MarketWatch, May 31, 2012, Thursday

MarketWatch

May 31, 2012, Thursday

MarketWatch (full article)

Cross-Sector Project Takes New Approach to Employment of Ex-Offenders

"Companies are so focused on concerns about negligent hiring, discrimination lawsuits and bad publicity, it has been difficult to get them to even discuss this issue openly," said Esta R. Bigler, Director of Cornell ILR's Labor & Employment Law Program and a panelist at Thursday's Solution Series event. "A third-party employer model like Fedcap's offers a way to increase employers' comfort level with onsite workers who have criminal histories. And, directly engaging business executives in this conversation from the start will make sure the lessons for advancing workplace practices are more effective in solving this intractable problem."

Salon, May 31, 2012, Thursday

Salon

May 31, 2012, Thursday

Salon (full article)

The case for telling everyone what you make

Unfortunately, wage transparency can only take you so far – you also have to have leverage, no easy feat in this economy, as Linda Barrington, Managing Director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, points out.

Salon, May 30, 2012, Wednesday

Salon

May 30, 2012, Wednesday

Salon (full article)

Selling out public schools

“The fear in all of this is will it lead to people being rationed out of classes?” said Ronald Ehrenberg, the Cornell researcher behind the tuition study.

The Network Journal, May 25, 2012, Friday

The Network Journal

May 25, 2012, Friday

The Network Journal (full article)

Job Gains Made by Black Women

“It's important to look at the cited areas in which there have been increases for a couple of reasons,” says Laura Hertzog, director of EEO/Diversity & Inclusion Programs at Cornell University's ILR School. “First, both education and health care are areas traditionally- and still- dominated by white women, but in which Black women have been making gains in the last couple of years as a percentage of the workforce.

Bloomberg, May 24, 2012, Thursday

Bloomberg
May 24, 2012, Thursday

Bloomberg (full article)

Frauds, Swingers and the Odd Early Days of Credit Cards

By Louis Hyman, assistant professor of history at Cornell University and the author of “Borrow: The American Way of Debt.”

Nation of Change, May 23, 2012, Wednesday

Nation of Change

May 23, 2012, Wednesday

Nation of Change (full article)

Keystone XL Would Raise Gas Prices

Researchers at the Cornell University Global Labor Institute also published a report confirming that the Keystone XL Pipeline would increase U.S. gas prices by 10 to 20 cents per gallon across the U.S.

Timesunion.com, May 17, 2012, Thursday

Timesunion.com

May 17, 2012, Thursday

Timesunion.com (full article)

State workers share $138M in longevity increases

"That's a big issue," added Lee Adler, a lecturer at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

"When everyone 'got zeroes' in the state contracts, those who were more senior workers would be able to gain a little bit of edge in the step increases."

DMEC's @Work magazine, May 2012

DMEC's @Work magazine

May 2012

DMEC's @ Work magazine (whole issue)

ADAAA: Think Outside the Silo

At a minimum, “Defining and revisiting the period for which that light duty assignment is given is of extreme importance,” says Judy Young, Assistant Director of Training & Development, Employment and Disability Inst. of Cornell Univ. School of Industrial & Labor Relations, and Compliance Conference presenter.

“ADA reasonable accommodation may not require the employer to provide light duty,” notes Susan W. Brecher, Esq., Director of Legal Programs for Human Capital Development, Cornell Univ. School of Industrial & Labor Relations, and Compliance Conference presenter.

The Economist, May 11, 2012, Friday

The Economist

May 11, 2012, Friday

The Economist (full article)

Lonely at the top

In a second paper, Ms Duguid and her co-authors, Denise Lewin Lloyd of MIT Sloan and Pamela Tolbert of Cornell University, discuss the potential consequences of value threat. (They also discuss value threat more broadly, to apply to members of ethnic minorities as well as women.) If the token woman is given the task of bringing in more women, she may balk, and the majority might assume that the other female candidates aren’t qualified.

Syracuse Post-Standard, May 10, 2012, Thursday

Syracuse Post-Standard

May 10, 2012, Thursday

Syracuse Post-Standard (full article)

TRW's demands for shift changes in Auburn plant are part of national trend

The ability to hire temporary workers and to extend work hours provides companies like TRW with seven days of coverage while dramatically reducing overtime costs, said Art Wheaton, an auto industry export for the Cornell University Industrial Labor Relations school.

