Free Republic

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which will come up for a cloture vote in the Senate today, mandates that employers in the United States permit men to dress as women at work and women to dress as men as long as they otherwise adhere to “reasonable dress or grooming standards.” Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the bill’s primary sponsor, has been joined by 55 co-sponsors. So the bill already has the backing of a 56-vote majority in the 100-member Senate. …

Bullying doesn't just happen on the playground," so begins an article in an online Health and Human Services (HHS) publication called Let's Talk. The HHS's Federal Occupational Health agency cites a recent study finding that more than a third of Americans report being bullied at work, though only 15 percent report having observed bullying in the workplace. The newsletter is illustrated with this graphic: The article defines bullying as "aggressive, inappropriate, and unreasonable behavior," and says that bullying "[h]as many of the same characteristics of domestic violence – the abuser uses intimidation and manipulation to get what he or she...

When a Muslim woman sought employment at a Tulsa, Okla. Abercrombie & Fitch store in 2008, she showed up to her interview wearing a headscarf associated with her faith. The potential employer notified Samantha Elauf that her appearance violated the store’s policy and chose not to hire her. As is the norm in today’s overly litigious culture, she pursued legal action against the company for perceived discrimination.While a federal judge ruled in favor of Elauf and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, that decision was recently overturned by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Indicating that the applicant never sought...

2. “That just isn’t possible.” Always speak to your boss in terms of what can be done. For instance, rather than saying “We can’t get this done by Friday,” say “We could definitely get this done by Monday, or if we brought in some freelance help, we could meet the Friday deadline.” When you talk to your boss, think in terms of solving problems for her, not in terms of putting problems on her plate. 6. “It’s not my fault.” Are you a whiny 8-year-old or a take-charge professional? Assume responsibility and take steps to fix a problem that you...

In this morning’s anti-gun editorial, the Chicago Tribune makes mention of Jeffery Johnson. Regular Alley readers will recall Johnson, despondent after exhausting his unemployment compensation, who returned to the Empire State Building to empty a revolver into the former boss he blamed for losing his job. The NYPD, the “Gang who cannot shoot straight” finally admitted wounding eight bystanders before they managed to shoot an unarmed man to death.But here is the way the Trib’s editorial writer describes that tragedy: Barely a year ago, Jeffrey Johnson, who’d just lost his job at a New York women’s apparel firm, returned to...

FULL TITLE: Workers believe Gen Y bosses aren’t team players, act like they are entitled and are full of themselves, survey finds The workers of Generation Y are getting a name for themselves. Managers from Gen Y are widely perceived as self-entitled and don’t score particularly highly when it comes to being a team player. Generation Y is defined as people aged between 18 and 32. It finds that they’re moving into management at a rapid pace. New newly released research from EY, the global firm that includes Ernst & Young LLP suggests 87 percent of Gen Y managers have...

Planning to hire Millennials in your office? This guide will teach you how to co-exist with this challenging new generation of workers.

A Florida beach safety officer was fired on Friday after he referred to Trayvon Martin as a “thug” on his personal Facebook page. Todd Snipes, a beach officer of 15 years who was stationed about 40 minutes from where Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Fla., was initially suspended for the post he made on Facebook last month. “Another thug gone,” Snipes wrote the night of George Zimmerman’s acquittal. “Pull up your pants and be respectful. Bye bye thug r.i.p.” In his termination letter, Department of Public Protection Director George Recktenwald wrote that Snipes had “engaged in behavior that threatens...

(Newser) – Fast-food workers want to make a "living wage" of $15 an hour. Chains say they'd have to jack up prices if that ever happened. But just how high? Turns out, not as high as you might think, at least according to a University of Kansas researcher. He found that if McDonald's immediately doubled the wages of all its workers (including the $9 million CEO), it would have to raise the price of a Big Mac 68 cents, from $3.99 to $4.67, reports the Huffington Post. Items on the Dollar Menu technically wouldn't qualify anymore, but that hike...

Move over Trayvon Martin. Big Labor has a new favorite group of victims of social injustice - the teaching staff of Lewis County, West Virginia. Citizens have been complaining to school board members about the “way teachers dress,” according to school board president Paul Derico. As a result, the school board unanimously passed a dress code for teachers, banning blue jeans, faded jeans and shorts. Of course the teachers union is not taking this grave injustice lying down. Union officials have threatened to sue the board. "We're disappointed in the actions of the board. We don't believe it's in the...

