubt.

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7 Signs Of Discrimination Against Veterans At Work

While American troops are overseas, fighting for their country, many people back home have “Support Our Troops” bumper stickers, hang yellow ribbons, and pray for their safe return. But once veterans return stateside, many find their employers aren’t jumping up and down to have them come back to work. Veterans often suffer discrimination in the workplace. Here are seven common signs of discrimination against veterans, and the laws that protect them:

1. An employer says the job is no longer available. 

Many employers don’t realize that returning veterans have an absolute right to have their jobs restored when they return from active duty. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act protects returning veterans from job loss due to their military service. Not only does USERRA require that your job be restored if you’ve been on active service five years or less with that employer, but you are entitled to be restored to the job and benefits that you would have attained had you not been absent.

For instance, if it is reasonably certain you would have been promoted due to seniority, but were on active duty when the promotion was made, you may be entitled to that promotion even if someone else is in the position when you return. Your employer must offer trainingthat will get you qualified for that higher position, if necessary. If you need to take a test for the promotion, the employer should allow you to take the test when you return.

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Workplace Discrimination: Not Just About Race Anymore

In the last year alone, a court awarded a victim of sexual harassment a record payout ($95 million), the Supreme Court dismissed the biggest civil rights class action suit in U.S. history, and people called discrimination on everything from HIV status to a peanut allergy. The number of workplace discrimination claims concerning race and ethnicity has been increasing along a straight line for the last decade, and total claims grazed a record 100,000 in 2010, the last year for which data is available.

As we observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, that’s sobering to consider.

“We haven’t achieved anything like the racially just and equal society that MLK envisioned,” says Ralph Richard Banks, a professor at Stanford Law School who specializes in African American issues. But that increase might also be due to more willingness to report incidents, as opposed to shrugging off bigotry, as well more awareness of what amounts to discrimination.
“But at a minimum,” says Derek Avery, a leading scholar in workplace discrimination at the Fox School of Business at Temple University, “those numbers suggest that we’re not heading in the direction that one would anticipate, as we approach 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

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Sex Discrimination, Age Discrimination, Family Responsibilities Discrimination?

An employee is fired when he asks for leave to care for his chronically ill father.  Another employee is denied leave when her employer asserts that it is not her responsibility to care for her ailing mother as long as her father is still alive. And an employee is called lazy and then fired after taking leave to care for his mother, who is near death.

These are three real-life examples of “caregiver” discrimination from a recent report, “Protecting Family Caregivers from Employment Discrimination,” by the AARP Public Policy Institute and the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.  Note the care recipients are aging parents, not kids. The report specifically addresses workplace discrimination faced by working caregivers of older adults and calls for an end to stereotyping caregivers as less competent and committed than other workers and instead treating them on par.

For employees facing discrimination, the report serves as a quick guide to what sorts of protections are out there now. And for employers who aren’t ready to handle these cases with compassion, it serves as a warning that advocates for workers who juggle their day jobs with caring for an aging parent are calling for more legal protections. The extreme proposed solution: “family caregivers” as a protected class.

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Protecting Caregivers from Discrimination in the Workplace

Working caregivers, have you heard that tone of voice from your workplace manager? You know the one where it sounds like he’s perpetually disappointed in you? You’re not imagining it. It’s real, or so says a new report by AARP.

According to our report, a staggering 42 percent of U.S. workers provided unpaid eldercare in the past five years, while 49 percent expect to do so for a family member or friend in the coming five years. The average caregiver is a 49-year-old woman who works outside the home and spends up to 20 hours a week providing unpaid care for a loved one. In 2009 dollars, monetary value of their unpaid contributions is $450 BILLION. (This exceeds the profits of either Exxon or WalMart.)

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