Stop thief!  A cry on the subway?  A call for help on a crowded sidewalk?  A homeowner’s shout to neighbors?  Or a frustrating demand from human resources?

Employee theft is nothing new.  It’s just bigger than ever.  I’ve seen estimates that employers in the U.S. lose anywhere from $4 billion to $40 billion per year to employee theft.  Unless your pockets are terribly deep, either number is staggering.

What’s even more interesting–unbelievable to some–is that management is an unintentional co-conspirator when it comes to employee theft. [Read more →]

Beginning this week, there will be a week’s worth of Corporate BS posted every Saturday.  For those of you interested in this kind of bs, the first weekly post will be on May 17.  To make this works out right, I need to give you this past Saturday’s Corporate BS definition, so here it is:

May 10–off the record:  Spoken in confidence or unofficially, as in “I’m not supposed to tell you this, and if you ever say I said it, I will categorically deny it; the fact that I am saying this is off the record absolves me of all responsibility for sharing this privileged information with you”; also, code for “Here comes some really good gossip about who is sleeping with whom,” etc.

Managing Leadership mentions the post I did on “Executive Leadership:  What is it good for?”  Managing Leadership also comments on my post on The Reinforced Glass Ceiling.  Managing Leadership has a make-you-think-post on the true meaning of something we’ve heard much about lately:  change–and another one on the unfortunate failure of senior execs to bring along their juniors.

Corporate Vigilance mentions my post on “Guide to Hiring Women.”  Also, check out Corporate Vigilance for posts on communication, delegation, an interesting company called CoinStar, SOX matters, and the financial services industry post-subprime mortgage fiasco.

Thoughts from a Management Lawyer mentions my post on “Questions About Pregnancy.”  Check out Thoughts from a Management Lawyer for Blawg Review #157 covering almost every employment law subject there is. 

Delaware Employment Law Blog mentions an article I did in the Tennessee Employment Law Letter (March ‘07) on employee theft.  Also, check out Delaware Employment Law Blog for a helpful post on a Department of Labor recordkeeping and record retention resource.

Bellringers mentions my post on “Young Teachers Gone Wild.”  Bellringers contains the 170th Carnival of Education.  Since human resources professionals and employment lawyers are charged with educational responsibility more and more these days, you should check Bellringers out for some ideas.

Cultural Offering  comments on my E. B. White quote with an interesting observation.  Scroll to the end of this post for CO’s comment. Cultural Offering also borrows a post from Execupundit under “Ode to a meeting room.”

Austin Counsel Lawyer Blog mentions my Tip of the Week post on jerks, as well as my post on whether it’s possible to ever delete a text message.

The ABA Journal newsletter has an article about an uptick in pregnancy discrimination claims against law firms (which seems to track what’s happening nationally with all employers).

Troy Foster makes a smashing debut as he takes the reins of that’s what she said.  I watched the episode of The Office he reviews, and I think he nails it.

And now music from Cultural Offering featuring the late, great Eddy Arnold.

In honor of Mother’s Day, EJ Graff has posted a thought-provoking piece about working mothers in Slate Magazine.  It’s not your typical Mother’s Day greeting, but it’s worth the read. 

Speaking of WARN, there’s a good refresher in the May issue of the New York Employment Law Letter.  It’s well worth the read.

The Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act has been around for a while, but you don’t hear much about it.  That could change in the wake of our present economy.  It seems that, almost daily, there are announcements of business closures, downsizings, reorganizations and layoffs.  When these things happen, are employers remembering WARN?

When Skybus recently quit flying, it was sued by employees claiming that the company hadn’t given the required notice to employees as required by WARN, thus entitling discharged employees to back pay and other damages.  Ditto for ATA Airlines.  Both lawsuits are filed as class actions.

If you don’t remember WARN or it’s kind of fuzzy, check out this fact sheet.  If you’re covered by the law, you’re supposed to give employees 60 days notice before you go out of business or engage in a “mass layoff,” unless you fall within certain exceptions.  When you’re thinking about closing your doors or laying off a bunch of employees, you need legal advice about a lot of stuff.  Don’t forget WARN.

Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett sing about taking a break in the middle of the day, because they’re “gettin’ paid by the hour and older by the minute,” and because “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

Alan Jackson;Jimmy Buffett - It’s Five O‘ Clock Somewhere

May 9–NSFW:  abbr.  Not Safe For Work; describes blog or other Internet content that for a variety of reasons (the most common is that it is slightly pornographic in nature) is the type of material that if you’re caught looking at might get you fired.

Title VII requires an employer to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs unless it causes the employer an undue hardship.  Sometimes, an accommodation is possible.  Sometimes, it’s not.  But the employer must always consider whether it’s possible.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals provides some guidance on the concept of religious accommodation in Sturgill v. United Parcel Service, Inc.  (Check out the Nebraska Employment Law Letter for a summary of this case.)  A UPS package car driver was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  A fundamental tenet of the church is that you can’t work past sundown on Friday.  The driver requested a year-round accommodation that would ensure his never having to work past sundown on Friday.  The company rejected this request as being too broad.

On one Friday, it became apparent that the driver wouldn’t be able to complete his deliveries before sundown.  He requested an accommodation.  It was denied.  He quit and sued UPS for violating Title VII.  The case was tried before a jury, which found in favor of the employee, returning a verdict of $103,722.25 in compensatory damages, $207,444.50 in punitive damages, and $134,838.37 in attorneys’ fees.  On appeal, the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict.

The problem for UPS was that it had, almost routinely, made it possible for the employee to avoid working past sundown on Friday in the past by splitting up deliveries among other drivers so that the employee in question could be through by sundown.  It was obvious that it could be done without causing an undue hardship.  At least, there was enough evidence for a jury to reasonably draw that conclusion.

A big company will have a more difficult time showing that a religious accommodation causes an undue hardship than a smaller company will.  UPS has a lot of drivers.  It’s a bit of a stretch for a jury to accept the argument that there’s just no way for the company to figure out some way for a driver to meet his religious obligation to stop work before sundown on Friday.  That’s particularly true when accommodations have already been provided to the driver without bringing the company’s work to a standstill.  That’s a reminder that before you start handing out accommodations, look at the big picture and make sure your supervisors check with human resources before deciding an accommodation question on their own.