What are the California Holiday pay laws? Here is a recap:

California Holiday Pay - From the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement Website - http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Holidays.htm

Hours worked on holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays are treated like hours worked on any other day of the week. California law does not require that an employer provide its employees with paid holidays, that it close its business on any holiday, or that employees be given the day off for any particular holiday. If an employer closes its business on holidays and gives its employees time off from work with pay, such a circumstance exists pursuant to a policy or practice adopted by the employer, pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, or pursuant to the terms of an employment agreement between the employer and employee, as there is nothing in the law that requires such a practice. Additionally, there is nothing in the law that mandates an employer pay an employee a special premium for work performed on a holiday, Saturday, or Sunday, other than the overtime premium required for work performed in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek.


Q. Last week I worked eight hours on the 4th of July holiday, which fell on Wednesday. For the whole week I worked 40 hours. When I got my paycheck this week I was paid for 40 hours at my straight time rate. Aren’t I entitled to extra pay, of at least double time, for working on a holiday?


A. There is nothing in state law that mandates an employer pay an employee a special premium for work performed on holidays, Saturdays, or Sundays, other than the overtime premium required for work in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek. Unless your employer has a policy or practice of paying a premium rate for working on a holiday, or you are subject to a collective bargaining or employment agreement that contains such a term, your employer is only required to pay you your regular rate of pay for all the straight time hours worked on the holiday, and the overtime premium required for work in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek. Since you did not work over eight hours on the holiday, or more than 40 hours during the workweek, you were paid correctly.


Q. My employer is open for business on every holiday, some of which I have to work. Isn’t this against the law?


A. No. There is nothing in state law that mandates that an employer must close its business on any particular day, if at all. It is up to your employer to select which days, if any, it chooses to be open and closed for business, and if your employer is open on a holiday and schedules you to work that day, there is nothing in the law that obligates your employer to pay you anything but your regular pay and any overtime premium for all overtime hours worked.


Q. Last week we were closed for business on Monday to celebrate Memorial Day. Consequently, I worked Tuesday through Saturday that week, eight hours each day. When I got my paycheck this week I was paid for 48 hours last week at my straight time rate. Shouldn’t eight of those hours be paid at time and one-half, the overtime rate, since I was paid for more than 40 hours in the workweek?


A. No, you were paid correctly. In this situation, even though you did not work on the holiday your employer chose to pay you for it, which it has the absolute right and discretion to do. However, the determination of whether overtime pay is due is based upon hours worked, more than eight in a workday or more than 40 in a workweek, and not upon pay received. Thus, since you did not work more than eight hours in any one workday, or more than 40 hours in the workweek, you are not entitled to any overtime pay for the workweek.


Q. We get 11 holidays off each year without pay. My sister gets the same 11 holidays off, and she gets paid for all of them. Is my employer breaking the law because he’s not paying us for these holidays when he’s required to, even though we don’t work on any of them?


A. No, your employer is not breaking the law. There is nothing in state law that mandates that employees be paid for holidays that are not worked.

Planning Doesn't Equal Results - Communication and Incentives Help

Researcher/Writers Robert Kaplan and David P. Norton in their article "The Office of Strategy Management," published in the October 2005 Harvard Business Review, talk about why strategy execution has a low success rate in companies:

Over the past fifteen years, we have studied the root causes of this disconnect between strategy and performance. We have learned that most organizations do not have a strategy execution process. Many have strategic plans, but no coherent approach to manage the execution of those plans. Consequently, many key management processes remain disconnected from strategy. We have also learned that:

(a) Many organizations don't have a consistent way to even describe their strategy, other than in a large strategic planning binder. We believe strongly that organizations need to find a consistent, coherent way to translate their strategy into operational terms.

(b) Sixty percent of typical organizations do not link their strategic priorities to their budget, virtually ensuring that key strategic initiatives do not get funded and resources may not be supplied to deliver on the strategic plan.

(c) Two-thirds of HR and IT organizations develop strategic plans that are not linked to the organization's strategy. This is extraordinary.

