Free Republic

A bill introduced in the California legislature would help employees disconnect from their bosses after leaving work for the day. Assembly Bill 2751, which would provide workers the “right to disconnect,” was introduced in February by Assembleymember Matt Haney of San Francisco, USA Today reported Tuesday. “People now find themselves always on and never off,” Haney said, according to Business Insider. “The problem we have now is the gray area, where an employee is expected to respond all the time when on paper they work a 9-to-5 job.”

As the work-from-home trend took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the term “quiet quitting” entered the contemporary lexicon. According to the Harvard Business Review, “Quiet quitters continue to fulfill their primary responsibilities, but they’re less willing to engage in activities known as citizenship behaviors: no more staying late, showing up early, or attending non-mandatory meetings.” Simply put, having perceived their jobs to not have value and meaning, they do no more than absolutely necessary. There is debate among scholars as to the extent of the quiet quitting phenomenon, but there is increasing evidence that white Americans are increasingly quiet quitting...

Three employees at a Metairie, Louisiana, Academy Sporting Goods were fired after chasing a shoplifter who was allegedly stealing a pistol. FOX Business reported that the alleged shoplifting incident occurred December 16, 2023, and three employees–including Michelle Sutton–pursued the shoplifter. WGNO noted that Sutton was working “team lead” at the store when the incident occurred. She heard other employees reporting the alleged shoplifting and immediately gave chase, saying, “I just took off, I knew I needed some form of way to help the police.” Two other employees ran outside the store with Sutton, trying to locate the shoplifter, but were...

Three women who worked in former President Donald Trump’s administration bleakly warned voters against returning him to the White House in 2024. They cautioned that he poses a grave threat to American democracy and some even mused about backing the Democrat option should Trump lock down the GOP nod. “Everyone who was in the West Wing, and frankly, a lot of Cabinet secretaries, they know how dangerous Trump is,” former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah Griffin told ABC’s “This Week.” “This is not about politics. It’s not about policy. It is about the character of the man.” Griffin was...

Federal government workers from the State Department to NASA are circulating open letters demanding that President Joe Biden pursue a cease-fire in Israel's war against Hamas. Congressional staffers are picking up microphones in front of the Capitol, speaking out to condemn what they say is the silence of lawmakers about the toll on Palestinian civilians.

State Supreme Court found that being vaccinated 'does not' stop the spread of COVID-19 A New York state Supreme Court ordered all New York City employees who were fired for not being vaccinated to be reinstated with back pay. The court found Monday that "being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19." New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed earlier this year that his administration would not rehire employees who had been fired over their vaccination status. NYC fired roughly 1,700 employees for being unvaccinated earlier this year after the city adopted a vaccine mandate under...

The online job search company Indeed is offering transgender employees and their families who want to relocate for access to sex-change procedures and drugs $10,000 to cover expenses. The company confirmed its policy to Axios on August 30, adding that its “gender-affirming care” relocation benefit was announced to employees and went into effect in July 2023. The policy applies to U.S. employees and immediate family members seeking sex-mutilating surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers but who live in states with laws that criminalize or restrict such procedures. The policy also applies to those who live in places that protect children...

Worker shortages, changing regulations, weakend supply chains and rising attention on working conditions and job quality have many businesses and workers reflecting this Labor Day on what lies ahead — and one time-tested model with bipartisan support could be a game-changer for workers and companies alike: Employee ownership. In every industry today, employee-owned companies — from grocery stores such as WinCo and Publix to Gore, the manufacturers of Gore-Tex, and Southwest Airlines — are demonstrating the promising potential to grow successful businesses while improving workers’ lives. This model can take different forms, such as worker-owned cooperatives, Employee Stock Ownership Plans...

T-Mobile plans to lay off close to 5,000 employees, about 7 percent of its workforce, by the end of September, the company’s president and CEO said in an email to employees Thursday. The layoffs will primarily affect corporate, back-office and technology roles, while retail and other customer-facing roles “will not be impacted,” Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s president and CEO, said in the email disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that making employees shift from work-from-home to showing up in person risks exposing black employees and workers “of color” to the racism that some say that they experience in person at the workplace. In an article titled “Remote work gave them a reprieve from racism. They don’t want to go back,” the Times reported: [M]any Black workers and other people of color … found that remote work lessened the racism they faced on the job. But it forces workers to make a difficult choice — prioritize your mental health or endure for the sake...