Chippewa Herald, May 9, 2012, Wednesday

Chippewa Herald

May 9, 2012, Wednesday

Chippewa Herald (full article)

Common sense not always so common

Here is the common-sense part. Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn, economists from Cornell University, note: “Once you control for factors like education and experience, the size of the gap changes significantly. Factor in occupation, industry and whether they belong to a union, and they jump to 91 percent. That’s partly because women tend to cluster in lower-paying fields. The most-educated swath of women, for example, gravitates toward the teaching and nursing fields. Men with comparable education become business executives, scientists, doctors and lawyers — jobs that pay significantly more.”

Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2012, Sunday

Wall Street Journal

May 6, 2012, Sunday

Wall Street Journal

Unions Confront Rising Tide

"Maybe [the Joliet strikers] are miscalculating," says Harry Katz, dean of the industrial and labor-relations program at Cornell University.

New York Times, May 5, 2012, Saturday

New York Times

May 5, 2012, Saturday

New York Times (full article)

At California State, Protesters Start a Fast

But doing so could become more difficult. “California was once the model system, and now that seems to be breaking down at every level,” said Ronald G. Ehrenberg, the director of the Higher Education Research Institute at Cornell. “Cal State was the opportunity that many of the poorest students in the state had to make it into the middle class. By forcing them to restrict enrollment numbers, you’re almost eating the seed corn of the future.”

Bloomberg, May 3, 2012, Thursday

Bloomberg

May 3, 2012, Thursday

Bloomberg (full article)

Wall Street’s Legal Magic Ends an American Right

In the year since the Concepcion decision, lower courts have trashed dozens of cases in which consumers or employees were trying to sue as a group. The National Labor Relations Board pushed back against the impact the Concepcion decision might have on employment class actions, ruling in January that it’s a violation of federal labor law to make workers give up the right to pursue group claims. That decision probably will be challenged in court.

About 25 percent of U.S. employees are covered by mandatory-arbitration clauses, says Alexander J.S. Colvin, an associate professor of labor relations and conflict resolution at Cornell University. He figures the number will grow as a result of the Concepcion case.

NPR, May 3, 2012, Thursday

NPR

May 3, 2012, Thursday

NPR (full article/interview)

The Gender Pay Gap: Fact or Fiction?

But CNN’s Lisa Sylvester found that even if you control for the hours worked, men make more than women — though the gap narrows to a five cent difference.

And Cornell economist Linda Barrington agrees. She told Here & Now‘s Robin Young that when men and women are doing the same job, with the same level of experience, education and work hours, women are paid about five percent less than men.

“It is a big gap and I think no one would say ‘I don’t want a five percent raise if it were offered,” she said.

MSNBC, May 1, 2012, Tuesday

MSNBC

May 1, 2012, Tuesday

MSNBC (full article) 

Wal-Mart worker wants CEO fired

Social media and online petitions, effectively used by consumers to pressure companies to rethink rate hikes and reassess labor practices overseas, could put power in employees’ hands, said labor experts.


“All of these Internet forces are all of a sudden part of the communications currency in the world, especially in America,” said Lee Howard Adler, who teaches employment law and public sector collective bargaining and labor law at Cornell’s Industrial and Labor Relations School. “Even the most powerful see some need to address these great.”

The Sacramento Bee

May 1, 2012, Tuesday

The Sacramento Bee (full article)

Genworth Announces Two Leadership Changes in Mortgage Insurance Businesses

Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) announces that it has named U.S. Mortgage Insurance President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kevin Schneider as president and CEO of its recently formed Global Mortgage Insurance division, effective immediately. In this capacity, Schneider also has been named an executive vice president of the company. U.S. Mortgage Insurance Chief Commercial Officer Rohit Gupta will succeed Schneider as president and CEO of U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI).

Schneider, 50, joined Genworth in 2003 and has more than 28 years of experience in financial services and mortgage insurance. Prior to joining Genworth, he held various leadership positions at GE Capital, GATX Corp, and Ryder System. Schneider received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Master of Management degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg Business School.

WorldatWork's workspan magazine, May 2012

WorldatWork's workspan magazine

May 2012

An monthly column in workspan® applying scholarly research to the "real world" by ICS Director Kevin Hallock.

