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Despite ongoing government and industry efforts to improve safety, maintenance of mobile-phone and other communications towers continues to be the most hazardous work around. And because of the relatively small number of employees in the business compared to other industry sectors, tower climbing — which suffered five fatalities during a 12-day span this spring and seven deaths overall this year so far — may also be the most overlooked, deadly job in the country. The recent spike in tower fall fatalities follows a reprieve in deaths between early December and April. It was a very bad year in 2006, when...

Chalk it up to cultural insensitivity, a lack of understanding or simple ignorance, but there are a number of cultural landmines that otherwise-earnest employees can stumble into when attempting to interact with coworkers of different ethnic backgrounds. Much of the ground covered by DiversityInc's Things Never to Say series over the past several months included comments that reflected stereotypes, such as that Asians are passive, are disproportionately found in technology sectors and are not risk takers. Many people who find themselves making these remarks have no intention of being offensive, but that doesn't make the comments any easier for the...

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon. County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts. Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office. Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole." That prompted Judge Thomas Jones,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk rage. ADVERTISEMENT Anger in the workplace -- employees and employers who are grumpy, insulting, short-tempered or worse -- is shockingly common and likely growing as Americans cope with woes of rising costs, job uncertainty or overwhelming debt, experts say. "It runs gamut from just rudeness up to pretty extreme abusive behaviors," said Paul Spector, professor of industrial and organizational psychology at the University of South Florida. "The severe cases of fatal violence get a lot of press but in some ways this is more insidious because...

A Christian registrar who refused to carry out gay 'weddings' won a landmark legal battle yesterday. Lillian Ladele, 47, was threatened with the sack, bullied and 'thrown before the lions' after asking to be excused from conducting civil partnerships for same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs. But yesterday a tribunal agreed that her faith had been ridden roughshod over by equalities-obsessed Islington Council, which had sought to 'trump one set of rights with another'. The groundbreaking decision could lead to firms facing 'conscience claims' from staff who say their own beliefs prevent them carrying out part of their job....

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon. County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts. Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office. Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole." That prompted Judge Thomas Jones,...

Walt Disney World fired a security guard on Monday after he protested the company's decision not to allow people with concealed weapons permits to keep guns in their cars on Disney property. Disney terminated Edwin Sotomayor, 36, of Orlando for violating three Disney employee policies, essentially for failing to cooperate with an internal investigation, said spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez. Sotomayor vowed to continue his fight. At issue is Florida's new law that allows people with concealed weapons permits to keep firearms in their vehicles in employee parking lots. Disney advised its employees late last month that the theme-park resort is exempt...

"Sometimes, a term of endearment can be anything but endearing. "I had this manager who … started referring to me as 'honey,'" recalls May Snowden, former chief diversity officer for both Starbucks and Eastman Kodak Co. (one of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies), who is now a consultant for Creative Wealth Alliance. "[It was] when I took my first director position. I was in a male-dominated job in the telecommunications industry and I did not want to embarrass him in front of his peers, so I invited him to my office and indicated that 'I won't call you sweetie if you...

Have you ever wondered what term to use when describing someone whose ancestry links to a Spanish-speaking country? Is it Hispanic? Latino? Latin? Spanish? What's the difference? The ancestry of the U.S. Latino population is linked to the following regions, in alphabetical order: Central America, Greater Antilles, Mexico, South America and Spain. Collectively, these represent 22 Spanish-speaking countries. In the United States, this group comprises more than 48 million individuals, outnumbering Canadians in Canada and twice the population in Australia. If the U.S. Latino population represented a country, it would make up the second-largest Hispanic "nation" in the world, second...

Tampa: Prohibition against firearms on USAA property remains in effect Published 6/27/2008 USAA's policy prohibiting firearms anywhere on USAA property remains in effect at all locations. The policy remains in effect despite a new Florida law limiting such policies. Background On July 1, a new law takes effect in Florida that restricts employers' ability to prohibit guns at the workplace. However, that law also includes an exemption for properties that include school facilities, such as our Child Development Center (CDC). As a result, USAA's policy prohibiting guns in the workplace will remain in effect even after the law takes effect...

