"Major Implications for Workplace Free Speech" - 2007 CLAY Award Recipient Adam Levin

CONGRATULATIONS to Workforce Vision friend Adam Levin on his 2007 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award (CLAY). The CLAY award is known as the most prestigious award for California attorneys and Levin is one of the top employment lawyers in the State. Levin's "sexual harassment defense of Warner Bros. before the California Supreme Court in 'Friends' case had major implications for workplace free speech...At stake was freedom of speech within the work environment to address potentially offensive topics such as sex, race and religion in the logical course of doing one's job whether writing for a TV sitcom, discussing stories in a newsroom or academic discussion in a university classroom."

We recommend you read Levin's article - "So This Guy Walks Into a Bar . . . .": Dirty Jokes and Vulgar Language in the Workplace After the California Supreme Court’s “Friends” Decision (PDF) to learn more about whether or not your employees maybe crossing the legal line. Read the press on Levin's CLAY Award below.

MS&K Partner Adam Levin Receives 2007 CLAY Award

Levin’s sexual harassment defense of Warner Bros. before the California Supreme Court in “Friends” case had major implications for workplace free speech

Los Angeles, CA--Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, a leading California law firm that has provided integrated legal and business solutions for nearly 100 years, announced that Adam Levin, a partner in the firm’s Litigation practice, has been selected as a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) award winner by California Lawyer magazine.

“Adam’s selection as a California Lawyer of the Year is well deserved,” said Thomas Lambert, managing partner of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp. “He is among the most creative and skillful trial lawyers I have seen in action and a major strength to our firm.”

California Lawyer received nearly 200 submissions for the prestigious award. The winners were selected by the publication’s editors for making a significant impact on the law, the profession, an industry, public policy, for a client or for the benefit of the public in 2006 that is expected to have a significant impact on the law.

Levin received his CLAY award for successfully litigating Lyle v. Warner Bros. Television Production before the California Supreme Court, where he obtained a unanimous decision in favor of several writers and the producers of the hit television series "Friends" in a wrongful termination and harassment suit brought by former writers' assistant Amaani Lyle. Lyle, who admitted she had been warned before taking the job that writers could get raucous during the creative process, claimed their discussions went far beyond the scope of the show, including frequent discussions of their personal sexual experiences.

At stake was freedom of speech within the work environment to address potentially offensive topics such as sex, race and religion in the logical course of doing one's job whether writing for a TV sitcom, discussing stories in a newsroom or academic discussion in a university classroom. Named one of Daily Journal Extra's “Top 20 Lawyers Under Age 40 in California” in 2005, Levin has established himself as one of the leading labor and employment lawyers in California.

Levin represents employers in all areas of labor and employment law, including serving as lead counsel in numerous employment discrimination, wrongful termination, trade secret/unfair competition and right of publicity cases, labor arbitrations, National Labor Relations Board hearings and other administrative proceedings with a focus on the motion picture and television; video game; advertising; and broadcast industries.

About Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp Established in 1908, Mitchell Silberberg's 125 attorneys provide integrated legal
and business solutions addressing its clients' concerns in the following areas: Labor and Employment; Intellectual Property and Technology; Entertainment and New Media; Immigration and Benefits; Tax and Family Wealth Planning; and Environmental Law. Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP has offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit http://www.msk.com

"So This Guy Walks Into a Bar . . . .": Dirty Jokes and Vulgar Language in the Workplace After the California Supreme Court’s “Friends” Decision. [Adam Levin, Taylor Ball - Mitchell Silberber & Knupp]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

For US Teens Unemployment Levels Rival Those of the Great Depression

The March 7th article "Why Teens Aren't Finding Jobs, and Why Employers Are Paying the Price" explains how and why teens are undergoing their own "Great Depression". The ramifications of US teens missing important early career lessons is expected to cause long-term labor challenges. Here are some highlights from that article:

• Teen unemployment at historic highs 2004-2007 - At one point, 70% of newspaper carriers in the U.S. were teens. But that number dropped to 18% in 2004. According to data gathered for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 37% of teens nationwide worked in the summer of 2006 -- nearly 11% fewer than were working in 1989, the peak of a nation-wide economic boom.

• Lack of work ethic or lack of opportunity? - "We often ask, 'What's wrong with this generation? They don't have any work ethic?' but a deeper analysis shows they haven't had the same employment opportunities their parents and older siblings once had," says Neil Sullivan, executive director of the Boston Private Industry Council, a business-led intermediary organization that seeks to strengthen Boston's workforce. As a result, employers are finding that entry-level employees are lacking in what Sullivan calls "the habits of paid work."

• Unemployment rivaling the Depression - "When you ask teens if they want to work, a large number of kids say they simply can't find a job," says a professor of labor economics. For the summer of 2006, according to the labor bureau statistics, teens had an unemployment rate of 16.5% -- four times higher than that of adults during the same period. "If adult employment fell by the same rate teen employment has in the last 10 years, that would be greatest job loss in American history since the Depression."

