#CSuite Former St Lucia Tourist Board head appointed CEO of Tobago Tourism – Loop St Lucia http://bit.ly/2AeOkAS
— Muzaffaruddin Alvi (@Muzaffar1969) November 2, 2017
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Showing posts with label 2017 at 03:52AM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2017 at 03:52AM. Show all posts
Friday, November 3, 2017
#CSuite Former St Lucia Tourist Board head appointed CEO of Tobago Tourism – Loop St Lucia http://bit.ly/2AeOkAS
#CSuite Maynard nonprofit CEO appointed to Middle States schools commission – Wicked Local Maynard http://bit.ly/2xS8Gyc
#CSuite Maynard nonprofit CEO appointed to Middle States schools commission – Wicked Local Maynard http://bit.ly/2xS8Gyc
— Muzaffaruddin Alvi (@Muzaffar1969) November 2, 2017
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Thursday, November 2, 2017
#CSuite Winnebago Industries Names Stacy Bogart Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary – Globe… http://bit.ly/2yo1T3x
#CSuite Winnebago Industries Names Stacy Bogart Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary – Globe… http://bit.ly/2yo1T3x
— Muzaffaruddin Alvi (@Muzaffar1969) November 1, 2017
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Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Walmart’s Sick Leave Policy Is Terrible, Especially For Women
At a time when more and more companies are going out of their way to promote work-life balance, Walmart is punishing workers for having a life outside of work.
Hourly Walmart workers who miss their scheduled shifts because they’re sick or having a family emergency risk getting fired under the company’s punitive policy on sick leave. The policy is particularly harsh toward women, who most often care for children and family members outside of work.
Each time a worker misses a scheduled shift ― the schedule is worked out three weeks in advance ― they earn a “point.” Accrue enough points and you’re fired, or as company spokesman Blake Jackson puts it: “You’re eligible for termination.”
Jackson says that managers have discretion when deciding to hand out points, and if someone has a good excuse for missing a shift, they’re not penalized.
But Walmart workers tell a vastly different story in a report released earlier this month from A Better Balance, a nonprofit legal advocacy group. The group surveyed about 1,000 of the company’s employees. Eighty-five percent said Walmart regularly punishes people for taking time off because of a disability or serious illness.
The report claims that Walmart often acts unlawfully, penalizing workers who should be protected under various federal laws. Workers said their managers would often ignore notes from doctors ― not even reading them before issuing points.
Katie Orzehowski told HuffPost she missed a few shifts from her job at a Walmart in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, after she had a miscarriage last year ― and was docked six or seven points.
When she was back at work and discovered she was still bleeding, her boss said leaving work early would cost her a half point. Later that year, Orzehowski ― who makes $10.20 an hour ― came to work when she had the flu. “I’m thinking, ‘Oh jeez, I can’t afford to miss work,’” she said.
It’s clear that these are not isolated incidents, but a pattern of similar stories we heard time and again.
Elizabeth Gedmark, senior staff attorney at A Better Balance
Walmart disputes Orzehowski’s story, which she also shared with The New York Times.
“We do not have any information that would support that Ms. Orzehowski advised us of a medical reason for her absences. If that were the case, she could have used those medical records to apply for a leave or accommodation,” Walmart said in a statement.
According to the Better Balance report, Walmart has a policy of not retaining, or even looking at, doctor’s notes from employees. Orzehowski said she brought in a note. “They’ll turn down every excuse you have,” she said.
“The stories in our report speak for themselves. And it’s clear that these are not isolated incidents, but a pattern of similar stories we heard time and again,” Elizabeth Gedmark, a senior staff attorney at A Better Balance, told HuffPost.
“We heard from hundreds of workers who have been punished for absences related to serious illnesses and disabilities. In particular, Walmart’s routine failure to accept doctors’ notes is a major focus of the report ― and exactly why they claim to not know about a worker’s medical condition.”
Walmart said it hasn’t examined the survey in detail and notes that it cannot speak to the accuracy of the anonymous anecdotes in it.