Zoom is asking all of its employees to return to the office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, when the tech company blew up as one of the main means of communication for people forced to work from home. Zoom, which remains a leader in the post-pandemic remote work trend, is now asking all employees within 50 miles of a company office to go in at least two days a week on a hybrid schedule.

RINCON, Ga. — A Georgia Lowe’s store employee has been fired after trying to stop thieves from stealing thousands of dollars worth of stuff. Police said three people came into the store in Rincon and loaded up their shopping cart with about $2,100 worth of merchandise. As they were trying to leave the store without paying, employee Donna Hansbrough, 68, grabbed the cart, trying to stop them, police said. [snip] As for Hansbrough, she was fired from Lowe’s for violating the store’s policy, police said. She had been employed at the store for 13 years.

If former President Donald Trump wins reelection in 2024, he will work to deconstruct the administrative state, the apparatus of unelected bureaucrats in federal agencies who write binding rules with, without, or against the law. The administrative state uses its rule-making ability to essentially usurp the separation of powers between the three branches of government by creating a so-called fourth branch of government not created by the Constitution. Nearly 2 million federal government employees in federal agencies make up the administrative state. Trump refers to the administrative state as the “swamp” and the “deep state.” “We will demolish the deep...

Three-quarters of bosses find Generation Z workers a trifle difficult, a corporate survey has found. A poll of 1,344 managers and business leaders by ResumeBuilder.com found that 74 percent consider Gen Z employees more challenging than older staffers. Pressed for specifics, employers did not mince words. “They think they’re better than you, smarter than you, more capable than you, and they will tell you to your face,” said Akpan Ukeme, head of human resources at SGK Global Shipping Services. Generation Z is the youngest cohort in the American workforce, with birth years starting around 1997. Many surveys and studies have...

Employees of the City of Dallas, Texas, must use people's preferred pronouns or risk termination, according to recently publicized documents. An internal document titled "Workplace Gender Transition Protocols & FAQ" explains the city's expectations for conduct regarding transgender individuals. The guidelines explain that "gender transition" can refer to a spectrum of situations, all of which are equally protected.

Stigmas and prejudices often stop people with tattoos from being hired but this worker is done with the unfair treatment. A woman is calling out her former boss for preferring to hire people who don't have any tattoos or piercings. In a TikTok video, Ellie, who worked as a barista, explained that while working at a cafe, she ran into issues with her boss surrounding the idea of employees being hired who didn't have a clean-cut look about them. "We had to read all their handbooks, and they do allow tattoos as long as they're not on your face or...

NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 was blocked Thursday by a federal appeals court. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation to require that employees be vaccinated. The ruling from the full appeals court, 16 full-time judges at the time the case was argued, reversed an earlier ruling by a three-judge 5th Circuit panel that had upheld the vaccination requirement. Judge Andrew Oldham, nominated to the court by then-President...

Facebook parent company Meta on Tuesday announced it’s cutting around 10,000 employees in another bout of massive layoffs as the tech sector struggles with a fraught economy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a message to employees that the company is restructuring to become leaner, laying off around 10,000 more workers and not filling 5,000 previously open roles. “Over the next couple of months, org leaders will announce restructuring plans focused on flattening our orgs, canceling lower priority projects, and reducing our hiring rates,” Zuckerberg said in a post. Employees in recruiting will know if they’re impacted this week, tech roles...

Companies that rely on the gig economy model for workers scored a big win in courts Monday after an appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that previously found Proposition 22 illegal. Proposition 22 passed by a wide margin in November 2020, exempting app-based gig economy drivers from California’s terrible AB5 law and allowing them to continue to work as independent contractors. However, almost a year later, it was ruled unconstitutional by a California court. But a legal challenge to that ruling carried on, and a year and a half later, those app-based companies scored a victory, according to the...

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Lawmakers are pushing for higher pay for federal and dc government employees. “The government workers must have 8.7%,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said. Tuesday, Booker joined other lawmakers and activists to demand better pay for federal employees across the country. “When we are united we are strong,” Booker said. Together they are backing the Fair Act, to give federal employees an 8.7% pay increase. “We’ve got to stop calling, by the way what I just did, which is a pay increase, which it is not. It’s fair pay,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) said. Fitzpatrick is one of...