(d) Seventy percent of middle managers and more than 90 percent of front-line employees have compensation that is not linked to the strategy.

(e) Most devastating, 95 percent of employees in most organizations do not understand their [organization's] strategy.

In short, there is often a chronic disconnect in organizations between strategy formulation and strategy execution.

So it seems that strategy could be much more cleanly executed if there was clear communication about corporate goals, checks and balances to make sure departmental goals followed, and compensation, funding, and rewards linked to execution. The authors describe the use of a Balanced Scorecard to track results in the article - http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=5269&t=strategy&wkrss=y.

PS - If you haven't already signed up make sure to receive an electronic copy of the HBS Working Knowledge Newsletter. Visit http://hbswk.hbs.edu/reg/newsletter_sub.jhtml

Human Capital as a Part of Your Companies "Value Platform"

The overall value of a corporation is dependent upon three factors (accoring to many leading Intellectual Capital theorists, such as Hubert Saint-Onge and Lief Edvinsson): (1) Human
Capital (2) Organizational (Structural) Capital (3) Customer (Relational) Capital. The interaction of these is graphically represented below as the "Value Platform".

The high-level specfics of these factors are depicted below:

With regards to Human Capital here are some of the fundamental indicators on whether a company is excelling or failing in this area:

If you have employees that have a long tenure, are satisfied with their job, are active in making suggestions to the company, are actively being recruited, and you have a high revenue/profit return in proportion to money spent on salaries then you probably have the Human Capital side of the Value Platform model well under control.

Click here to view a related study.

Staffing Firm Ordered to Pay $5.7 Million in Back Wages and Penalties for Immigration Violations

Computech, Inc. was ordered by the U.S. labor department to pay $4.5 million in back wages and $1.2 million in fines for willful violations. The company violated wage requirements for the H-1B visa program's and provided inaccurate information on its H-1B application materials in violation of immigration laws. A national staffing company Computech will pay the back wages to 232 non-immigrant computer professionals. The Company brought non-immigrant H-1B workers into the country, often paid them nothing when there were no work assignments available, and also did not pay them the required wage rate in the areas where they were employed.

U.S. Leading Economic Indicators and related composite indexes

According to The Conference Board, the leading index of economic indicators increased sharply in January. It has increased in five of the last six months - 2.3 percent from July 2005 to January 2006 (a 4.7 percent annual rate). The main contributors to January's large gain were initial claims for unemployment insurance (inverted), real money supply, and building permits. "The Coincident Economic Indicators have been rising moderately but steadily in recent months, suggesting the economy is sustaining a relatively moderate pace. The Leading Economic Index, however, rose sharply in three of the last four months. That could be a signal of a faster pace this spring,” says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board.

UPDATE ON EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS

From the Federal Reserve Board said “beige book” report (January 18, 2006) on current economic conditions within their districts:

For more information see: www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/BeigeBook/2006/

Boston
“Business activity continues to expand in the first district, although this growth is not generally translating to increases in employment,” the beige book reported.

New York
According to the report, “The labor market has shown further signs of strengthening, for both office workers and factory workers.” A major New York City staffing firm reported that “the number of quality jobs far exceed[s] the number of quality candidates,” with most recruiting activity occurring in financial and legal services.

Philadelphia
“Employment agencies and temporary help firms indicated that demand for workers has picked up recently,” the beige book said.”

Cleveland
“Hiring still appeared somewhat limited throughout the district,” the report said, “though staffing services companies reported an increase in client orders, which was attributed to expectations of ongoing economic expansion in 2006.”

Richmond
District staffing firms “continued to report generally strong demand for workers,” the book said. “Skilled manufacturing, administrative, and customer service employees were among the most highly sought worker categories across the district.”

Atlanta
“Economic activity continued to expand at a solid pace,” the beige book said. “Reports suggest that regional labor markets continued to firm, with the demand for skilled workers in the construction industry particularly strong.”

Chicago
“Employment continued to increase in many locales and in a wide range of sectors,” the book reported. “Staffing services firms reported that temporary hiring picked up steadily again in most areas.”