• Teens missing important lessons - "Working as a team, completing tasks and taking responsibility. Kids learn these skills through employment," says Ivan Charner, director of the Academy of Educational Development/National Institute for Work and Learning, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit concerned with workplace development. "Can you learn those skills by playing a sport or volunteering at church? Yes, but if you are a volunteer, you don't necessarily have to show up. A lot of kids don't or can't play sports. Employment provides an important opportunity for kids to learn from adults other than their teachers or parents."
• Catch 22 for teens - You can't land a job when you don't have experience, and you can't get experience unless you have had a job. Experts agree. "Employment is what we call 'path dependent, the more you work now, the more you will work later."

• If not teens then who? - "Employers are hiring immigrants instead of kids, especially in the last six years," he notes. Hiring one immigrant often leads to hiring more, because hiring usually happens through social networks. Another group replacing teens are workers 55 and older seeking to supplement their incomes. "If you walk into a mall or a grocery store, you'll see large numbers of older people working at jobs teens used to have," says Sum.

• Long-term effects on US labor and competition - "How can the United States continue to compete in a global economy if the entering workforce is made up of high school graduates who lack the skills they need, and of college graduates who are mostly 'adequate' rather than 'excellent'?" write the presidents of the study's four collaboratingorganizations.

Why Teens Aren't Finding Jobs, and Why Employers Are Paying the Price. [Knowledge @ Wharton]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

NASA's Human Capital Strategy

With the highly complex, expensive, and risky missions of NASA surely their Human Capital Management strategy must be of critical importance to their success. This strategy is available to view here and outlines the following subjects:

• Overview
• Introduction
• Drivers
• Architecture & Improvement Initiatives
• Pillar 1 - Strategic Alignment
• Pillar 2 - Strategic Competencies
• Pillar 3 - Learning
• Pillar 4 - Performance Culture
• Pillar 5 - Leadership
• Implementation
• Measurement
• Accountability for Results
• App-A: Roles and Responsibilities
• App-B: NASA's Human Capital Challenge
• HCM Plan (Printable Version
• Implementation Plan (Printable Version)
• Implementation Plan
• Human Capital Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• Integrated Human Capital Management Tools
• Human Capital Legislation (HCL)

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

Interesting Contingent Workforce blog posts for the week of March 1 - 7th

Bill Gates: Skilled foreign minds needed in US or competitive ...

6 hours ago by Bill Inman ... so the nation can double the number of graduates in those areas by 2015. See the whole story at the financial times here. Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing. Workforce Vision - http://workforcevision.blogspot.com/index.html [ More results from Workforce Vision ]

Japan’s newly contingent workforce

5 Mar 2007 by z One of the key reasons for the rise of depression, dissatisfaction and malaise in modern Japan is the changing nature of work, and the decline of community within Japan. I’ve just read a piece by Masahiko Ishizuka, originally published ... AsiaFile - http://www.shuttingoutthesun.com/wordpress

Levi Strauss & Co. To Participate in Contingent Workforce ...

5 Mar 2007 Original post by Levi Strauss & Co. and software by Elliott Back. RetailInsider.net - http://www.retailinsider.net

HOME BASED BUSINESS - THE CONTINGENT WORK FORCE!

3 Mar 2007 by Howard Hanson Many of these individuals became a part of what has come to be called the contingent workforce. The contingent workforce consists of temporary, part-time, contract and leased employees along with people who simply decided the time was ... HOME BASED BUSINESS COMMUNITY - http://homebasedbusinesscommunity.blogspot.com/index.html

Albany Acquires eWork Services to Expand US Contingent Workforce ...3 Mar 2007 by HR Marketer
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—March 1, 2007—Albany, a leader in global contingent workforce management services, announced the acquisition of eWork Services, Inc., a specialist in contractor payrolling services and 1099 compliance. ...
Breaking Human Resource News - http://www.hrmarketer.com/~blog/index.html

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

United States Workers' Compensation Resources (Employee Injury Insurance)

Need to get a question answered or know more about Workers' Compensation in a specific state? Use the following resources from StaffMarket.com:

U.S. States		Other
A-M	N-W
Alabama	Nebraska	U.S. Department of Labor
Alaska	Nevada	American Samoa
Arizona	New Hampshire	Guam
Arkansas	New Jersey	Navajo Nation
California	New Mexico	Northern Mariana Islands
Colorado	New York	Puerto Rico
Connecticut	North Carolina	Virgin Islands
Delaware	North Dakota
District of Columbia	Ohio
Florida	Oklahoma
Georgia	Oregon
Hawaii	Pennsylvania
Idaho	Rhode Island
Illinois	South Carolina
Indiana	South Dakota
Iowa	Tennessee
Kansas	Texas
Kentucky	Utah
Louisiana	Vermont
Maine	Virginia
Maryland	Washington
Massachusetts	West Virginia
Michigan	Wisconsin
Minnesota	Wyoming
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

U.S. Contingent Workforce Statistics

Jobs

Staffing companies match millions of people to millions of jobs.

