What is the National Labor Relations Act

Congress approved the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 to encourage a healthy relationship between private-sector workers and their employers, which policy makers viewed as vital to the national interest. The NLRA was designed to curtail work stoppages, strikes and general labor strife, which were viewed as harmful to the U.S. economy and to the nation’s general well-being. The NLRA extends many rights to workers who wish to form, join or support unions, also known as labor organizations; to workers who are already represented by unions; and to workers who join together as a group (two or more employees) without a union seeking to modify their wages or working conditions, which is known as protected concerted activities.

The NLRA also extends rights to employers, protecting commercial interests against unfair actions committed by labor organizations, and extends rights to labor organizations, protecting organizational and collective-bargaining representative interests against unfair actions committed by employers.
The NLRB’s Basic Guide to the National Labor Relations Act presents a summary of the Act in clear, easy-to-understand language. [PDF] [HTML] [PDF (Chinese)].

The Act outlines basic rights of employees as follows:

To self-organization.

To form, join, or assist labor organizations.

To bargain collectively for wages and working conditions through representatives of their own choosing.

To engage in other protected concerted activities with or without a union, which are usually group activities (two or more employees acting together) attempting to improve working conditions, such as wages and benefits.

To refrain from any of these activities. (However a union and employer may, in a State where such agreements are permitted, enter into a lawful union-security clause).

The Labor Management Institute offers various educational opportunities

The Labor Management Institute is dedicated to providing educational services to Health Care Organizations (HCO's), and other employers and their leadership teams in the area of staffing, scheduling, and labor management. To achieve this we deliver seminars, workshops, executive briefings, and speeches. We present programs for HCO’s & other employers, trade and prefessional organizations, government agencies and similar groups. For information, fees, and arrangements, please fill out this form and someone from the Labor Management Institute will contact you.
For more on-line information follow the links below:
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Why the job market is worse than you think

An unemployment rate of 5% is low by historic standards. But the number of people out of work for long stretches is rising dramatically.

Ahead of Friday's January employment report, there is a lot of concern about the weakening job market, even as the unemployment rate stands at a relatively modest 5%.
The Federal Reserve cited evidence of a "softening in labor markets" when it announced both of its rate cuts this month. Congress is rushing to pass a $150 billion stimulus package that the Bush administration said should add 500,000 jobs to the economy.
The worries about the job market are widely shared on Main Street, Wall Street and inside the beltway.
The Conference Board's latest consumer confidence survey found that twice as many people believed there would be fewer jobs available six months from now than those who expected more jobs.
And a survey conducted for Fortune magazine from earlier this month found that just over one in four Americans are somewhat worried or very worried about losing their job in the next 12 months.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com are forecasting that the unemployment rate will remain at 5% in Friday's report. However, it's worth a reminder that this is up from just 4.7% in November. And economists expect an addition of 70,000 jobs in the month, only a modest increase.
But the jobs numbers may be even worse than they first appear. That's because the number of Americans who have been out of work for six months or longer is on the rise.

Harder to find a new job - The number of long-term unemployed stood at a seasonally-adjusted 1.3 million in December, up about 22 percent from year-earlier levels. The full-year average for 2007 was 1.2 million long-term unemployed, nearly double the reading for 2000 -- just before the last recession. more...http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/31/news/economy/longterm_unemployment/index.htm?postversion=2008013115

Problem could get worse As the stimulus package makes its way through the Senate, there have been pushes to extend unemployment benefits beyond six months. more...http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/31/news/economy/longterm_unemployment/index.htm?postversion=2008013115

Older work force playing a role The CBO report didn't have any easy answers for this trend. But it suggested that the aging of the work force might be a major contributing factor. more...http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/31/news/economy/longterm_unemployment/index.htm?postversion=2008013115

Employers and workers getting more picky Officials in job outplacement firms, hired by firms to work with employees who have lost their jobs, say they're seeing some increase in the time it takes to find new positions even for those generally better educated workers with whom they work. more...http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/31/news/economy/longterm_unemployment/index.htm?postversion=2008013115