It’s important to consider that Walmart, the largest private employer in the U.S., is not punishing workers for taking paid sick time. Most of these workers simply don’t get paid when they miss work ― though last year, the company did start allowing employees to earn paid time off (including vacation and sick time) if they work a certain number of hours.
The company says the point system is necessary to keep workers from calling at the last minute and leaving their colleagues short-handed.
Workers do need to miss work on occasion, and the company has “processes in place to assist them,” spokesman Jackson told HuffPost, emphasizing that Walmart complies with federal laws.
“We have countless Walmart associates who successfully partnered with the company to authorize their absences from work,” the company said in a statement. “We believe we have the right training measures in place to help communicate our attendance, disability and pregnancy policies to our associates.”
She was on her deathbed when I requested time off to be with her. My request was denied. Walmart said I would be fired if I took the time off. My mother died alone.
Walmart worker quoted in A Better Balance’s new report
Yet even if the points system is administered with high discretion and within the bounds of the law, it still leaves workers in a terrible position.
Employees say the system effectively scares them from taking sick time and adds stress to already stressful situations. Women, who are often responsible for children at home, are in a particularly tight spot. You can’t always plan in advance for when your child gets an ear infection or needs to be picked up early from school.
The stories in the Better Balance report are heartbreaking: One worker said her manager threatened that she’d earn points if she took time off to be with her mother, who was getting hospice care.
“She was on her deathbed when I requested time off to be with her,” this worker says in the report. “My request was denied. Walmart said I would be fired if I took the time off. My mother died alone in early April 2017. Not being with her when she passed was devastating.”
Other employees describe receiving points for taking time off to handle chronic conditions like asthma or emergency medical conditions like a heart attack. A mother got points for taking her son to the hospital when he had pneumonia.
“Giving a worker a disciplinary ‘point’ for being absent due to a disability or for taking care of themselves or a loved one with a serious medical condition is not only unfair,” write the report’s authors. “In many instances, it runs afoul of federal, state and local law.”
A Better Balance, which has also filed a separate pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against Walmart on behalf of two employees, worked with the labor group OUR Walmart to conduct its survey via Facebook, targeting users who identified as Walmart employees.
Walmart’s points policy likely wouldn’t comply with state law in Massachusetts, which passed a paid sick leave law just a few years ago. Employers in the state cannot take action against workers for using paid sick leave, explains Amanda Baer, an associate at the law firm Mirick O’Connell in Westborough, Massachusetts, who works on labor and employment issues. (Walmart said that it always complies with local laws.)
The points system is especially tricky, Baer said. “You could have an employee who’s one point away from being fired, but gets the flu,” she said. “You don’t want your sick employees coming to work and getting everyone else sick.”
The policy also puts customers at risk: Who wants to get sick because you bought laundry detergent from a cashier with the flu?
The United States is the only developed country that does not mandate that employers provide paid sick leave or maternity leave. But there are a few federal laws that give workers protections when they need time off.
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides 12 weeks unpaid time off to employees at companies with 50 or more workers who have worked there for at least 1,250 hours. That time doesn’t have to be taken all at once.
You can use FMLA time for a serious medical condition or to care for an immediate family member with a serious medical condition. Prenatal care and chemotherapy, for example, would both be covered under FMLA. If you’re out for three days or more from work, that should be covered under FMLA, explains Emily Martin, general counsel and vice president for workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center.
The key protection the law offers? Job security. “You can’t be retaliated against,” Martin said. An employer can’t threaten disciplinary action. And it’s your boss’ responsibility to recognize if you might qualify for FMLA, she added.
Yet Walmart told just 23 percent of workers with absences that likely qualified them for FMLA leave that they were eligible for it, according to the Better Balance survey.
The Americans with Disabilities Act also offers job protections for employees with disabilities who need reasonable amounts of time off. Other states and localities have laws in place that protect pregnant women from discrimination.
Last year, Roni Gumbert was fired from the same Walmart in Pennsylvania where Orzehowski works for taking too much time off.
Like most working parents, the 33-year-old needed to leave work to deal with a family issue: Her 1-year-old was getting chronic ear infections, and needed to be picked up early from day care or even taken to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Gumbert was also dealing with her 74-year-old father, who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and early onset dementia. He landed in the emergency room more than once for falling down the stairs at his apartment building. Gumbert’s mother, who had been helping with child care, had died suddenly the year before.