* * * A variety of studies, polls, and anecdotal evidence show that increasing numbers of professionals and students are using various drugs to sharpen their attention at work or school, reduce their sleep time, or calm their nerves. * * * Industry advocates say that researchers will soon deliver more drugs capable of goosing workers' performance, and that the improvement will be enough to make a real difference to company profits and workers' pay. Industry lobbyists are seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for research that will accelerate these developments, and millions of dollars to win public acceptance for...

A factory worker with a reputation for not getting along with co-workers went on a shooting spree at a Kentucky plastics plant early today after getting into an argument with his supervisor, police told ABC News. The gunman killed five other employees before shooting himself to death, police said. A seventh person who was wounded is listed in critical condition.

Siemens ‘too white, German and male’ By Richard Milne in London Published: June 24 2008 23:30 | Last updated: June 24 2008 23:30 Siemens‘ top management is too German for its own good, as well as too white and male, according to its chief executive. Peter Löscher, the Austrian-born chief of the German industrial conglomerate, said the priority for his second year in charge would be to improve the “global diversity” of managers and warned that Germany’s competitiveness could be threatened if it failed to do so. “The management board are all white males. Our top 600 managers are predominantly...

Audit: Justice Department Weeded Out Dems WASHINGTON, June 24, 2008(AP) A new audit concludes that rookie attorneys with Republican roots got interviewed for plum Justice Department jobs while their liberal-leaning counterparts got passed over. The Justice Department audit released Tuesday found that a screening program installed in 2002 weeded out job applicants who had liberal or Democratic ties. Improper use of the screening program peaked in 2006, when politics and ideology disqualified what the audit called a significant number of newly graduated lawyers and summer interns seeking jobs. The long-awaited report confirms widespread criticism last year that the once fiercely...

A new audit concludes that rookie attorneys with Republican roots got interviewed for plum Justice Department jobs while their liberal-leaning counterparts got passed over. The Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility released the audit Tuesday, revealing that a screening program installed in 2002 weeded out job applicants who had liberal or Democratic ties. Improper use of the screening program peaked in 2006, when politics and ideology disqualified what the audit called a significant number of newly graduated lawyers and summer interns seeking jobs. The long-awaited report confirms widespread criticism last year that the once fiercely independent Justice...

Last week, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer does not have the right to view employees' text messages without a warrant. The ruling is based primarily on who pays for the storage of the content. For e-mail stored on company's servers, U.S. law is quite clear that employers own the content because they pay for the storage. The Court, however, does not view text messaging in the same way: because employers do not pay for the storage, but instead pay only for the service itself, employers do not have the same legal access to this...

For eight years Daniel and Sharon Dixon, apartment managers in Lake City, Fla., displayed in the apartment complex's management office a stained glass depiction of flowers with the words "Consider the lilies … Matthew 6:28" written in the lower left corner – an act for which they were suddenly fired from their management jobs and evicted from their apartment. Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom that is representing the Dixons, told WND that neither before nor after the incident were the Dixons charged with any wrongdoing other than protesting the removal...

Council bans brainstorming By Nick Allen Last Updated: 2:06PM BST 20/06/2008   A council has banned the term "brainstorming" and replaced it with "thought showers". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in Kent was accused of taking political correctness to extremes after instructing staff to make the change.The move came as council chiefs feared the word brainstorming might offend mentally ill people and those with epilepsy.The buzz term is often used by executives to generate ideas among their staff. But memos have been sent to staff asking them not to use it and some have been given training which encouraged them...

SAN DIEGO -- Employees who refuse to perform gay wedding ceremonies at the San Diego County Clerk's Office are facing reassignment. At least 14 employees who raised religious objections to performing same-sex weddings have been told they cannot pick and choose between marriage applicants. California began gay marriages this week. Clerk Greg Smith had told workers earlier that those who object on religious grounds wouldn't have to perform the ceremonies, but 14 employees balked and that was more than his office could accommodate. Only 30 workers in the clerk's office perform wedding ceremonies. Smith's office said in an e-mail to...

Some of the most sensible decisions of the Supreme Court's centrist majority have concerned business law, and yesterday the Justices handed down another good one. The decision will protect the free-speech rights of all parties – companies and unions – during labor negotiations. At issue in Chamber of Commerce v. Brown was a 2000 California law that prohibited businesses from using state grants or program funds to "assist, promote or deter union organizing." That sounds neutral enough, even fair. However, at the behest of the labor lobby, the law was designed as an elaborate sleight-of-hand to use taxpayer money to...