St. Louis
Economic activity in the district has “expanded modestly,” the report said. Growth was noted in the services sector.

Minneapolis
District employment “increased slightly,” the beige book stated, “with optimistic signs for future hiring noted.”

Kansas City
“The 10th district economy expanded moderately,” the report said. Manufacturing activity “expanded solidly” and “factory activity is expected to continue to grow in the months ahead.”

Dallas
“The labor market continues to slowly tighten,” the book said. “Workers with specialized skills remain in short supply,” and “temporary service firms say a very high percentage of workers are obtaining full-time positions from initial short-term contracts.”

San Francisco
The district’s “economy continued to expand at a solid pace,” the book reported, noting labor shortages in the energy sector.

STAFFING IN 2006 STARTS AT A FAST PACE

According to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

$16.41
Employees average hourly earnings across the United States.

4.7%
The unemployment rate. Dropped from 4.9% in December and is at its lowest level since July 2001 when the rate was 4.6%.

7.6%
Increase in payrolls, for temporary help firms over the same month in 2005.

14,300
Number of jobs added to the payrolls of temporary help firms in January.

193,000
Nonfarm payroll employment increase in January 2006. This was below most economists’ predictions of nearly 250,000.

2,650,000
Total number of staffing employees—the highest number recorded for the month since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the industry.

For more information see: www.bls.gov

Looking for a Company to Provide Talent to Yours? Start Here...

If you want to find a reputable company to help you recruit talented workers then start by calling one of these associations - they can point you in the right direction:

American Management Association (AMA)
Location:
New York, NY
Phone:
212-586-8100
E-mail:
cust_serv@amanet.org
Website:
www.amanet.org

American Staffing Association (ASA)
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Phone:
703-253-2020
E-mail:
asa@staffingtoday.net
Website:
www.staffingtoday.net

Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services (ACSESS)
Location:
Mississauga, ONT
Phone:
888-232-4962
E-mail:
info@acsess.org
Website:
www.acsess.org

Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC)
Location:
New York, NY
Phone:
212-398-9556
E-mail:
aesc@aesc.org
Website:
www.aesc.org

Georgia Association of Personnel Services (GAPS)
Location:
Atlanta, GA
Phone:
770-952-3178
E-mail:
gaps@jobconnection.com
Website:
www.jobconnection.com

Home Health Services & Staffing Association (HHSSA)
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Phone:
703-836-6263
E-mail:
info@aahomecare.org
Website:
www.aahomecare.com

Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)
Location:
Arlington, VA
Phone:
703-522-5055
E-mail:
hmiller@itaa.org
Website:
www.itaa.org

Institute for the Accreditation of Professional Employer Organizations (IAPEO)
Location:
Little Rock, AR
Phone:
501-219-2045
E-mail:
info@iapeo.org
Website:
www.iapeo.org

International Association of Career Management Professionals (IACMP)
Location:
Washington, D.C.
Phone:
202-547-6377
E-mail:
iacmp@iacmp.org
Website:
www.iacmp.org

International Association of Corporate and Professional Recruitment (IACPR)
Location:
Winnetka, IL
Phone:
847-441-1644
E-mail:
iacpr@aol.com

International Confederation of Personnel Services Associations (IPSA)
Location:
Melbourne, Victoria
Phone:
61-3-9650-1044
E-mail:
riddells@ozemail.com.au

National Association for Alternative Staffing (NAAS)
Location:
Austin, TX
Phone:
512-469-9014
E-mail:
kim@naasnet.org

National Association of Computer Consulting Businesses (NACCB)
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Phone:
703-838-2050
E-mail:
naccb@naccb.org
Website:
www.naccb.org

National Association of Executive Recruiters (NAER)
Location:
Chicago, IL
Phone:
312-701-0744
E-mail:
execxxx@aol.com
Website:
www.naer.org

National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS)
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Phone:
703-684-0180
E-mail:
skennaugh@napsweb.org
Website:
www.napsweb.org

