The federal agency that supports legal aid programs is reporting today that nearly a million poor people are denied representation each year because legal aid clinics lack sufficient financing. One primary reason for the shortfall is the reduction in financing from state government and private sources because of the recession. The problem is especially acute in fighting foreclosures, [...]
Returning Injured Employees to Work under the ADA
Sears has resolved a long-running dispute with the EEOC over reasonable accommodations for employees with workers’ compensation claims by agreeing to pay $6.2 million, the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history.
The named plaintiff, John Bava, was injured on the job and took workers’compensation leave. While still disabled by those injuries, he repeatedly attempted to [...]
Passion at work (no, not that kind of passion)
I thought this was an interesting article from Saturday’s New York Timesabout finding passion or “flow” at work. (If you haven’t read “Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, you really should.)
Anyway, the article talks about the “needed nine”: the main external sources of happiness or unhappiness in work and life. They include:
having some sense of empowerment;
using and [...]
Labor Troubles at Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels is facing a major public relations problem because it decided to replace its housekeeping employees in three hotels in Boston with contractors provided by an outside agency. The hotel made its decision for economic reasons: its housekeepers earned $14 to $16 per hour plus benefits, while their replacements make about $8 per hour [...]
Those Crazy Spaniards
As many of you know, our family spent three months living in Spain in 2007. While there, it did not seem that the Spaniards cursed any more than any other nationality.
Perhaps I was wrong. A court in Barcelona recently ruled that an employee who caleed his boss a “son of a bitch” should not have [...]
EEOC proposes new ADA rules
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission yesterday published proposed new rules designed to implement the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (which became effective on January 1, 2009). The amendments broadened the definition of disability and will make it easier for an individual seeking protection under the ADA to establish that he or she has a disability; [...]
More on law firm economics
here. Money quote:
“All the momentum in the legal services marketplace today favours small, adaptable, innovative, client-focused, value-oriented, business-savvy providers. Most large law firms answer to immobile, traditional, self-centered, profit-oriented, and business-challenged. It’s not hard to pick the winner here.”
Is your company prepared for flu season?
Employers are starting to grapple with how best to react to a flu outbreak, and an article in today’s StarTribune highlights a conference at which health care professionals provided advice. Some pointers:
Prepare a plan now if you haven’t already;
The priority should be to encourage sick workers to stay home without fear of losing their jobs;
Employees [...]
The economics of law practice (and why small firms have an advantage over big ones)
As many of you know, there is much hand-wringing going on in big law firms about whether their current economic model is viable. (I for one don’t think it is). Here is a good article about potential changes to law firm structures. A couple of quotes from a law firm consultant jumped out at me:
“Clients [...]