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - One in three information technology professionals abuses administrative passwords to access confidential data such as colleagues' salary details, personal emails or board-meeting minutes, according to a survey. U.S. information security company Cyber-Ark surveyed 300 senior IT professionals, and found that one-third admitted to secretly snooping, while 47 percent said they had accessed information that was not relevant to their role. "All you need is access to the right passwords or privileged accounts and you're privy to everything that's going on within your company," Mark Fullbrook, Cyber-Ark's UK director, said in a statement released along with the survey...

JWT survey shows positive side of younger workers By Jeanie Casison While older employees often call out their 21- to 29-year-old Millennial colleagues for not showing respect, lacking a strong work ethic and being impatient on the job, new research by New York-based ad agency JWT reveal that these negative perceptions may be off the mark. According to the U.S. study, "Millennials at Work: Myths vs. Reality," the younger generation is more serious than people think. When asked about the statement "I think a formal appearance at the workplace is important for career success," 67 percent of Millennial respondents agreed...

Christian Photographer Hauled before Commission for Refusing Same-Sex Job By John Jalsevac New Mexico, January 30, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The case of a Christian photographer who refused to photograph a same-sex "commitment ceremony", was heard before the New Mexico Human Rights Division on Monday. A same-sex couple asked Elaine Huguenin, co-owner with her husband of Elane Photography, to photograph a "commitment ceremony" that the two women wanted to hold. Huguenin declined because her Christian beliefs are in conflict with the message communicated by the ceremony. The same-sex couple filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Division, which is...

Most Disney fans can tell you about "The Disney Look," the list of strict grooming standards that must be adhered to by all cast members who work "on-stage" or in view of park guests. Disney is now facing a civil rights class-action lawsuit over those standards. Sukhbir Singh Channa, a practicing Sikh, wears a turban and has a beard and long hair in keeping with his religious beliefs. According to the suit, while a student at the University of South Florida, he was hired by Walt Disney World as a seasonal college musician in October 2005, which involves parade and...

A tray of asymmetrical chocolate lumps balances on the counter behind the espresso machine, where owner Jean-Marc Gorce is slinging a cappuccino. Scotch-taped to the walls, clippings about the mom-and-pop truffle shop display accolades from Gourmet, the New York Times and 7 x 7. At the window, a few stools share a high counter; outside, two tables perch on the sidewalk. Cluttered but quaint, off-kilter but authentic, XOX Truffles is just the sort of place that one might associate with North Beach's motley character. Yet one of its design anomalies - a step from the curb into the shop -...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday limited the rights of public employees, ruling that a state worker who said she was fired by a supervisor who was out to "get rid of" her could not sue the government for denying her equal protection of the laws. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices refused to open the courthouse door to what some have called discrimination lawsuits by a "class of one."

THE fleshier air hostesses of India's state airline are too fat to fly, according to a ruling by the country's High Court. Judges yesterday dismissed a case brought by five Air India employees against the airline over its decision to suspend staff more than 3kg over their maximum weight allowance. The airline introduced the limit two years ago when it estimated that more than 10 per cent of its 1,600 cabin crew were overweight. Staff guidelines recommended different weights according to height and age. For an 18-year-old with a height of 152cm (5ft) the maximum weight is 50kg (almost 8st);...

That Little Bit of Juicy News You Spread at Work Might Get You Fired Just a year ago, the atmosphere in Sam Chapman's small public relations firm was often tense. "We had information leaks, we had disgruntledness, we had competitors finding things out, and we had sniping about senior management policies," says Mr. Chapman, CEO of Empower Public Relations in Chicago. "People would stop talking when you walked by." A life coach identified the problem: gossip. Determined to elevate the tone, Chapman took dramatic steps. He fired three employees for gossiping. He also established a strict policy, turning the whole...

Question: I lead the diversity and inclusion function and we have 12 regional diversity councils that we bring together at a summit once a year. This year we are having a segment called "Ask the White Guys." Our objective is to include the white guy in the diversity conversation. Any suggestions or things we ought to think about as we moderate this segment? Answer: I suggest you not do this. Diversity management is a disciplined business subject that, properly implemented, drives productivity, innovation, profitability and sustainability. It does not mean that people have an open license to sound off on...