National Association of Physician Recruiters (NAPR)
Location:
Altamonte Springs, FL
Phone:
407-774-7880
E-mail:
kmg-assn@worldnet.att.net
Website:
www.napr.org

National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO)
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Phone:
703-836-0466
E-mail:
info@napeo.org
Website:
www.napeo.org

National Technical Services Association (NTSA)
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Phone:
703-684-4722
E-mail:
vjohnson@ntsa.com
Website:
www.ntsa.com

New Jersey Staffing Association (NJSA)
Location:
Parsippany, NJ
Phone:
973-887-2288
Website:
www.njsa.com

Society for Human Resource Management
Location:
Alexandria, VA
Phone:
703-548-3440
E-mail:
shrm@shrm.org
Website:
www.shrm.org

TempNet
Location:
Des Moines, IA
Phone:
515-282-8192
E-mail:
mmycka@assoc-mgmt.com
Website:
www.tempnet.com

The Outsourcing Institute
Location:
Jericho, NY
Phone:
516-681-0066
E-mail:
info@outsourcing.com
Website:
http://www.outsourcing.com/

Hiring Intelligent Executives

Hiring intelligent executives (IQ, Emotional IQ , and Leadership IQ) is critical to an enterprises success. Here are "The Skills that Make up Executive Intelligence."

by Justin Menkes (from the Harvard Business Review, December 5, 2005)
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=5124&t=operations

Regarding tasks, intelligent leaders:	Regarding people, intelligent leaders:	Regarding themselves, intelligent leaders:
appropriately define a problem and differentiate essential objectives from less-relevant concerns.	recognize the conclusions that can be drawn from a particular exchange.	pursue feedback that may reveal errors in their judgments and make appropriate adjustments.
anticipate obstacles to achieving their objectives and identify sensible means to circumvent them.	recognize the underlying agendas and motivations of individuals and groups involved in a situation.	recognize their personal biases or limitations in perspective and use this understanding to improve their thinking and their action plans.
critically examine the accuracy of underlying assumptions.	anticipate the probable reactions of individuals to actions or communications.	recognize when serious flaws in their ideas or actions require swift public acknowledgment of mistakes and a dramatic change in direction.
articulate the strengths and weaknesses of the suggestions or arguments posed.	accurately identify the core issues and perspectives that are central to a conflict.	appropriately articulate the essential flaws in others' arguments and reiterate the strengths in their own positions.
recognize what is known about an issue, what more needs to be known, and how best to obtain the relevant and accurate information needed.	appropriately consider the probable effects and possible unintended consequences that may result from taking a particular course of action.	recognize when it is appropriate to resist others' objections and remain committed to a sound course of action.
use multiple perspectives to identify probable unintended consequences of various action plans.	acknowledge and balance the different needs of all relevant stakeholders.

Excerpted with permission from "Hiring for Smarts," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83, No. 11, November 2005.

The Time to Plan for the Coming Skills Shortage is Now

Making the most of a mature workforce Some 64 million baby boomers (over 40 percent of the US labour force) are poised to retire in large numbers by the end of this decade. In industries already facing labour and skills shortages, forward-thinking companies are recruiting, retaining, and developing flexible work-time arrangements and/or phased retirement plans for these workers (55 years of age or older), many of whom have skills that are difficult to replace. Such actions are putting these companies ahead of competitors who view the aging workforce largely as a burden putting strains on pension plans and healthcare costs.

Advanced Screening Tools for Effective Talent Sourcing

Recruiting talent is constantly evolving more sophisticated tools. In this December 2005 Casino Journal article Greg Calvert, the CEO of The Performance Group, and I discuss the impact of pre-hire performance testing in the Casino industry.

http://www.billinman.com/news/Casino%20Journal/Casino%20Journal%20-%20Casino%20Metrics%20Article%20-%20122005.jpg

Are you familiar with the Temporary Staffing industry lingo?

Temp Staffing Lingo

ASA
American Staffing Association

Boutique firms
Firms that specialize in placing candidates for a particular industry or job specialty. This is in contrast to generalist firms that will seek to meet any hiring need that arises.

NAPS
National Association of Personnel Services.

