HRmarketer.com's "News For HR" Newsletter

Article: What Are Some of the Legal Issues Surrounding Internships?

Article: Happy Employees Make Thriving Companies

White Paper: The Significant Impact of Small Dietary Changes on Health

HR Humor: Dangerous Jobs

Webcast: How to Leverage Government Funding for Training in Your Organization

Podcast: Building Trust in Business

HR 180: WAITRESS: Tell Us Your Funny Restaurant Story

What's New? The Latest in HR Software and Services
• Recruitment & Staffing
• Compensation & Benefits
• Talent Management

Article: What Are Some of the Legal Issues Surrounding Internships?
Source: George C. Hlavac, Esq., and Edward J. Easterly, Esq. for the National Association of Colleges and Employers

There are obvious reasons beyond legal requirements that an organization must consider when deciding whether to sponsor a paid or unpaid internship (i.e. attracting high-quality interns). Beyond those practical concerns, an organization faces legal obligation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to provide eligible employees with at least the federally mandated minimum wage. Join George Hlavac and Edward J. Easterly as they discuss the legal implications surrounding internships. (This article is only available to the public through April 30, 2010).

Article: Happy Employees Make Thriving Companies: Create Programs that Promote a Healthy Work-Life Balance and Enrich Your Employees' Lives
Source: Paul Spiegelman for Entrepreneur

Fifty years ago, if you said you wanted better work-life balance, most managers would have smiled and assumed that meant you wanted to work until the balance of your life was over. Fortunately, times have changed. The best employers strive to help workers strike the right balance between work and enjoying life away from the office so they are re-energized when they return each day.

Every manager or business owner must ask, "Do my employees like coming to work or is work a repressive grind that they can't wait to get away from, unwilling to spend an extra minute at work?"

Helping employees balance work and life has been a hot topic for years. Overlooking this need can cost business owners productivity, increased turnover, morale and--according to the Mayo Clinic -- even contribute to poor employee health.

Here are a few ways we make our workplace less like work and more like a club that employees want to be part of.

White Paper: The Significant Impact of Small Dietary Changes on Employee Health
Source: DSM Personalized Nutrition, LLC

Poor dietary habits are a leading driver of chronic diseases, and science has proven that dietary adjustment is one of the most effective strategies to improve health. Even small improvements in the diet can pay big dividends for health. Americans believe that a proper diet is most important to maintain good health, yet they have failed to make positive changes. One reason is that most food decisions are made unconsciously, led by environmental cues, convenience or habit. This is especially true at the worksite. Employers are in an ideal position to help their employees achieve better health by offering them a simple, yet effective strategy for making dietary and lifestyle changes.

HR Humor: Dangerous Jobs
Source: Jimmy Ruska's Blog

Repeat after me, OSHA is goooood.

Webcast: How to Leverage Government Funding for Training in Your Organization
Source: Dan Cox, industry analyst and consultant, and Barbara Straw, technical training manager at Autodesk. Sponsored by Cornerstone OnDemand

Money for corporate training is tight. Budgets have been cut, yet training needs are greater than ever. Unknown to most corporations and large organizations, state and federal funds are available for a wide range of training initiatives. During this webinar, Dan Cox, industry analyst and consultant, will reveal opportunities that your organization can pursue to finance your training initiatives and Barbara Straw, Technical Training Manager at Autodesk, will share how she obtained government funding subsidies for training programs. You will learn about the more popular government-funded training programs, how to apply for these funds, and how a Learning Management System can help track this entire process.

Podcast: Building Trust in Business
Source: Demetra Anagnostopoulos, director, Global Client Solutions and Marketing, a division of Interaction Associates

Interaction Associates commissioned IDG Research to complete a comprehensive and timely Building Trust in Business best practices study. More than 200 business leaders responded with their perspectives on the intersection of trust, leadership and collaboration - and how these factors influence business success. These findings have implications for how business leaders can navigate today's difficult economic climate. Demetra Anagnostopoulos gives an informative ten-minute overview.

HR180: WAITRESS: Tell Us Your Funny Restaurant Story
Source: MegC for foxsearchlight.com

People share their own funny stories from restaurants -- whether working in them or dining in them.

Contribute to News for HR!

Want to get published? To submit your article, white paper, webcast or other HR-related content (including interesting non-fiction and non-HR related material for our HR 180 column) for consideration in News for HR, please send an email to newsforhr@hrmarketer.com with a link to your content.