• 2.9 million people per day are employed by staffing companies.
  
• 12 million temporary and contract employees are hired by U.S. staffing firms over the course of a year.
  
• 79% of staffing employees work full time, virtually the same as the rest of the work force.

Flexibility

The staffing industry offers flexibility to both employees and companies. People can choose when, where, and how they want to work. Companies can get the skills they need to keep fully staffed during busy times.

• 66% of staffing employees say flexible work time is important to them.
  
• 64% of staffing employees report that their work gives them the scheduling flexibility and the time for family that they desire.
  
• 90% of client businesses say staffing companies give them flexibility to keep fully staffed during busy times.

Bridge

Temporary and contract work provides a bridge to permanent employment. People can try out a prospective employer and showcase their skills for a permanent job.

• 88% of staffing employees say that temporary or contract work made them more employable.
  
• 77% of staffing employees say it’s a good way to obtain a permanent job.
  
• 80% of staffing clients say staffing firms offer a good way to find people who can become permanent employees.

Choice

Many people choose temporary and contract work as an employment option. They can select their work schedules and choose among a variety of diverse and challenging assignments.

• 67% of staffing employees say choice of assignments was an important factor in their job decision.
  
• 23% of staffing employees have little or no interest in a permanent job—they prefer the alternative arrangement over traditional employment.
  
• 33% of staffing employees say they work for a staffing company because they like the diversity and challenge of different jobs.

Training

The staffing industry provides free training for millions of temporary and contract employees to help meet today's demand for skilled workers.

• 90% of staffing companies provide free training to their temporary employees.
  
• 65% of staffing employees say they developed new or improved work skills through their assignments.
  
• 40% of staffing employees say they choose temporary or contract work as a way to obtain employment experience or job training.

Staffing Statistics - Staffing Facts. [American Staffing Association]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

U.S. Temporary Employment in Decline for 1st Time in 3 Years

Temporary help payroll growth, as measured on a 12-month trend, has been weakening steadily over 2006, and finally crossed the line into the negative zone in November, falling 0.8% from the year earlier. This was the first recorded year-over-year decline in temporary help payrolls since June 2003. Part of the reason for this decline is the effect of Katrina on previous year’s numbers. November 2005 saw a large increase in temporary help usage in the weather-beaten Gulf Coast. Nonetheless, even taking this liberal perspective, it remains that temporary help payrolls are also up less than 1% above pre-Katrina levels, so volume growth is unquestionably weak at best. On a month-to-month basis, temporary help services rose 0.2% from October, adding 4,800 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalism * Trends * Outsourcing

Global Talent Management for Technology Executives

A recent study by the Economist Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers states:

Workforce investments represent a singular untapped opportunity for technology companies to drive financial performance in the coming decade. The effectiveness of these investments may well determine which companies succeed or fail; which companies continue to innovate, cut costs and drive productivity; and which companies spend too much energy just to replace the talnt they once had or work without cohesion due to poor leadership and direction.

The studies main observations about talent management for technology executives:

1. A priority with failing grades. Many technology executives are making human capital management a greater priority, but the survey shows they do not have a high regard for their firms’ capabilities in this area.

2. Acquiring hybrids. Executives are beginning to experience a painful scarcity for the essential employee: that talented, technically-savvy individual who can collaborate, innovate, and manage change.

3. Harvesting talent from within. Technology companies worldwide are focusing on personnel development and training, and, by inference, on the retention of new hires and existing personnel.

4. Managing global markets and global talent. Nearly half of all technology companies say they difficulty finding technical talent in emerging markets, and just under half say these difficulties include the retention of skilled people around the globe.

Read the study at:

Technology Executive Connections: Successful Strategies for Talent Management. [Economist Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

Demand-Driven Workforce Management

Kronos', a leader in technology for workforce time tracking, descrbes "Demand-Driven" Workforce Management on their website. This exemplifies a major advantage to utilizing a contingent workforce which is the reduction of labor costs when a workforce can be easily augmented or cut back in conjuction with company and customer needs.


When the workforce is not aligned with demand (as in the above chart), your organization risks being overstaffed against customer volume, production workloads, or the patient census, all of which increase your payroll costs. Worse, it can also lead to understaffing and the inability to meet your customer service and quality standards. Rectifying the situation may require excessive use of overtime and premium labor.
Demand-Driven Workforce Management helps you to perfectly align the workforce with demand. As a result, you can reduce labor costs by minimizing overstaffing and improve quality by avoiding understaffing. Most important, your frontline managers can take a more proactive role in improving business performance. They are better able to manage responsibilities associated with staffing budgets, labor law and policy compliance, and employee satisfaction.

The Demand-Driven Workforce. [Kronos]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalism * Trends * Outsourcing