Temps
The word used for temporary employees provided by staffing services.

Long-Term and Contract Help
A staffing firm supplies employees to work on long-term, indefinite assignments. Employees are recruited, screened, and assigned by the staffing firm.

Managed Services
A staffing firm assumes full responsibility for operating a specific customer function (e.g., mail room) on an on-going basis.

Payrolling
The customer recruits workers but asks a staffing firm to hire and assign them to perform services. Or workers currently employed by the customer are placed on the payroll of a staffing firm. Payrolling is distinguished from PEO arrangements in that the workers generally are on temporary assignments and make up a small proportion of the customer's work force.

PEO (Employee Leasing)
A business places all or most of its work force onto the payroll of a staffing firm and the staffing firm assumes responsibility for payroll, benefits, and other human resource functions.

Placement
A staffing firm brings together job seekers and potential employers for the purpose of establishing a "permanent" employment relationship.

Temporary Help
A staffing firm hires its own employees and assigns them to support or supplement a customer's work force in situations involving employee absences, temporary skill shortages, seasonal workloads, and special projects.

Temporary to Hire
A staffing firm employee works for a customer during a trial period in which both the employee and the customer consider establishing a "permanent" employment relationship.

Health Care
Physicians, dentists, nurses, hygienists, medical technicians, therapists, home health aides, custodial care workers, etc.

Industrial
Manual laborers, food handlers, cleaners, assemblers, drivers, tradesmen, machine operators, maintenance workers, etc.

Information Technology
Consultants, analysts, programmers, designers, installers, and other occupations involving computer sciences (hardware or software) or communications technology (Internet, telephony, etc.)

Office–Clerical
Secretaries, general office clerks, receptionists, administrative assistants, word-processing and data entry operators, cashiers, etc.

Professional–Managerial
Accountants, bookkeepers, attorneys, paralegals, middle and senior managers, advertising and marketing executives, and other nontechnical occupations that require higher skill or education levels.

Technical
Engineers, scientists, laboratory technicians, architects, draftsmen, technical writers and illustrators, and other individuals with special skills or training in technical fields involving math or science (not including information technology).

From BuyerZone.com
http://businessweek.buyerzone.com/personnel/temp_staffing/buyers_guide1.html

Workforce Definitions

The vocabulary surrounding the outsourced workforce movement (and how outsourced workers are acquired) is evolving rapidly. Are you familiar with the following terms? If your company is utilizing an increased amount of continent workers (Based on the Staffing Industry Analysts Glossary)

Contingency Placement -- The practice of charging a fee to either the applicant or the employer only after a successful referral of the applicant to the employer for employment. (Compare: Retained Search)

Contingent Workforce -- The group ofconsultants, contractors, temps, and other project based workers that a company employs. Usually these contractors are employed through staffing firms, project-based consulting companies, or through outsourcing.

Just-In-Time Staffing (JIT Staffing) -- A loosely used term that equates "flexible staffing" arrangements with the concept of "just-in-time" inventory control or delivery of parts for a manufacturing process. Rather than carrying inventory (or permanent employees), arrangements are made with a supplier to deliver parts (or help supply workers) just at the time when they are needed in the work process.

Managed Services/Managed Staffing -- Term used to describe facilities support management and outsourcing services. Refers to the on-site supervision or management of a function or department at a client (customer) site on an ongoing, indefinite basis; often the staffing service has output responsibilities and accountability.

Off-Site -- Business services provided for a client (customer) at the service provider's location, not at the client premises.

On-Site -- Vendored or outsourced services provided to the client (customer) at the client site.

On-Site Management -- On-site management of a department or function by the supplier. (See also: Facilities Management, Managed Staffing.)

On-Site Supervision -- On-site supervision by the supplier. (See also: Facilities Staffing.)

Payroll Service -- A business service that provides payroll processing, paycheck writing, and payroll tax administration, for a fee. No co-employer or joint employer relationship exists; it is plainly an administrative function.

Single Source Supplier -- The provision of staffing services employees through a single supplier source.