EAST PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- The United Auto Workers union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Caterpillar Inc. over a smoking ban that goes into effect at all of its U.S. properties on Sunday. The union claims the ban goes against guarantees in the UAW contract, and that such a policy shift is subject to collective bargaining. The union says smoking has been a contractual privilege for 60 years. Caterpillar, however, said it was time to end smoking at work. "It would be unfortunate and disappointing if some employees decide to strike over the company's decision to prohibit smoking...

With gas prices at record highs across the country, some employers are implementing measures to help their employees ease the cost of driving to work. A recent survey found that 57 percent of employers are offering some kind of help, according to employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "They can’t afford to lose employees that are stuck with the high price of commuting," says Challenger, Gray & Christmas CEO John Challenger. The average price of a gallon of gasoline this week reached $3.94, according to the American Automobile Association, and some energy expects are predicting a move above $4.00...

AFTER 12 years climbing the corporate ladder to the upper reaches of middle management, I found myself facing a surprising career conundrum: My big paycheck was making me miserable. In short, I hated my job, but I was afraid to give up my hard-earned six-figure salary for what I really wanted: a career as an entrepreneur.< >But in fact, my high-paying but soul-draining job was beginning to take a toll on my personal life. Nobody enjoys hanging out with a perpetually tired and cranky middle manager.< >

SUN CITY CENTER - The first lightning bolt cracked in the dark clouds a few hundred yards above John Jacob's head as he worked atop a 200-foot cellular phone tower in south Hillsborough County. With wind swirling and sheets of rain pouring over him, Jacobs kept bolting together thin steel beams while long, white cellular transmitters for AT&T, T-Mobile and Metro PCS buzzed around his head, relaying calls, text messages and Blackberry e-mails in a six-mile zone along Interstate 75. Then a second lighting bolt crashed closer, then a third even closer. That persuaded the 14-year tower veteran to tie...

New York, NY (AHN) - A survey of 2,520 executive made by a New York-based online job search website said office cursing topped the reasons why bosses fire employees. According to TheLadders.com, 38 percent of the respondents to the online survey pointed to violation of office etiquette, primarily using cuss words, as their number one reason for terminating workers. The was followed by drinking on the job, which came second with 35 percent, and excessive personal calls during office hours as third, with 28 percent. But from the worker's perspective, there is a worst sin than cursing. TheLadder said 81...

A group of Muslim workers allege they were fired by a New Brighton tortilla factory for refusing to wear uniforms that they say were immodest by Islamic standards. Six Somali women claim they were ordered by a manager to wear pants and shirts to work instead of their traditional Islamic clothing of loose-fitting skirts and scarves, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil liberties group that is representing the women.

Six Somali women claim they were ordered by the manager of a suburban Twin Cities food-processing plant to wear pants and shirts to work instead of their traditional Islamic clothing of loose-fitting skirts and scarves, says the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil liberties group representing the women. The women have filed a religious discrimination complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "For these women, wearing tight-fitting pants is like being naked," said Valerie Shirley, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota chapter of CAIR. "It's simply not an option." CAIR issued a press release calling on Mission Foods to...

<p>They eat from the same dishes and sleep in the same beds, but they seem to be operating in two different economies. From last November through this April, American women aged 20 and up gained nearly 300,000 jobs, according to the household survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). At the same time, American men lost nearly 700,000 jobs. You might even say American men are in recession, and American women are not.</p>

'Don't speak Spanish…can't get the job?' When San Bernardino High School teens Jazanique Jackson, Ashanae Brown and Kimyen Hawkins decided they wanted to work this summer, they left nothing to chance. They knew the rules: plan ahead; role play; be positive; adapt; relate and encourage. So when they hit the streets to start their summer job search they were prepared for virtually every eventuality except one. ¿No habla ingles? Can't speak Spanish.