Governance and Executive Compensation in Nonprofits
Challenges not just for corporate boards

Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2012, Saturday

Los Angeles Times

April 28, 2012, Saturday

Los Angeles Times (full article)

Blacks in South L.A. have a bleaker jobs picture than in 1992

The demographic shift has made it even more difficult for African Americans to find good jobs, said Vernon M. Briggs Jr., a Cornell University labor economist who has studied the effect of immigration on blacks for more than three decades.

Latino immigrants, he said, tend to form tight-knit job networks. "What employers learn to do, if they find workers they're content with, they ask those workers to bring any relatives or friends and become more dependent on them."

Law360

April 27, 2012, Friday

Law360 (full article)

NLRB To Target Gym Chain Over Class Waivers In Worker Pacts

Law360, New York (April 27, 2012, 3:10 PM ET) -- The National Labor Relations Board is poised to issue a complaint against a health club chain arguing that an arbitration agreement that barred class litigation ran afoul of labor law in spite of a clause saying workers could opt out, the NLRB's acting general counsel said Friday.

Lafe Solomon, who appeared at an event at the Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations, said that the complaint, which stems from a predispute arbitration agreement that said workers could choose to opt out and still keep their jobs, was imminent.

Bloomberg Businessweek

April 26, 2012, Thursday

Bloomberg Businessweek (full article)

The First Time Mortgage-Backed Securities Failed

By Louis Hyman
During World War I, as cities pulled every young man who wasn't a doughboy into their factories, the U.S. became an urban nation.

After the war, there was a sharp and short depression in 1920 from which the cities quickly recovered, but rural America did not. That year, the census recordeed more people living in cities than in the country. Returning soldiers looked for work in the cities rather than return home. And all those people needed somewhere to live.

Los Angeles Times, April 26, 2012, Thursday

Los Angeles Times

April 29, 2012, Sunday

Los Angeles Times (full article)

Unemployment is a special challenge for veterans

Hannah Rudstam of Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School studies veterans' employment, and says many employers consider PTSD and traumatic brain injury mysterious and threatening.

In a recent survey of human resource officers conducted by Rudstam and others, 73% of respondents agreed that hiring veterans with disabilities would help their business. But at the same time, 63% said that employing workers with PTSD or traumatic brain injury would require more effort — and 61% said they were unsure whether they posed a workplace threat.

USA Today, April 25, 2012, Wednesday

USA Today

April 25, 2012, Wednesday

USA Today (full article)

More schools vary tuition by major

A growing number of public universities are charging higher tuition for math, science and business programs, which they argue cost more to teach -- and can earn grads higher-paying jobs.

"The fear in all of this is will it lead to people being rationed out of classes?" said Ronald Ehrenberg, the Cornell researcher behind the tuition study.

NY Daily News

April 23, 2012, Monday

NY Daily News (full article)

Catcalling men targeted by new girl power team of lady pols and Boerum hill blogger maven

A Cornell University study of f 223 “hollas” or reports from the Hollaback! site in the city found nearly two-thirds of street harassment was verbal; 29 percent included physical touching, and 4 percent included “nonverbal actions” like staring or taking pictures.

“As a civil society, we should take this phenomena as seriously as we see sexual harassment in the work place, bullying, and stalking,” said KC Wagner, Director of Workplace Issues at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations school.

“It should no longer be tolerated.”

FoxDC.com, April 21, 2012, Saturday

FoxDC.com

April 21, 2012, Saturday

FoxDC.com (full article)

Number of Americans on Disability up 53 Percent

More than five million Americans have applied for disability benefits since President Barack Obama took office, although the number of Americans on disability has risen steadily for more than a decade.

But experts say the latest figures show a dramatic increase. "The rolls have been growing even more exponentially during this economic crisis," Thomas Golden, the associate director of the Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University, told The Daily.

Cincinnati City Beat, April 19, 2012, Thursday

Cincinnati City Beat

April 19, 2012, Thursday

Cincinnati City Beat (full article)

Kasich Office Shows Gender Wage Gap
Governor's male staffers earn 56 percent more than women

Critics of the existing pay gap nationwide insist that it continues to triumph because of occupational and lifestyle choices (e.g., not as many women pursue high-paying, elected positions), "rigorous analysis of data by labor economists Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn found that over 40 percent of the pay gap cannot be explained by such differences, concluding that 'there is evidence that…discrimination does still continue to exist.'" according to this article published by the Center for American Progress, an independent, nonpartisan educational institute.