Strategic Staffing -- The pre-planned use of alternative or flexible staffing strategies by the customer. May include the use of temp-to-perm hiring, or planned temporary staffing for work cycle peaks or projects, for example.

Supplemental Staffing -- The provision of temporary workers to a client company to supplement the current workforce for peak loads, special projects, or planned and unplanned worker absences.

Vendoring -- The provision of business services by an outside supplier (vendor), where the vendor brings its own employees on-site to perform a specific function, such as running a cafeteria or providing security services, or uses its own employees off-site to perform a specific function that was formerly done by the customer.

Vendor On Premises (VOP) -- On-site coordination of a customer's temporary help services through an exclusive, long-term general contractor relationship with a temporary help company. The designated Vendor On Premises may enter into subcontracting relationships with other temporary help suppliers, or the customer may specify such relationships.

Contingent Workforce Security Risks

The contingent workforce (consultants, contractors, temps, and other project based workers) is a rapidly expanding sectors of the U.S. workforce. Growing at 15% annually and comprising over $100 billion in total spend this group is also one of the most prone to security issues. Workplace security has emerged as one of the most serious challenges facing businesses.

70% of corporations carry out minimal background checks on full-time internal candidates and estimates indicate that far fewer companies do any background screening of their contingent workers according to the Society for HR Management.. Since almost 90% of businesses use temporary employees and two million people work each day in temporary positions, the potential threat to U.S. business is substantial.

These threats include:

• Workplace violence
• Workplace harassment
• Theft of or damage to company physical property
• Theft of proprietary or sensitive information and intellectual property
• Employee negligence, misconduct, or fraud

The results of these security risks are significant:

• 25% of workers report they have been attacked, harassed, or threatened in the workplace according to HR.com
• 43% of respondents describe exposed resume exaggerations and falsifications as “significant” to “extremely significant” according to a 1999 corsSurvey on HR issues.
• 6% of the annual revenue for the average company is lost to employee theft according to the ACFE.
• $400 billion annually is accrued in employee fraud costs companies
• Around 20% of U.S. workers have criminal records and 13% of applicants do not disclose their criminal history according to the Department of Justice.
• Another cost of inadequately screening potential employees is legal liability. In so-called “negligent hiring” cases, companies have been found responsible for problems that occur as a direct result of their failure to thoroughly investigate candidates before hiring them.

Work and the Y Generation

Generation Y (born between 1981 and 1995) looks at work differently than preceding generations:

• Half of them say they are ALWAYS looking for a better job, and that is of a group of more than 60 million (of course dont include those born in the '90s, that would be child labor)*
• Only 43% of them are currently satisfied in their job.**
• Only 36% of them hope to work for the same company in two years.**
• 60% believe that their workplace's internal training is important in their decision to stay but only 43% say that they are satisfied with what they are learning on the job.*

Compared to other generations those numbers are significant:

• Generation X (age 25-39) - 65% are currently satisfied with their job and 62% hope to work for the same company in two years.** 55% are satisfied with what they are learning on the job.*
• Baby Boomers (age 40-58) - 68% are currently satisfied with their job and 75% hope to work for the same company in two years.** 53% are satisfied with what they are learning on the job.*
• "Matures" (age 59+) - 77% are currently satisfied with their job and 78% hope to work for the same company in two years.** 56% are satisfied with what they are learning on the job.*

Why does Generation Y have such a different feeling about work? There are many explanations, here are some:

• Dissatisfaction with entry level positions (and all generations experience this one)
• Unfufilled expectations in the workforce
• Many saw their parents laid off from their jobs and have translated that into looking out for themselves
• They are tech saavy and have a strong need to continue to learn and grow, particularly with those skills
• They are the most educated American generation ever and look to their work as an engine to fuel their continuing education.

At any rate companies need to be prepared to attract and retain Generation Y works while planning around a workforce that will be more transient than ever.

* From the article 'Workplace Generation Gap Growing', 10-22-2004. http://www.us.randstad.com/webapp/internet/servlet/News?id=49

** From the Randstad 2004 Employee Review/RoperASW Survey