I’m back on my retirement savings soapbox again this week. I guess I could just scream to the masses . . . “Just get started! Contribute and invest as much as possible towards your retirement account NOW - no matter what age you are! Tax advantages, and employer match benefits aside; an employer provided retirement savings accounts is the least disciplined, highest return manner that most of us will be able to save a substantial amount for our retirement years. Heck, at the very least start contributing even 1 or 2% into a moderate growth mutual fund. The pre-tax deduction from your gross earnings will hardly make a difference in your take home paycheck amount.” With that declaration off my chest you really don’t have to read any further. But just to humor me, hang in there and check out some statistics that demonstrate the message is being heard.

The conventional wisdom, which sometimes is neither wise nor conventional, is that Congress will not enact any comprehensive immigration law reform. In light of this likelihood, several other forces are at work on the immigration reform issue. The Department of Homeland Security is poised to issue new regulations on how employers must react to notices reporting that employee Social Security numbers and names do not match each other. Congress is looking at breaking the comprehensive reform bill into several parts, e.g. passing one bill addressing only the issue of whether employers must use the national pilot Social Security number verification system. A number of states are also considering immigration reform legislation. One common feature of the state legislation I have heard about includes mandated employer use of the national verification system as well as other items, such as stricter penalties on employers who hire undocumented workers.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new policy guidance dealing with the issues of how employers should treat employees who have family care responsibilities. The guidance notes the following possible problems and illegal acts by employers, "sex-based stereotyping and subjective decision making regarding working mothers; assumptions about pregnant workers; discrimination against working fathers and women of color; stereotyping based on an association with an individual with a disability; and hostile work environments affecting caregivers." The guidance offers tips to employers, employees and EEOC staff on how to deal with such issues. You can read the guidance at www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/caregiving.html

It's a laid back Friday in the middle of a beautiful summer say and I'm not particularly inspired to get into anything too deep or serious with today's post. Therefore it was my good fortune to come across a recent CareerBuilder.com survey (CB does some of the best HR surveys) that asked more that 5700 workers which TV show boss reminded them of their own boss. From today's primetime hits to yesterday's classics, workers found striking similarities between their real life bosses and TV characters and personas. When asked which TV boss most reminds them of their own boss, the most popular responses from workers included:

The former general counsel (i.e. chief lawyer) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) gave an interesting presentation last month at the National SHRM conference in Las Vegas on how to deal with the government agency. The presenter explained how the EEOC receives 80,000 charges of employment bias each year but annually only files 400 lawsuits. All EEOC charges are filed either “A” (watch out—they’re after you), “B” (unclear where the case may lead) or “C” (likely merit-less).

HR Daily Advisor recently published an interesting list called the nine deadly sins of hiring. The sins are: 1) failing to plan before hiring, including failing to have in place an accurate job description for the open position; 2) using a poorly designed application that asks illegal or inappropriate questions; 3) failure to retain applications for proper periods of time; 4) allowing untrained supervisors to conduct interviews; 5) failing to ask about noncompete agreements and restrictive covenants; 6) not doing reference and application checks; 7) using no offer letter or an inadequate one; 8) insufficient employee orientation; and 9) not getting help when needed.

According to a recent Harris poll, only about a third of workers in the U.S. will have enough money saved to retire in comfort. Twenty-seven percent don't expect to have enough saved, and 39 percent aren't sure. According to the survey, less than half, or about 45 percent of workers, do participate in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan. Fourteen percent have the option but do not participate, and 35 percent are not given the option by their employers. And although the 401(k) is a good way to save for retirement (and can yield a bigger benefit than a traditional pension plan if done right), Americans are still not very good at saving for retirement. Statistics show that nearly half of U.S. workers cash out their 401(k)'s when they switch jobs instead of rolling the accounts over.

Caring for an aging population is growing more difficult. We are living longer. Many older Americans can no longer rely on sons and daughters for end of life care. An awful lot of baby boomers will be needing a lot of home health care in the next few years. Who will care for this rapidly growing segment of our population? Many of us who will be unable to care for ourselves as we age will be cared for by home care providers. Who are these people?

As discussed a few weeks ago, the federal hourly minimum wage increases to $5.85 on July 24, 2007. Among other things, this means employers must display updated Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage posters in conspicuous places at the worksite. Not much in life is free, but these posters are...go to www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/posters/flsa.htm to download one. Remember to update your posters again when the minimum wage increases to $6.55 on July 24, 2008 and to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

There seems to be as many differing opinions about what comprises an effective employee performance management program as there are varieties of methods to evaluate employee performance. I keep tabs on the EPM and Talent Management marketplace to see who is doing what and which trends are taking hold. The purpose of this marketplace vigilance is to gather information and formulate recommendations for our ongoing product development that ensures HRN Management Group’s EPM solution, Performance Pro, remains a top performing (and selling) solution in the SMB marketplace. In addition to competitive analysis and real-time customer feedback to provide Performance Pro development input, I also read industry reports and analyst data. In 2006 DDI and The Conference Board co-sponsored a talent management survey authored by Richard Wellins, Ph.D. and Keith Caver (www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_2006talentmanagementstrategiesconference_es.pdf) that I found quite interesting. The survey concluded that despite the majority of respondents having implemented the essential ingredients required for successful talent management, the state of their talent management programs is in disarray. This is because of three primary reasons. 1. Programs have not been properly rolled out, implemented, and integrated. 2. Top executives are not viewed as committed to talent management as a priority. 3. Gathered data is not utilized and analyzed to effect positive changes in the organization.

A government survey released yesterday (July 16, 2007) found that 1 in 12 U.S. workers have used illicit drugs (mostly marijuana) within the past month. About two-thirds of the workers that participated in the study were men. The highest rate was among restaurant workers, with 17.4 percent, and construction workers, 15.1 percent; the lowest was 4 percent of teachers and social service workers.