Each time she called in or was late, Gumbert was penalized ― receiving a point for missing a full shift and a half point for leaving early or arriving late.
“I talked to the general manager and the store manager,” Gumbert told HuffPost. “Nobody was willing to be understanding.”
Gumbert, who worked for the company less than a year, said she earned eight points before losing her job.
According to Walmart, Gumbert’s manager gave her 10 points for 20 “occurrences,” the term for missed or late shifts.
The company wouldn’t provide further detail on why certain shifts were exempted, citing privacy concerns.
Other companies are moving toward more understanding leave policies.
Earlier this year, Facebook expanded its leave policy to help workers who need time off to care for sick relatives or for bereavement. The company now gives all employees six weeks of family leave to care for ailing family members, plus three additional days to care for a family member with a short-term illness, like a child with the flu, and 20 days of bereavement leave ― twice as much as before.
“People should be able both to work and be there for their families,” the company’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, said in a Facebook post announcing the new policy. “No one should face this trade-off.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
June 13, 2017 at 03:50AM
from Emily Peck
Monday, June 12, 2017
Uber’s Board to Discuss Leave of Absence for Top Executive nyti.ms/2sbkOub #corpgov #ethics #ESG #culture
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Uber’s Board to Discuss Leave of Absence for Top Executive nyti.ms/2sbkOub #corpgov #ethics #ESG #culture
June 12, 2017 at 03:33AM
https://twitter.com/ExecRemReporter/status/874029963434795009
from Kym Sheehan
Uwe Hasseldieck retweeted: Los 9 Factores claves para éxito del Protocolo Familiar iltis.cl/?p=754 #corpgov
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Uwe Hasseldieck retweeted:
Los 9 Factores claves para éxito del Protocolo Familiar
iltis.cl/?p=754
#corpgov
June 12, 2017 at 03:33AM
https://twitter.com/UHasseldieck/status/874029716541288448
from Uwe Hasseldieck
Friday, June 9, 2017
A US aircraft carrier is heading back to the Mediterranean to hammer ISIS
June 09, 2017 at 03:44AM
from
Malema takes on the ‘runaway trains’ of corruption – Citizen
Citizen |
Malema takes on the ‘runaway trains’ of corruption
Citizen EFF leader Julius Malema is pictured during a press briefing in Johannesburg, 08 June 2017, on corruption att Transnet. Picture: Refilwe Modise. The EFF leader says he wants R17bn in dodgy payments investigated in SA, the US, Canada and China. WATCH: FinMin at centre of alleged Transnet corruption, says MalemaeNCA EFF to question World Bank’s motives on corruption operationsSouth African Broadcasting Corporation |
June 09, 2017 at 03:43AM
from
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Brazil’s president must step down. Here’s why
If you ask Google to translate the Portuguese word “temer”, the result is “to fear”. Temer is the name of the current president of Brazil. And fear is what many Brazilians have been feeling lately.
Temer took office after the controversial impeachment process that ousted former President Dilma Rousseff at the end of August 2016. Now, less than a year after later, Temer is not only deeply involved in corruption scandals worthy of a TV series, he’s also slashing human rights and environmental protections across Brazil.
The environment
Even though Brazil is part of the Paris agreement, the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has risen 29% last year. But instead of strengthening environmental protections, Temer chose a different path. Only a few months after taking office, Temer himself wrote two proposals to reduce protection of 600,000 hectares of the forest in the state of Pará — an area more than half the size of Jamaica. He’s due to sign these bills any day now, and they are just the beginning.
A very conservative Congress and Senate is not only pushing for similar changes to happen in other protected areas in the state of Amazonas, but also discussing ways to make it easier to build big infrastructure projects in the region, such as hydro dams, roads and ports — all of which would cause more deforestation.
President Temer and his allies in the agribusiness lobby are a direct threat not only to the climate and local biodiversity, but also to communities and Indigenous People whose livelihoods depend on the Amazon rainforest.