Recruiting Made Easy - Fill Your Jobs Faster, With Better Results

Taleo Business Edition - Fill jobs faster with better results with the country's leading eRecruiting solution. Taleo serves over 1,000 firms (from very small, medium-size firms to Fortune 1000) and 900,000 registered users working with 60 million candidates in 100 countries.
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Click here to see a complete list of features

Whitman’s cash-out legacy at eBay

Investors will be keeping an eye on eBay (EBAY) when the market opens Thursday. Shares in the online auction site dropped 7 percent in late trading Wednesday after the company posted a round of weak quarterly results and confirmed that CEO Meg Whitman will step aside at the end of March. “Meg’s passion for all things eBay changed the world,” Chairman Pierre Omidyar said in Wednesday’s press release. “With humor, smarts and unflappable determination, Meg took a small, barely known online auction site and helped it become an integral part of our lives.”
Despite Whitman’s many accomplishments, she leaves the company at a time when it’s facing tough challenges from the likes of Google (GOOG). Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky gave incoming chief John Donohue high marks for his candor and for his determination to shake up eBay, and noted that Whitman was noncommital about her plans beyond this year.
Whatever Whitman plans to do, she won’t have to worry about money. Since Halloween she has sold 2.56 million shares under a pre-arranged stock-sale plan, reaping profits of around $40 million. Over that same span eBay shares have lost a quarter of their value, wiping out some $12 billion in value. While no one can doubt Whitman has earned her keep over the years, the recent rush to cash out doesn’t exactly wind up her tenure on a high note.

Help Navigating DOL Laws and Regulations

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is committed to providing its customers — America’s employers, workers, job seekers, and retirees — with clear and easy-to-access information on how to comply with federal employment laws. This information is often referred to as "compliance assistance," which is a cornerstone of the Department’s efforts to protect the wages, health benefits, retirement security, employment rights, safety, and health of America’s workforce.
DOL’s Office of Compliance Assistance Policy...more...http://www.dol.gov/compliance/

Outlook 2008: Will the US Economy become Decoupled?

Despite a still-slumping housing market, an escalating credit crunch and spiraling inflationary pressures, the U.S. economy should still manage to advance at a 1% to 2% clip in 2008.
While investors might view that as bad news, there’s actually a positive twist, since it means that U.S. economy will likely dodge the recession that some observers have feared.
Even so, the U.S. economy won’t be in the investment spotlight in 2008, and investors will see the first signs of the "decoupling" of the U.S. market from those overseas. While the United States is narrowly dodging recession, other global economies will be advancing by as much as 10%. The emergence of a growing middle class in such key markets as China, India and Eastern Europe will make global dependence on the U.S. economy a thing of the past. With tens of millions of newly minted consumers ready to spend in China, that country could easily weather a U.S. downturn.
Even with decoupling, U.S. investors still can profit from markets abroad - regardless of what’s going on here at home…

Human Capital Management within the USDA

Human Capital Management: A strategic approach to maximize the capabilities and commitment of Federal employees; aligning human resources to achieve the most effective and efficient accomplishment of the USDA mission.

The Human Capital Leadership group works with top USDA officials on all personnel management concerns. In addition to the full range of policy support in the area of human capital management, which includes workforce planning, employment and recruitment, pay and performance, training, organizational development, employee and labor relations, awards, leave, workplace programs, employee grievances and appeals.

http://www.usda.gov/da/employ/hc_mgmt.htm

Venture capital at 6-year high

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Venture capital investments in U.S. startups climbed to a six-year high of $29.4 billion in 2007, raising hope that ample money will still be available to back promising new ideas even if the staggering economy falls into a recession.

read more here...http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/19/news/economy/bc.ventureinvestments.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008011908

Here come the hot IPOs of 2008
Combined, these sectors attracted nearly $16 billion in venture capital investments last year, accounting more than half of the total activity.
While focusing on specialties less susceptible to economic downturns, venture capitalists have been increasing their investments more gradually in recent years. During the dot.com boom, high-tech financiers had routinely entrusted millions of dollars with young Internet entrepreneurs who had never before run profitable businesses.

read more here...http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/19/news/economy/bc.ventureinvestments.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008011908

Labor Management Team Creates World Class Golf Course

It wasn’t that long ago that Yale’s Golf Course was in trouble. After years of hard use, many parts of the course were becoming difficult to play, equipment had become outdated, and those who worked there often felt powerless to make a change. The worst moment probably came in September 2003, when Golfweek called the golf course “a national landmark gone askew.”

read more here...http://www.yale.edu/bestpractices/success/golf.html

Win the reheating war for talent

Shifting workforce demographics. The aging of skilled professionals in key positions, especially baby boomers who are retiring, and a shortage of younger, “ready-now” replacements, are forcing employers to think hard about ways to source, attract, develop and retain talent creatively.

