Spotlight

• Responding to Destructive Employee Behaviors

  By Pixey Anne Mosley

  I recently read a listserv posting which expressed frustration that employees who demonstrate destructive behaviors are rarely held accountable for their actions. Interpersonal conflict and destructive employee behavior are among the hardest challenges a manager faces. Unfortunately, SLIS programs rarely address how to address these issues in the workplace. It’s true that we cannot change others, and that for another person to change they must want to change; however, a manager must make an employee with … Read the rest

ALA-APA News

• Celebrate National Library Week With New Tools and Promotions

  CHICAGO — Looking for ways to promote National Library Week (April 13-19, 2014)? The American Library Association’s Campaign for America’s Libraries has a variety of tools and promotional ideas to help you promote the theme of Lives change @ your library. Tools are available at ala.org/NLW.

  Leading up to and throughout National Library Week, the Campaign is hosting several social media promotions.

  Librarians can encourage local celebrities, library staff and library supporters to snap a selfie with the Lives … Read the rest

• Be Sure to Celebrate National Library Workers Day: April 15

  National Library Workers Day (NLWD) is a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers. The ALA-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) established the special day in 2003. NLWD is now celebrated each year on the Tuesday of National Library Week(April 14-20 in 2014). 

  The National Library Workers Day website encourages friends, patrons, employers and co-workers to “Submit a Star” by providing a testimonial about a favorite library … Read the rest

• White House Summit on Working Families: Register for Regional Forum

  In the Spring of 2014, the White House, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Center for American Progress (CAP) will host a Summit on Working Families to focus on creating a 21st century workplace that works for all Americans. Learn more and register for a regional forum near you today!… Read the rest

• Obama Will Seek Broad Expansion of Overtime Pay

  By Michael D. Shear and Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times: March 11, 2014

  President Obama has directed the Labor Department to revise its regulations on overtime pay. The revision will increase the number of employees who qualify for overtime pay by several million. These employees include computer technicians, fast food managers and loan officers, which businesses have classified as “executive or professional” employees. … Read the rest

Career Advancement

• Job Searchers Don’t Like Employers’ Social Media Snooping

  By Beatrice Calvin

  Social and professional networking sites are great resources for career research, making connections, job searching and staying current in your industry. They also provide recruiters with additional avenues to search for and assess potential job candidates. However, companies who engage in this hiring practice face a backlash from applicants. According to findings from a study recently published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, companies that screen applicants by viewing their social media profiles tend to alienate … Read the rest

HR Practice

• Is a Generation Gap Slowing Your Workplace Productivity?

  Is a generation gap between your employees creating rifts in communication and workplace culture? Leadership Now suggests that one in three employees loses five hours a week dealing with intergenerational conflicts – and offers four steps to bridging the workplace generation gap.… Read the rest

• Improve Employee Retention By Focusing on Employee Happiness

  It’s no secret – a happy employee is an employee who probably isn’t spending his or her lunch break browsing the want ads. Inc.com offers four ways to keep your employees engaged and satisfied – and on your pay roll.… Read the rest

• How to Build a Culture of Candid Feedback – and Why You Want To

  Too often performance reviews end in vague, quid pro quo compliments that side-step honest, constructive conversation. CEO.com offers refreshing advice on how – and why – to change your organization’s approach to performance evaluations.… Read the rest

• Cultivate civility in your workplace: 3 strategies

  Editor’s Note: This article is republished with permission of Business Management Daily. View the original article.

  Manage enough employees and you’ll eventually oversee rude people. They may leave trash in the break room, butt in front of others in the cafeteria line and sneeze without covering their mouths.

  If you ignore it, incivility might spread. Yet you don’t want to come across as a prude or a parent.

  Is there an incivility epidemic growing in your workplace? Try

  … Read the rest

• Improve Leadership Ability By Honing Communication Skills

  Do you struggle with communicating meaningfully and memorably with the employees you are supposed to inspire? You’re not alone. Entrepreneur.com offers excellent advice to leaders on improving communication skills through using humor, asking open ended questions and bringing others into conversations.… Read the rest

Recruitment

• Hiring For Potential Vs. For Experience: Long-Term Vs. Short-Term Benefits

  It seems to be common wisdom for businesses to hire experienced employees who are able to “hit the ground running.” An article on Quartz, however, argues for the long-term advantages of hiring not for experience, but for fit and potential. Read more.… Read the rest

Salaries

• You’re Invited: Conference Call on Equal Pay Day and New Executive Actions

  Today, April 8 – Equal Pay Day – President Obama will announce two new executive actions to strengthen enforcement of equal pay laws for women.  

  Please join U.S. Secretary of Labor, Tom Perez, Executive Director of the White House Council on Women & Girls, Tina Tchen and other special guests, for a conference call update to learn more and hear about important next steps, including the White House Summit on Working Families.

  CALL DETAILS

  • When: Tuesday, April 8^th
  • Time:

  … Read the rest

• Equal Pay Day 2014

  Today, April 8th, is Equal Pay Day. Tuesday was selected to represent how far into the work week women must work to earn what men earned the previous week. Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay.

  For the last decade … Read the rest

Statistics

• BLS Jobs Report for March 2014: Four Troubling Statistics

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ March 2014 job report offered fairly positive news – 192,000 payroll employees joined the workforce, and unemployment (6.7 percent) is not increasing. However, Politix points out a few facts from the report that many media outlets are might have overlooked (among them, increasing unemployment for women and disproportionately high unemployment among black people). … Read the rest

• Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report, Week Ending March 29

  In the week ending March 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 326,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 310,000. The 4-week moving average was 319,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week’s revised average of 319,250.

  The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending March 22, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s revised rate. The advance number for seasonally … Read the rest

• BLS: March 2014 Payroll Rises by 192,000; Unemployment Unchanged (6.7%)

  THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — MARCH 2014

  Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 192,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Employment grew in professional and business services, in health care, and in mining and logging.

  Household Survey Data

  In March, the number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 10.5 million, and the unemployment rate held at 6.7 percent. Both measures have shown little movement since December 2013. … Read the rest

Work/Life

• Set Personal and Professional Boundaries to Improve Quality of Life

  Whether it’s a friend who often asks to borrow money, or a boss who impedes on your personal life, people who do not understand or respect other people’s boundaries can be exceptionally draining. Valorie Burton offers advice on remaining calm, kind and firm when setting and maintaining boundaries in friendships and in the workplace.… Read the rest

HR Law

• NLRB: Threatening Posts on Union’s Facebook Page Do Not Violate NLRA

  The National Labor Relations Board has argued that threatening posts on a union’s Facebook page do not violate employees’ rights to refrain from striking under the National Labor Relations Act.

  While preparing for a strike, members of the Amalgamated Transit Union used the union’s Facebook page to threaten non-striking co-workers with physical violence. The threatened employees took the case to the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that the union violated the National Labor Relations Act when it did not take … Read the rest