Indigenous rights under threat
Indigenous People are fighting for their rights all around the world, including Brazil. The country has long history of violence against Indigenous communities, with dozens of Indigenous People being injured or killed in conflicts with farmers and ranchers over land each year. Violence against Indigenous People has increased exponentially in recent months because of land disputes with farmers.
Less than two months ago, more than 3,000 Indigenous People marched in BrasÃlia, the capital of Brazil to protest the rising violence and to demand rights to their ancestral lands. Instead of being received with respect, they were met with police violence, only reaffirming that Temer’s government is not open to dialogue with Indigenous People.
The right for free speech
Amongst all this outrageous news, Temer is also heavily involved in corruption scandals. In May, shocking accusations were published by the Brazilian media showing the involvement of president in bribery. Still Temer is refusing to resign as political crisis deepens.
With approval rates falling into single digits, it is clear that Brazil’s population think their president is not fit to lead the country. Protests are on the rise across Brazil, and citizens are demanding new presidential elections. In response, Temer is using violence to repress the demonstrations. He has even asked for federal troops to intervene in protests. Though this decision was revoked, it sets the tone to how Temer is dealing with public opposition surrounding his office.
Political representatives start failing when they start working for the interests of corporations and themselves instead of the public. Greenpeace Brazil believes that only new direct elections can protect the country’s democracy and preserve the environment and social rights.
Diego Gonzaga is a content editor for Greenpeace USA
June 06, 2017 at 03:49AM
from
Friday, June 2, 2017
The stocks really bolstering this rally
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Jim Cramer finds the market sectors boosting the rally by erasing their earlier weakness.
June 02, 2017 at 03:45AM
from
What to buy in a rally: 8 trades
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The “Fast Money” traders give you 8 ways to trade the rally.
June 02, 2017 at 03:45AM
from
Workday CEO reveals how his cloud company is taking share from SAP and Oracle
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Jim Cramer sat down with Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri after earnings to hear how his company is faring against competitors.
June 02, 2017 at 03:45AM
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Cramer: Step aside, FANG—here are the stocks really bolstering this rally
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Jim Cramer finds the market sectors boosting the rally by erasing their earlier weakness.
June 02, 2017 at 03:45AM
from
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Blake the sheepdog returns – but without his best friend Bella, the orphaned lamb
May 28, 2017 at 03:44AM
from David Millward
Hedge Fund Billionaire Paul Singer: Trump Needs to Act to Avoid a Recession
May 28, 2017 at 03:41AM
from
Senate Finance Committee hears from people how budget cuts impact them personally – The Advocate
The Advocate |
Senate Finance Committee hears from people how budget cuts impact them personally
The Advocate The state Senate Finance Committee on Saturday, May 26, 2017 heard from members of the public about the impact of proposed budget cuts have on them personally. publictestimony052617b.jpg. Buy Now. Advocate Photo by Mark Ballard. The state Senate … |
May 28, 2017 at 03:39AM
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Friday, May 26, 2017
Uber Quietly Drops Otto Truck Unit Name Following Trademark Spat
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Otto became “Uber ATG trucks” in April as a high-stakes legal fight with Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo played out in court. The change was made with little fanfare following an unrelated trademark infringement lawsuit.
May 26, 2017 at 03:43AM
from Alan Ohnsman, Forbes Staff
Startup’s Rocket Reaches Space, but Falls Short of Orbit
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Rocket Lab, a startup widely seen as a trailblazer for frequent, ultralow-cost access to space, failed to reach orbit on its first flight. But Thursday’s …
May 26, 2017 at 03:43AM
from
This Chicago Startup Has Built a Tech Platform for Concierge Services
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Now, a startup that went live just three weeks ago in Chicago is aiming to provide a tech platform for travelers looking for tailored, personalized …
May 26, 2017 at 03:43AM
from
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Will This Startup Finally Turn Around STD Rates?
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mLab Box is a socially conscious startup that takes the cost, time and taboo out of STD testing —promising to destigmatize regular testing and curb transmission rates, as half of U.S. adults will have a sexually transmitted disease.
May 24, 2017 at 03:45AM
from Emma Johnson, Women@Forbes
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