Hiring undocumented workers to grow your business: unfair or business as usual? As the debate over immigration reform intensifies, it looks more likely that small business owners will play a key role in the final outcome. Much of the focus is on undocumented immigrants who are not authorized to work in the U.S. But if they are working, that means someone is hiring them and it's usually a small-business owner. Accurate statistics are difficult to come by, but a relatively recent study by the … [Read more...]
Retailers Using Shared Data to Reduce Employee Theft
Retailers are working together to stop "five-finger discounts" from ruining their businesses. Inventory shrinkage, a fancy term meaning theft, is a huge problem for retailers. Over $90 million worth of inventory disappears from warehouses and store shelves across the country every single day. What is most disappointing is that an estimated 44 percent of shrinkage is perpetrated by employees. To deal with this issue, several companies have proposed an innovative solution, retailers are … [Read more...]
New Legislation: No Such Thing as Illegal Immigrants?
A guest worker program would allow undocumented immigrants the opportunity to work legally. New Legislation: No Such Thing as Illegal Immigrants? A large-scale "guest worker" program may finally be on the horizon in the United States again after a contentious but successful negotiation by labor, business and political leaders. Despite highly passionate views on immigration from all sides, the parties were able to come together to produce a plan with support from all three interest groups. When … [Read more...]
How Much Does Paid Sick Leave Really Cost?
The battle over paid sick leave is heating up. But with so many companies already offering it, is the battle already over? Should paid sick leave be required by law? Once again, this benefit is making headlines as members of Congress, state legislatures and even city councils present proposed legislation to make sick leave mandatory. While more than eight out of ten large companies already offer paid sick leave, fewer small businesses do. There seems to be a direct correlation between the size … [Read more...]
Wellness Programs Aren’t a Good Investment for Your Company
Are employee wellness programs a flop? The evidence points to yes. Over the past several decades, many companies have created wellness programs that aim to improve the lives of employees outside of the workplace, improve performance at work and lower health care costs. Wellness has also expanded to include financial wellness, psychological wellness and all other kinds of wellness. Creating incentive programs to get employees to eat healthier foods, exercise and schedule medical screenings has … [Read more...]
Minimum Wage Debate: Is $9 an Hour Not Enough or Too Much?
The controversy over raising the minimum wage is raging once again. Does raising the minimum wage help or hurt workers? In political, business and economic circles, this is a debate that's still raging and is hardly anywhere near being settled. All sides point to studies that produce results supporting their particular point of view. The current minimum wage battle opened a new front when Alan Krueger, chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, proposed that the federal … [Read more...]
What Investors Really Want To See Before Writing A Check
Got traction? What investors expect before giving you a dime. What Investors Really Want To See Before Writing A Check Many entrepreneurs confuse a good idea with a good business; they aren't the same thing. Investors know this and spend a great deal of time evaluating potential investments to ensure that they are putting their money behind a good businenss, not just something that sounds great on paper. For all of their experience, this is still a very difficult distinction to make and most … [Read more...]
What the Dive in Worker Productivity Means for Your Business
Worker productivity takes an unexpected fall. Expect your labor costs to go up and your margins to go down. Worker productivity is a key factor in determining your company’s profitability. As your employees become more productive, they deliver the same output in less time and for less expense, boosting profits. Everything has a limit though, and at some point your ability to squeeze more output out of the same workers will end. At a national level, it looks like we have reached this … [Read more...]
The Employees Strike Back: What to Do When Fired Workers Retaliate
What to Do When Fired Workers Retaliate?. Former employees can make life very expensive for business owners if the right protections aren't in place. One of the most difficult aspects of being a small-business owner is having to fire or lay off employees. Even if it doesn’t come as a surprise, it's still shocking, and more so in a job market where it can take well over a year to find a new job. It's difficult to know how someone will react when learning they're out of work. Some former … [Read more...]
Unionized Employees Becoming Tiny Minority
New study shows that Unionized Employees make up less than 10 percent of the private sector labor force. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012 was yet another year that saw a reduction in the number of unionized workers. Approximately 15.9 million workers were covered by a union contract; 90 percent were members of a union with the balance comprised of workers who are not union members but whose jobs are covered by union contracts. Only 11.3 percent of workers are unionized, … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next Page »