Congress Holds Hearings on DADT

The House Armed Services Committee is holding hearings today on the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. Here is the story by John Cloud from Time.com. From the story: The hearings, called by a House Armed Services subcommittee, are likely…

EEOC Guidance On Religious Discrimination

The EEOC issued revised guidance on religious discrimination.  Now available is a new revised chapter of its compliance manual - available here: 

EEOC Compliance Manual Section 12 - Religious Discrimination

Among the subjects included in the new section are:

1. Coverage issues, including the definition of “religion” and “sincerely held,”

2. Disparate treatment analysis of employment decisions based on religion, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, discipline, and compensation, as well as differential treatment with respect to religious expression; customer preference; security requirements; and bona fide occupational qualifications.

3. Harassment analysis, including religious belief or practice as a condition of employment or advancement, hostile work environment, and employer liability issues.

4. Reasonable accommodation analysis

5. Related forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on national origin, race, or color, as well as retaliation.

Also available on the EEOC’s website relating to religious discrimination are the following:

Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace

Best Practices for Eradicating Religious Discrimination in the Workplace

Employment Discrimination Based on Religion, Ethnicity, or Country of Origin

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE WORKPLACE RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS, ARABS, SOUTH ASIANS, AND SIKHS UNDER THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY LAWS

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES CONCERNING THE EMPLOYMENT OF MUSLIMS, ARABS, SOUTH ASIANS, AND SIKHS

The federal government has really been making its websites quite a bit easier to navigate lately and there is a ton of information available in user-friendly format and easy to understand!

HR crunch: Gulf banking sector

   I’m seeing more and more about the talent crunch, at the same time as the economic one seems to be biting deeper.

Particularly in the usual places - China and the UAE.  This is from Monday’s FT:

"While US and European banks are shedding tens of thousands to shore up earnings, Gulf banks face a crisis of a different sort - an acute lack of human resources.

Stories abound of entire trading desks in Dubai being lured away by competitors offering two-year guaranteed bonuses. According to one asset manager, the average time spent at a financial institution in the emirate is less than a year. "

I’m back in Dubai and Abu Dhabi towards the end of August, anyone who wants to meet me there, please do get in touch at:  info [at] strategic [dash] hcm [dot] com - or call me on +44 7904 185 134 / skype strategic-hcm.

Chamber of Commerce on EFCA

Picking up on our recent discussion about EFCA, BNA’s Daily Labor Report (subscription required) has an article describing the Chamber of Commerce’s recent statement on the bill (hint: they don’t like it). The Chamber is apparently starting a campaign to…

Collective Bargaining for Public Safety Workers

Earlier this month, Paul posted on the progress in Congress of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act. This proposed legislation would provide collective bargaining rights for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel in state and local governments…

Vacation Should Be a Right . . .

. . . says Robert Reich on today’s Marketplace. I think this would make a fantastic topic for a law review article: compare the U.S. to the rest of the industrialized world, find us sorely lacking, and draft the proposed…

EEOC Fact Sheet on Religion and Title VII

The EEOC has adopted a new compliance manual for claims involving religious discrimination and accommodation under Title VII. Some of the highlights from the BNA Daily Labor Report (subscription required) explaining different types of religious discrimination in employment: Treating applicants…

Leadership pulse findings on Engagement

Theresa Welbourne at eepulse (see also Energize Engage) reports finding that business leaders’ energy has fallen again and is now "1.08 points below the zone where they report being most productive".  Serious stuff given that:

"Being below the zone by one or more points has been shown to predict negative outcomes (eg turnover, lower productivity, lower sales etc)."

In addition, whilst leaders’ confidence in HR’s tactical work and its overall performance has increased slightly, confidence in HR’s strategic competence went down (2004 - 61% leaders being confident, 2206 - 46% confident, 2008 - 44% confident).

Welbourne has noticed that leaders in higher performing firms are closer to being in the zone and that they are also the most confident that their HR teams are delivering on being a strategic HR function.  She concludes:

"Leaders are not doing well themselves, and in order for them to do better (be in their own energy zones), they need HR to step up into the strategic role."

OK, so nothing that new here.  But some useful evidence to suggest that HR needs to be effective strategically if leaders are going to have the energy to lead effectively and therefore to deliver stronger business performance.