Bob Filner is not a pervert, he just hugs a lot. Is that so wrong? The San Diego mayor doesn’t seem to think so, and despite calls for his resignation from former colleagues, political supporters, and even his ex-fiancée, Filner made clear Tuesday that he has no intention of giving up his post without a fight. --snip-- For the past week, Filner has been weathering accusations of sexual harassment from former City Hall employees who, according to their lawyers, were not just hugged but repeatedly groped and even subjected to a few unwanted wet ones. Filner’s advances were allegedly so...

Suppose you own a business and put out an ad for people who want a job. Many apply. You run background checks, including criminal checks, which are perfectly legal. You learn that some of the prospective employees have criminal records. And you decide you’d rather not have a convicted thief working the cash register at your business or you think it’s better that you don’t hire someone with a violent past, fearing he might hit a customer or fellow worker who looks at him the wrong way. Or maybe you figure, you just don’t want convicted criminals in your company....

You aced the interview, your résumé sings, but in the end, you didn't get the job. Chances are, you'll never know why. It is a painful conundrum of the job search process: Rejected candidates want to understand why they didn't get hired, but employers, fearing discrimination complaints, keep silent. And those who do speak up offer little more than platitudes. Without specifics, candidates are left to repeat the same mistakes, while hiring managers complain they're swamped with applicants who miss the mark. "You don't know how to adjust going forward," says technology professional Lisa Roberson. When she wasn't selected for...

Question: I read your article titled "Keep Your Salary Under Wraps," and I agree completely that there is no good reason (from the employee's perspective) to disclose your current salary to a future employer. A competent business should be able to independently assess a prospective employee's worth without being biased by another data point. Judging from your article, however, you may not be aware that employers require salary information. For instance, online applications frequently make the "current salary" field mandatory. You cannot proceed without entering a numeric value. Human resources representatives almost always ask about current salary during the initial...

It [Memorial Day] would seem an ideal time to take a break, but our ability to unplug and relax is under assault. A three-day weekend? We can barely get through three waking hours without working, new research shows. The average smartphone user checks his or her device 150 times per day, or about once every six minutes. Meanwhile, government data from 2011 says 35 percent of us work on weekends, and those who do average five hours of labor, often without compensation—or even a thank you. The other 65 percent were probably too busy to answer surveyors' questions... "It's like...

Washington D.C., May 7, 2013 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- An Illinois-based Bible publisher has secured temporary relief from the federal contraception mandate after the Obama administration asked an appellate court to dismiss its challenge to a preliminary injunction. Matthew Bowman, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is defending the publisher, told CNA that the move indicates “that the government knows it is taking an extremist view against religious freedom, and it is afraid to defend that in court.” As a result of the court order, the Bible publisher will remain protected by a temporary injunction, and will therefore...

Carla Hale, a teacher in Clintonville, Ohio, was fired just days after an anonymous parent informed the school that her partner's name had appeared in her mother's obituary. Update- April 24, Hale's grievance has been denied.

A distraught mother came to News 4 after her 20-year-old daughter was fired after missing work for training duties with the Missouri National Guard. Morgan Johnson was sworn in to the Missouri National Guard on April 18 and told her boss at the Crystal City Subway she would miss work to train with her unit that next weekend. She was fired the following Monday even though a federal law protects her from losing her job over military service.

This is an example of one kind of fallout from the coming new Obamacare rules. My brother-in-law manages a grocery store. His part-time employees do not have healthcare benefits, but he could give them almost full-time hours. He is now being forced to cut their hours to 28. Not only do they not have healthcare, now their wages have been cut back considerably. One employee told him that due to the cut in hours, she is now eligible for rent assistance. So, under the new rules, not only will the working middle class be paying for her healthcare, we will...

An attempt to ban US bosses from asking employees to hand over their Facebook login details has been blocked by Congress. A last minute alteration to the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that would have prevented employers demanding that prospective employees disclose social media passwords as a condition of employment was voted down in the house of representatives. The proposal, put forward by Democrat Ed Perlmutter was defeated by a 224-189 majority.... Perlmutter said of his amendment before it was defeated: 'It helps the individual protect his right to privacy and it doesn't allow the employer to...