One in three employees admits they have been to work with a hangover and more than one in 10 has been drunk at their desk, a study suggests. Staff said they made mistakes, struggled to concentrate and had to go home early as a result of drinking. Four out of five employers say alcohol is the biggest threat to the well-being of their staff, according to a survey for Norwich Union Healthcare. Alcohol Concern said bosses needed to be aware of symptoms of alcohol abuse. One thousand people and 250 businesses were interviewed about drinking habits for the survey. Of...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Central Florida man's Confederate flag prompted a free-speech battle with his employer, who doesn't want it displayed on company property. The flag is attached to Bobby Tillett's pickup truck, which he drives to work every day, WJXT reported. Because his employer has banned the flag from his parking lot, Tillett is forced to park far from his job. "If I take it down, that means you know the politically correct people would have won, and that's wrong," Bobby Tillett said. "If you believe in something that strong (you) should have no problem whatsoever to fly it."...

Just one year ago, Megan Wallent's co-workers at Microsoft knew her as Michael. Then, in an e-mail sent to his entire staff, he announced that he no longer considered himself a male. The long-time executive, in charge of the Internet Explorer division for Microsoft, underwent major feminization surgery and legally changed his gender. Wallent's wife, like his co-workers, had no idea that this guy's guy was conflicted about his gender identity. ABC's Neal Karlinksy has the story from Seattle. Read more here and view a slideshow of the transition from Michael to Megan.

SEATTLE - Mike Cummings believes that for more and more of us, our sentence is "commuting." Working four days instead of five would mean 20 percent fewer trips to and from work, reducing oil consumption by an estimated 40 percent. "When I came here I looked at the traffic on I-5 and thought to myself, 'Everybody who does that is out of their mind' and then I ended up being one of them," he said. So now Mike, a sheet metal contractor, has enlisted in a growing movement to change the way America does business. Whenever possible he and his...

We keep hearing what straight, able-bodied white people shouldn't say to others. But what are the minefields about addressing white people, especially those who are involved in diversity efforts? Frank McCloskey's wife of 31 years, Debbie, talked about her husband with her new coworkers, telling them about his job as vice president of diversity for Georgia Power. During lunch one day, Debbie, who is white, had just finished telling a story about Frank's diversity efforts when a colleague of hers said, "I want to tell you how courageous it is that you are married to an African American." Oops! Frank...

At Whirlpool Corp. in Evansville, Ind., 39 factory workers, all who had claimed they were non-smokers to get a $500 discount on their company health insurance, were suspended without pay after they were seen smoking outside their factory.

"Exposing girls and boys to what a parent or mentor in their lives do during the work day is important, but showing them the value of their education..."

A Christian law firm will appeal a ruling by the New Mexico Human Rights Commission fining a photographer who refused to take photos of a homosexual commitment ceremony.  Elaine Huguenin and her husband Jon, who co-own Elane Photography in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are both Christians. So when a lesbian couple asked them to photograph their "commitment ceremony" in Taos, the Huguenins politely refused. In response, Vanessa Willock filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission claiming the Huguenins discriminated against her because of her "sexual orientation." On Wednesday, the Commission found the Christian couple guilty of discrimination under...

PHOENIX — A state legislator started a petition drive Friday to forbid all employers from discriminating against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals. Existing law prohibits discrimination based on a number of factors, including sex. The initiative by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, would define that term to also include gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. Sinema needs 153,365 signatures by July 3 to put the issue on the November ballot. The legislator, who describes herself as bisexual, said she intends to start gathering signatures immediately

Capital Bureau TALLAHASSEE — Gun rights advocates and the National Rifle Association won a victory Wednesday with the Florida House's passage of a contentious bill that would allow employees to bring their guns to work. The measure, (HB 503), is a watered-down version of what the NRA had hoped for but is seen as a compromise that the Senate is also expected to approve. Under the proposal, employees and visitors who have state-issued concealed-weapons licenses would be able to bring their weapons to work and leave them locked up in their vehicles. Exempt would be certain businesses from having to...

Florida residents could pack guns along with their briefcases as part of their workday routine, under a controversial measure endorsed by the Florida House on Wednesday. With little debate, the House gave the gun lobby a major victory by passing a bill allowing employees to take their guns to work, as long as the owner has a permit and the weapon is locked in a car.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - The head of the top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc (T.N) said on Wednesday it was having trouble finding enough skilled workers to fill all the 5,000 customer service jobs it promised to return to the United States from India. "We're having trouble finding the numbers that we need with the skills that are required to do these jobs," AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told a business group in San Antonio, where the company's headquarters is located.