Here is the latest issue of “This & That” Tuesday. I hope you find it to be informative and useful.

 

Announcements

You can always check out my website for upcoming speaking engagements that are guaranteed to be of value to business owners or for a list of topics that I can speak on at Chambers, Clubs, Business Associations, etc. More details about the events, topics and Human Resources 4U, in general, can be found on my website.

 

September 27, "Discovering Business in the New Economy" hosted by AltaPacific Bank and Montgomery Niemeyer & Co.

 

 

October 3, "Where's the Strategy in Your Strategic Plan?" hosted by the Irwindale Chamber of Commerce

 

Almost 50% of Prospective Hires Don’t Negotiate

Even though 45 percent of employers are willing — and expect — to negotiate salaries for initial job offers, 49 percent of workers accept the first offer given to them, according to a new CareerBuilder survey.

 

The survey found that a new hire’s willingness to negotiate the first job offer usually comes with more experience. Fifty-five percent of workers age 35 or older typically negotiate the first offer, which is higher than workers age 18 to 34 (45 percent). The survey also found that 54 percent of men are likely to negotiate first offers, compared to 49 percent of women.

 

Professional and business services workers (56 percent) are the most likely to negotiate salary, followed by information technology (55 percent), leisure and hospitality (55 percent), and sales workers (54 percent).

 

While 11 percent of employers include wage or salary information in their job listings, 24 percent said they don’t reveal what the position pays until they extend the job offer. Forty-eight percent will discuss salary during initial conversations or during the first job interview.

 

Thirty-three percent of employers keep track of what competitors pay comparable employees via job postings, while 34 percent user market average reports. Thirty-five percent don’t factor in external compensation at all.

 

Forty-nine percent of hiring managers surveyed said job candidates have refused offers due to salary. It’s critical that recruiters and hiring managers be flexible and prepared with counter offers. If you offer premium talent below market rates, it can be very difficult to fill vacant positions.

 

If unable to meet the job candidate’s salary requirements, a majority of employers are willing to provide alternative benefits. While 38 percent said they would not be able to provide anything, other employers said they would offer the following:

• Flexible schedule — 33 percent
• More vacation time — 19 percent
• Telecommute at least once per week — 15 percent
• Pay for mobile device — 14 percent

Thirty-nine percent of employers expecting increases for new hires say the hikes are to entice skilled applicants to apply, and 25 percent say increases are coming because job offers were turned down due to low compensation.

 

Emmert International Pays $180,000 in Race Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit

Emmert International agreed to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC.

The EEOC's lawsuit charged Emmert International with harassing Jonathan Redmon and John Brainich during Emmert's work on the Odd Fellows Hall project in Salt Lake City.  The lawsuit alleged that the foreman and other Emmert employees repeatedly harassed Redmon and Brainich. Emmert's foreman and employees regularly used the "n-word," called Redmon "boy," called Brainich a "n—- lover," and made racial jokes and comments.  The EEOC also alleged that Emmert International retaliated against Redmon for complaining about the harassment.

 

The 24- month consent decree settling the suit requires Emmert International to pay $180,000 to Redmon and Brainich, provide training to its staff on unlawful employment discrimination, and to review and revise its policies on workplace discrimination.  The decree also requires Emmert International to post notices explaining federal laws against workplace discrimination.

 

D.O.E. Technologies and doeLegal Pays $130,000 to Settle Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

D.O.E. Technologies, Inc. and a related company, doeLegal, LLC will pay $130,000 and furnish other relief to settle a federal disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The Wilmington, DE based companies sell e-billing, electronic discovery and litigation management products to law firms and corporate legal departments.

 

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, Christopher Vely, a sales representative with unilateral conductive hearing loss, repeatedly asked the companies' management to provide the reasonable accommodation of permitting him to telecommute or to work in a quiet area because his disability impaired his ability to make sales calls from his cubicle in the companies' noisy sales office.  The companies initially allowed Vely to make calls from his home, but later rescinded his full-time telework arrangement, failed to provide an alternate reasonable accommodation, and refused to engage in the interactive process to determine a suitable alternate reasonable accommodation.  In addition, the companies fired Vely in retaliation for his request for a reasonable accommodation, the EEOC alleged.

 

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability.  The law also requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with a disability unless doing so would cause significant difficulty or expense for the employer. 

 

"It's not only good business sense for employers to make simple and inexpensive modifications to the workplace for a qualified employee with a disability – such as allowing sales calls to be made in a quiet room or permitting telecommuting for certain jobs – but federal law requires that they make a good-faith effort to do so," said the Philadelphia District Director.

 

In addition to the $130,000 in monetary relief to Vely, the two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit enjoins D.O.E. Technologies and doeLegal from engaging in any adverse employment actions or retaliation in violation of the ADA and requires the companies to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  The companies must provide training on the ADA to all managers and employees and distribute modified ADA reasonable accommodation and anti-retaliation policies.  The companies will post a notice regarding the resolution of the lawsuit and will report to the EEOC regarding its compliance with the consent decree.

 

Factoids

• 3 out of 4 companies offer extra vacation days, flextime, free Friday lunches, paid home internet use and other “unusual” tactics to retain key employees.
• Only 59% of workers say they are currently saving for retirement.
• Only 13% say they are very confident that they will have enough to live comfortably, while 27% are not confident at all.

 

Reasons customers leave you: Michael LeBoeuf

• 1% die
• 3% move away
• 5% develop other friendships
• 9% competitive reasons
• 14% dissatisfied with a product
• 68% quit because of an attitude of indifference toward them

 

Quotes

When you come to a fork in the road, take it!

~Yogi Berra~