The 10th nominee for the “worst employer of 2018” is … the whitewasher

White only

If I told you that an employee hung this sign inside his workplace, you might think I was talking about 1950’s Mississippi.

I’m not. It’s 2018 Sacramento, California.

That alone would be enough to earn this employer (Vivint Solar) a nomination as the worst employer of 2018, but it’s just the tip of the racist iceberg.

Is technology the answer to your employees’ mental health problems?

The world was rocked last week, first by the suicide of Kate Spade and then by that of Anthony Bourdain. American suicide rates have skyrocketed, up 30 percent since 1999, emblematic of the larger mental-health epidemic we are facing.

Many point to the isolationism and perfection seeking created by our personal technology devices (and the social media they feed to us) as one the main causes of this epidemic.

But what if the analytical power of these devices could actually alert us to mood changes and create an earlier awareness of an impending personal mental-health crisis?

The legality of pre-certification communications with potential class members

Your nightmare as an employer has just become your reality.

A disgruntled former employee has launched a wage and hour class action lawsuit against you.

You’d like to get out ahead of the game by having your lawyers start marshaling your evidence. For example, they’d like to interview employees and gather affidavits in opposition to the eventual motion for class certification.

But can they?

NLRB clarifies its new employee handbook rules

Late last year, in Boeing Co., the NLRB rewrote more than a decade of precedent by overturning its Lutheran Heritage standard regarding when facially neutral employment policies violate the rights of employees to engage in concerted activity protected by section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

The Board scrapped Lutheran Heritage‘s “reasonably construe” test (a work rule violates section 7 if an employee could “reasonably construe” an infringement of their section 7 rights) with a test that balances “asserted business justifications and the invasion of employee rights” by weighing “(i) the nature and extent of the potential impact on NLRA rights, and (ii) legitimate justifications associated with the requirement(s).”

WIRTW #509 (the “he did not just say that” edition)

CNN reports that billionaire real estate magnate Sam Zell recently said the following while speaking at a real estate investment trusts trade association:

I never promoted a woman because she was a woman. I never demoted a woman because she was a woman. My issue is what do you do, what do you produce, how do you interrelate to the rest of the business. I don’t think there’s ever been a, “We gotta get more pussy on the block, OK?”

To make matters worse, this is the same guy who, eight years ago, The New York Times alleged to be running a company rampant with sexual harassment and debasement, including executives openly discussing the “sexual suitability” of female employees.

Thank you, Sam Zell, for being “Exhibit A” of why my  job here is far from over.

Here’s what I read this week:

Can and should you ban employee phone use at work?

Last night, the fam packed up the Hyman-mobile and headed out to see Jack White. It was my 7th time seeing him in any of his incarnations (White Stripes - 4; Raconteurs - 1; Solo - 2, if you’re counting), and he never disappoints. This time, however, was different in one key aspect. Jack has banned all phones from his tour. That means no in-venue selfies, no grainy photos or crunchy videos, and no one staring down at a five-inch screen instead of watching the artist on stage. It was a different, and pleasant, way to experience a concert in 2018, an experience I had not had in what feels like a decade. Instead of at least partly focusing on my phone, I focused 100 percent on the artist and his performance.

Which begs the question: can and should you ban cell phones at work?

Why is Paid Family Leave So Controversial for America?

Today, I’m happy to share my latest publication. It’s an op-ed in Workspan Magazine titled, “Why is Paid Family Leave So Controversial for America?”