Wendy Carr and Marc Detampel, Managing Directors in BearingPoint’s Human Capital Practice, discuss how private and public sector organizations can develop the talent needed to execute against business strategies by using a holistic approach to realize the full value of their people.

Ensemble Chimes Bankruptcy...Who can help your company?

Rapid Deployment Options for Ensemble Chimes Global Customers ...

With the current Chimes bankruptcy crisis at hand, experience really matters. And, not everyone has had to transition thousands of contingent workers like Allegis Group Services has.
Experience is the utmost critical factor for Ensemble Chimes Global customers to consider. Allegis Group Services has more transition experience than any other company in the industry. As a result, we have methodologies and processes that have been developed and successfully used to transition and rapidly deploy programs. Our processes haven’t been reactively developed due to the recent Chimes bankruptcy crisis at hand, they’re solid strategies and methods that have been used several times over, thus, enabling us to speed up the implementation and transition process for customers like yourself who have been affected by this unfortunate occurrence.

Axium Ensemble Chimes Claims Bankruptcy

Axium bankruptcy strands hundreds of La. film workers without pay
Posted by Milena Merrill January 10, 2008 12:39PM
Categories: Breaking News
One of Hollywood's largest entertainment payroll companies -- Axium International Inc. -- abruptly ceased operation and will not make be able to make this week's payroll to hundreds of Louisiana film workers. Many IATSE movie mechanics, Teamsters and others returning to the set of Sony Picture's Jack Black-starrer Year One set to shoot in Shreveport, were told today that their paychecks are delayed due to the liquidation and bankruptcy of the production company's payroll service. Axium, the third largest entertainment payroll company simultaneously shutdown of offices in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Burbank, London and Vancouver. According to the Chapter 7 petition filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, the company claims it does not have the liquidity to continue operating. The company did return calls placed by Nola.com to their Los Angeles or Burbank offices.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, many Axium clients who were required to deposit a percentage of payroll amounts to be processed by the Los Angeles company may not see return of their money anytime soon. The article says that court-appointment bankruptcy trusteed, Howard Ehrenberg does not anticipate refund of any monies to production companies "in the immediate future."
Ehrenberg told the Los Angeles Times that Axium's largest creditor, Golden Tree Asset Management, a New York investment firm, seized $22 million from company accounts that had secured a $140-million loan on which Axium defaulted.
"The timing couldn't have been worse as most of us have just spent the two week imposed hiatus celebrating the holidays at home with our families. The production company didn't pay us for the two-week break. They were supposed to pay us for drive time and per diem before we left for the holidays, but that didn't happen. None of this pay was reflected in the paycheck for the last week before the break -- and now everyone is on edge waiting for payroll to come through," a carpenter on Year One told Nola.com.

University of Delaware, Newark

This study introduces the concept of partnership for fair labor management, which has been identified as critical for further improvement in labor management in the apparel and footwear industry. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of a firm's strategic emphases on its partnership behavior for fair labor management. An exploratory scale of partnership was developed based on what has been found in practice and the buyer-seller relationship literature. A self-administered survey through mail was conducted to gather data from 209 sourcing managers from U.S. firms. Six types of strategic emphases (i.e., supply control, image differentiation, focus, quality differentiation, product development, and low price) were identified. Firms with supply control, image differentiation, and product development strategic emphases were more engaged in partnership, whereas ones with a low-price emphasis were less engaged in partnership relationships. The role of strategic emphases as well as control variables, including size and the extent of foreign sourcing, are discussed in relation to partnership behavior for fair labor management.

Oracle Human Capital Management

According to an AMR report published in BusinessWeek, 'Oracle took over the top market share. By the end of 2005, it had 25% of the market, while SAP had 23%.'