What's New? The Latest in HR Software and Services

* Please note that the editorial team at News for HR does not recommend or endorse any of the companies or products mentioned in our newsletter. We also cannot support any claims made by the respective companies. These are products and services we have found interesting and are sharing with our readership. If you have any experience with these companies you would like to share with us, we'd love to hear from you!

Recruitment & Staffing:

Green Collar Earth is a new job search, career and recruitment website devoted specifically to green-collar employment. Green Collar Earth posts employment opportunities only from companies whose openings fit the United Nations Environmental Program definition of a green job - those that help protect ecosystems and biodiversity, use natural resources efficiently and reduce waste. The site, which will post opportunities from across the country, doesn't have many positions posted yet, but it does have an interesting blog about green collar employment. More information here.

Compensation & Benefits:

If your 401(k) plan isn't really helping you build your retirement savings, how would you know? To help the more than 60 million with these employer-based retirement plans figure out how they stack up, independent retirement plan ratings firm BrightScope has created its first-ever list of top-rated 401(k) plans for each major market in the U.S. Visit Brightscope for more information.

Talent Management:

The TRACOM Group released an iPhone application to help individuals improve interpersonal skills. The app helps users get quick tips on how to successfully interact with others. This comes in handy for HR professionals about to walk into a meeting, give a presentation or have a difficult discussion. A short video of how the app works is available at TRACOM's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/socialstyles#p/a/u/1/bWFvzieSGgA

About "News For HR"

"News for HR" is a monthly newsletter profiling new products and services in the human resource marketplace and timely articles on various HR topics. The newsletter's content is selected by our editorial committee and is not the result of paid advertising.

Most of the content comes from the Human Resources Directory - one of the HR industry's largest and most up-to-date knowledge centers with a library of over 2,000 white papers, webcasts, podcasts, articles and more. Please let us know how we are doing by e-mailing newsforhr@hrmarketer.com.

Newsletter Info:

Publisher:	HRmarketer
Editor:	JWillaman
Circulation:	70,000+
Distributed:	Monthly
Advertising:	Details

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Stat of the Day

Paid Holidays/Vacation Days in the U.S. Versus Other OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Countries)

Source: Lisa Wade, Ph.D., Sociological Images

Sociologists have noted that race and gender have been more politicized in the U.S. than class. In contrast, class is highly politicized in Europe, leading to a much stronger labor movement. The weak labor movement in the U.S. is partly to blame for the stingy federal policies around vacation and holidays. The U.S. federal government dictates that employees are given exactly zero paid holiday and vacation days a year (that means, if you get such things, it is because your employer is being generous/in a benefits arms race with other employers).

For the full story, you can click here.

Quick Tips

A Feng Shui Office Desk that Attracts Wealth

Source: suite101.com

An Ideal Feng Shui Material for Office Furniture

• The best material for an office desk is wood, since this Feng Shui element represents stability, stimulates creativity, career growth, and development.

A Feng Shui Shape of an Office Desk

• Square or rectangular-shaped office desks symbolize the support of the Earth Feng Shui element, which adds to the stability, reliability, and confidence of the desk owner.

• Round or half moon shaped desk is better for the people of creative professions, such as writers, designers, and artists.

• Wavy and smoothly curved shapes, combined with black and dark blue colors, attract wealth.

Feng Shui Colors for the Office Furniture

• The best colors for office furniture are the colors of wood. They stimulate and help to concentrate.

• Black and dark blue add to the desk owner's wealth and prosperity.

• All the shades of green stimulate creativity, and represent growth.

• Dark red may also be a good option since it energizes, and calls for activeness.

Feng Shui Tips on Locating an Office Desk

• Ideally, a Feng Shui office desk should not directly face the entrance door, but be located diagonally across from the door.

• The main piece of the office furniture should be located in such a way, that the owner can see the room's entrance door when sitting at the desk. If it is impossible, hang on the wall a mirror to reflect the entrance door.

• In general, Feng Shui does not recommend facing a wall when sitting at the office desk. Such a position minimizes the flow of positive Feng Shui energy that should circulate around the owner of the desk. If, due to the lack of free space, there is no other choice, except for facing a wall, decorate it with a pleasant picture, such as a landscape. The picture will expand the space, and scatter the negative emotions created by a closed space.