Boss Problems

Having boss problems can be a big distraction that may affect your performance in the workplace. It can also interrupt your personal life and cause problems at home, which may ultimately lead to arguments with the ones you love.

Simple Solutions

• While all boss problems may be serious, there are some that require a little communication on your part, which may solve the problem. Many problems can be solved with a one-on-one talk with the boss. If it’s a simple problem, just brush it aside and continue with your work. If the problem is causing you to mess up and you can’t focus, try e-mailing your boss to explain your feelings and offer solutions that may eliminate the problem.
  
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Are you getting the overtime pay you’re entitled to?

According to United States federal law, employees who work more than 40 hours per week are generally entitled to overtime pay, at “time and a half” or 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for each hour of overtime.

Even if an employee is salaried and paid weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, he or she is generally still entitled to overtime pay – although this may depend on state regulations, which sometimes override federal law.

To be ineligible for overtime, an employee must be classified as “exempt.” Normally, only carefully-defined executive, administrative and professional positions are exempt. The rules governing this classification are complex, and companies take advantage of this confusion to misclassify their employees and avoid paying them overtime.

Generally speaking, employees must earn a specific amount of weekly pay and spend most of their time on management, business operations, or highly-skilled professional job duties in order to be classified as exempt; their official job title means nothing. Please contact us if you have any questions about your classification.

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REICH: Low wages strangling U.S. economy

WE’RE officially into Christmas buying season, when American consumers determine the fate of American retailers and, indirectly, the U.S. economy. What’s often forgotten is that consumers are also workers, and if their pay doesn’t keep up, they can’t keep the economy going.

A half-century ago, America’s largest private-sector employer was General Motors, whose full-time workers earned an average hourly wage of around $50, in today’s dollars, including health and pension benefits.
Today, America’s largest employer is Walmart, whose average sales associate earns $8.81 an hour. And a third of Walmart’s employees work less than 28 hours per week and don’t qualify for benefits.

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5 Tips for Employers: How to Find Good Employees

Good employees are a scarce commodity. But what do companies do to find qualified individuals? Many companies resort to searching desperately. We are constantly looking for good employees as well, but we have realized that desperation alone just isn’t enough.

Based on my experience, I would recommend the following five steps, which I suggest, are key criteria for successful recruiting. Many personnel managers in large corporations probably already know this information, or it doesn’t apply to your company. This information is targeted at startups or small and middle-sized companies to help them distinguish themselves by applying other companies’ criteria.

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Rules of the game for corporate women

Why do so many women struggle with “being political”? They possess all the skills they need to succeed in the political arena – but all too often, no-one has taught them the rules of the game. So here’s a crash course in how to play the game without becoming a man in a skirt.

What makes an individual successful in the “political arena”? According to research by Dr. Rick Brandon and Dr. Marty Seldman, successful politicians possess both mental empowerment – they “think and feel” positively about politics – as well as the skills to build a powerful reputation, network and presence within the organisation.

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Managing Change in the Workplace

Change can be one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in the work environment. Whether it’s a new employee adjusting to rules and responsibilities, or someone who has been on the job for years, breaking old habits and learning new tasks can be overwhelming. As managers, our challenge is to make change easier for our employees. This is not a simple task, but there are ways to make the transition a little easier.

There are many reasons why change can be difficult for people. For one, I think that the older we get the more we appreciate predictability in our lives. We like to know that we will show up at work and see the same people, work at the same station, and perform a function that is familiar to us. We get comfortable. Sure some days are busier than others and offer certain challenges, but overall we feel pretty confident about what is expected and how we will accomplish our tasks. Change can disrupt this predictability and cause a great deal of distress among employees.

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Cancer victim’s Christmas wish on Change.org puts the heat on ESCO Corporation

Former employee’s wife pleads to company to approve unemployment benefits so she can pay for her cancer treatments.

Portland, OR – Cancer victim Holly Hicks is generating attention at Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform, with her petition to fight back against unfairness in the workplace.

Why a Petition?
Paul and Holly Hicks were offered no compassion or options when the company that Paul worked for, ESCO Corporation, terminated him from his job as plant scheduler. He had worked for the company for thirty nine years. To date, ESCO has refused to respond to the couple.

Denying his unemployment benefits and taking away their health insurance, the company left them without means for Holly to continue her cancer treatments. Without unemployment benefits they don’t have incoming funds to pay the $1200 a month Cobra premium. Because her cancer is a pre-existing condition Holly has been denied private insurance and Obamacare doesn’t start until January 2014. Like so many other cancer patients, she not only has to fight her illness, but she also has to fight the system.

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