From The New York Times | A study from two Harvard economics professors released last week found that among highly educated women who take time off from their careers to raise their children, women with MBAs suffer the largest percentage “mommy penalty.” Women with medical degrees suffer the lowest proportionate loss, with lawyers falling somewhere in between.
Filed under: Work culture
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Court to hear Wal-Mart discrimination appeal
The Supreme Court will consider throwing out a massive lawsuit that claims Wal-Mart pays women less than men and promotes women less frequently.
The justices stepped into a case Monday that could involve 500,000 to 1.5 million women who work or once worked at the world’s largest private employer. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. calls it the largest employment class action in history.
Country lowers retirement age to 58
Bucking a global trend, leftist-led Bolivia is lowering its retirement age and nationalizing its pension funds. Bolivia’s Congress approved legislation early Friday to make Bolivians eligible for full pensions at age 58. The country’s 70,000 miners will get to retire two years earlier. Get the full story »
Worker dies in shooting at Toys ‘R’ Us warehouse
Police say a man who was fired from a warehouse that handles shipments for Toys “R” Us returned and fatally shot a co-worker. Police Chief Ralph Portier says in a statement that Donald Damron died at a hospital after the shooting late Thursday in Groveport, a Columbus suburb. Get the full story »
No holiday from work e-mail, survey shows
Even on the cusp of a long weekend, there’s no rest for the weary, according to a report Tuesday.
The majority, or 59 percent, of working Americans check their work e-mails during Thanksgiving, Christmas and other traditional holidays, according to a survey by Xobni (“inbox” spelled backwards), a Silicon Valley startup that organizes Microsoft Outlook inboxes and address books. Get the full story »
Oscar Mayer employees seek pay for equipment time
Employees at the Oscar Mayer meat processing plant in Davenport, Iowa filed a class action lawsuit against Kraft Foods Inc. seeking compensation for time they spend putting on and taking off their safety equipment. Get the full story »
Minorities still lack a presence in executive ranks
Despite slight improvements, minorities continue to have limited access to managerial and executive positions in Chicago-area corporations, according to a report by Chicago United, an advocacy group.
“Unfortunately, despite the more than 30 years of affirmative action and corporate diversity initiatives, access to the C-suite is still elusive in Chicago and in corporations across the country,” according to the report.
The report, called the “2010 Corporate Diversity Profile,” was based on a survey of 19 public corporations. It found a slight increase in the number of minority executives, but no change in the representation minorities at the corporate director level, where about 9 percent of board members are black, 4 percent are Hispanic, 3 percent are Asian and 84 percent are white. Get the full story »
Study: Women in high-stress jobs face heart risks
Simone Cox takes a breather in her office at Ariba Network. (Dai Sugano/MCT)
Working women are equal to men in a way they’ll wish they weren’t. Female workers with stressful jobs were more likely than women with less job strain to suffer a heart attack or a stroke or to have clogged arteries, a big federally funded study found.
Worrying about losing a job can raise heart risks, too, researchers found.
The results seem sure to resonate in a weak economy with plenty of stress about jobs — or lack of them. The mere fact this study was done is a sign of the times: Past studies focused on men, the traditional breadwinners, and found that higher job stress raised heart risks. This is the longest major one to look at stress in women, who now make up nearly half of the workforce. Get the full story »
OSHA fines Interstate Brands alleging 20 violations
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Schiller Park-based Interstate Brands Corp. with 20 alleged safety violations for failing to train workers and protect them from safety hazards. OSHA has proposed penalties totaling $274,500. Get the full story »
Some employers ready to give raises
There’s new hope for employees who haven’t seen a raise since the collapse of the economy. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, nearly a third of employers are willing to negotiate salary increases in 2011 over concerns that talented employees will look to leave their organizations once the economy improves.
Some industries faired better than others — with IT employers, retail, sales, professional and business services reporting that they were the most willing to negotiate raises. Get the full story »
Election advice in McDonald’s franchise paychecks
An undetermined number of McDonald’s employees at a northeastern Ohio franchise received handbills in their most recent paychecks suggesting they vote for three Republican candidates.
The fast food chain’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook quickly condemned the action by the Canton, Ohio, restaurant, saying it was not reflective of the company’s position. Get the full story »
Oct. 29, 2010 at 11:07 a.m.
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Filed under: Chicago executives, Media, Newspapers, Radio, TV, Work culture Abrams: Tribune tales ‘blown out of proportion’
Business Insider | Lee Abrams tells online video studio My Damn Channel that the stories of the “frat boy” atmosphere at Tribune Co., which ultimately cost him his job as chief innovation officer at the media giant, were “blown out of proportion.”
More stressed workers calling in ’sick’ — creatively
Why take a long lunch to get a break from your cubicle when you can call in “sick” and blame it on a chicken attacking your mom?
Almost three in 10 workers have played hooky from their jobs by calling in sick at least once this year, according to CareerBuilder’s annual survey of workplace absenteeism. More than a quarter of employers attribute the bogus sick days to the job stress and burnout that’s continued in a weak economy. Get the full story »
Oct. 13, 2010 at 11:00 p.m.
Filed under: Chicago executives, Media, Newspapers, Radio, TV, Work culture Tribune executive suspended over e-mail
Tribune Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams. (Tribune file photo)
By Phil Rosenthal and Michael Oneal | Tribune Co. Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams on Wednesday was placed on indefinite suspension without pay because of a company-wide memo he sent this week with links to off-color satirical videos, which spurred a rash of employee complaints.
“Lee recognizes that the video was in extremely bad taste and that it offended employees,” Randy Michaels, chief executive of the Chicago Tribune’s parent company, said in an e-mail announcing the suspension. “But, this is the kind of serious mistake that can’t be tolerated; we intend to address it promptly and forcefully.” Get the full story »
Oct. 6, 2010 at 10:17 a.m.
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Filed under: Chicago executives, Media, Newspapers, Radio, TV, Updated, Work culture Tribune Co. CEO: ‘Ignore noise’ of NY Times story
Randy Michaels, second from left, with other Tribune Co. executives at a press conference held by Sam Zell in 2007. (Jose More/Chicago Tribune)
Randy Michaels, Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.’s chief executive, on Tuesday night sent an e-mail urging employees to “ignore the noise” in anticipation of a New York Times story he expected to “apparently paint the work environment at Tribune as hostile, sexist and otherwise inappropriate.” Get the full story »