Oracle is the leading HRMS vendor worldwide, with more than 12,500 HCM customers, including 9 of the top 10 Fortune 500 and 75 of the top Fortune 100.

Retail best practices in store labor management

Excited new members from the U.S. and International line up to participate in study and leverage retail best practices in store labor management. NEW YORK, Jan 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail Benchmarks, Inc., an independentfirm dedicated to defining best practices in the retail industry, registeredover 100 new members at NRF 2006, and had a very successful launch of theirnewest Retail Revelations(TM) Benchmark Study, "Store Labor Management". The Store Labor Management study is designed to help retailers understandnot only how they compare to similar retailers in store labor management, butmore importantly, how to become more efficient in their use of labor in thestores while maintaining sales and customer service. As with all RetailRevelations studies(TM), this one will define best practices in store labormanagement through benchmarking results and the correlation of performanceresults to related process characteristics and metrics. "It is easy to understand why we received such an enthusiastic response atNRF for our Store Labor Management Study. Labor is one of the three largestexpense categories for a retailer. Store labor efficiency, designed to promotesales and maintain long-term customer loyalty, is measured in terms of laborcost, sales productivity, and customer service," says Marianne Gregory,President of Retail Benchmarks. "Similar retailers need to know how theycompare in payroll expense, but more importantly, retailers want to know howthey can be more effective in their use of labor at the stores." "Simply knowing something is broken isn't going to really change aretailer's bottom line. Helping them understand what dials to turn to fixit - will," says Brenda Moncla, VP Research Technology at Retail Benchmarks."Our comprehensive retail model includes the definition of all retail missioncritical processes, their relationships and intersections, and how they driveperformance metrics. By leveraging our unique retail data model and datawarehousing techniques, we are able to correlate and link the information,ultimately proving the connection between the process characteristics andresults - the basis of true Best Practices. After all, just because everybodydoes something doesn't make it a best practice." About Retail Benchmarks, Inc. Retail Benchmarks, Inc., an associate member of NRF (the National RetailFederation) with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, and Sacramento, is anindependent company dedicated to defining retail best practices and capturingretail-specific process measurement information that highlights areas ofopportunity and improvement for its member companies. Retail Benchmarksmembership is FREE. All Retail Benchmark members have immediate access toRetail Connections(TM), an online member-only forum where retailers candiscuss and share their ideas, questions, and experiences with completesecurity and anonymity. Retail Benchmarks members can also browse the RetailConnections library and download any of the process focused white papers fromleading retail industry experts and thought leaders. Retail Benchmarks alsoprovides its members with the opportunity to participate in RetailRevelations(TM), a series of benchmarking studies that provide retailmanagement process performance expectations and expertise from best-in-classretailers. Retail Revelations(TM) gives members a unique perspective thatenables them to not only compare their bottom-line results to standard retailperformance metrics of similar retailers, but to leverage their ability tobenchmark their key process related characteristics with their peers to betterunderstand the specific actions that can be taken to improve outcomes. Theprice of each benchmarking study is dependent on the level of reportingpurchased. Results of each study are only available to the studyparticipants. Visit http://www.labormanagement-technowizard3.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Labor Management Strategies

The subject of Labor Management Strategies is synonymous with Human Capital Management and is a topic of great importance in today's business world especially as it relates to businesses wanting to realize hard and soft dollar cost savings within their workforce. This topic applies to all businesses from small mom-and-pops to major corporations and is part of a fast growing business sector within the Human Capital Management sector.

As companies around the world continue to compete for raw work force talent to deliver quality value to their customers, maximize their ROI and struggle to find new and more innovative ways to realize hard and soft sollar cost savings within their budgets and bottom lines, the workforce itself is no exception and is not being over looked.

Through performance metric programs, reporting and efficient management of up and running programs within companies and their permanent and contingent workforce, the subject of saving money without losing talent is a hot topic.

As technology has evolved, it has allowed an ever-increasing "remote" workforce capability with an ever-increasing utilization of international talent without the need for hard dollar overhead costs of "in house" labor workforce, the ability to monitor, track, and measure performance has become an awesome means to control labor costs and increase value to the customer.

Look for future blogs on how this is being achieved today!