Posted on December 30th, 2007 by Tim Eavenson | No Comments »
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It’s that inevitable time of year in fake journalism land where everybody decides to rank the stuff that happened in the past 12 months, and employment reports are (sadly? thankfully?) not immune.
The thing is, the CE staff is in this beautiful space between the end of finals and the beginning of BarBri (PMBR notwithstanding) that we presume will be our last respite before bar exams, babies, and long 1st-year associate hours, so we’re not exactly poring over our posts.
I will attempt some kind of roundup between now and 1/1/8, but in the meantime, Current Employment would like to present it’s list of:
THE BEST EMPLOYMENT-RELATED BEST-OF LISTS OF 2007!!
Yeah, that’s right. We’ve taken all the very best very best lists and put them in order, given them numbers with dots and a closed parenth, and added some witty commentary. You say lazy, I say resourceful.
So, without further ado, let’s get started:
5. 13 Most Overrated Careers [U.S. News]
- What is it with USN? Why do they have to rank everything? Jerks. Anyway, the publication we love to hate has come up with its difinitive list of the 13 crappiest jobs. Adding to my neuroses that the World Report hates me personally, it includes not only my chosen profession (attorney) but those of my wife (advertising executive) and both our mothers (teacher) as well. Surely each profession will release a statement about how it’s tightening its admissions policies in an effort to improve.
4. AARP’s Best Employers 2007 [AARP]
- Ok. It’s the American Association of Retired Persons. Remember? Personally, the best list AARP could come up with would be the best reasons to stay home and make way for the new kids, but such is life. And such are the boomers. With their ridiculous standards and work ethic, sticking it out to get those kids through college, or going to work at the Gap or something, it’s good that the AARP is telling them where to go. Now if only someone could tell them who to vote for…
For #’s 3-1, click the jump.
3. The Sound Opinions 2007 Mixtapes [Sound Opinions - NPR]
- Hey, not everying can be about employment law, ok? Live a little.
2. Worst Employees of 2007 [CNN]
- One lady who left a little girl in a day care (not funny at all) and Amy Jacobson, the Chicago reporter who lost her job after hanging out with the Stebic guy (ditto). Combined with a horrifying graphic, this is a little questionable. The guy with the obvious pot business is pretty funny, though. Plus, where’s the 10 worst employers? Let’s be fair, huh?
1. Stupidest Footnotes of 2007 [footnoted.org]
- Michelle Leder at Footnoted.org pores through SEC filings to find executive perks that don’t make the corporate press release. Last year, she ranked them at the end of the year, and it was awesome. This year, she’s democratized the process, polling readers on what the biggest boneheaded corporate concession was in ’07. Leading the way by far? Qwest’s contract with its CEO included use of the corporate jet to get his high school daughter to and from school. For real. Nothing on any list could possibly top that.
There you have it. The best of the Best Of’s. We’ll have a little something for you OCD-laden rank-obsessed attorneys before 1/1, I promise. For now, though, I’m off to write another letter to U.S. News.
Posted on December 27th, 2007 by Tim Eavenson | No Comments »
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December 27th is about the time I start to wake up from the morphine-like daze of Christmastime and return to my cranky, cynical self for another 362 days or so. If you woke up this morning realizing how creepy the thought of dancing sugarplums really is, here’s a little help getting over your happy holiday hangover: Santa’s apparently a worker’s comp disaster. From Worker’s Comp Insider:
There’s no two ways about it – Santa is an underwriter’s nightmare. He’s overweight, he drives too fast, and there is some evidence that he is tipping brandy while he drives. Plus he smokes a pipe and eats too many cookies.
Interesting. Plus, that’s just for him. You factor in the liability for those elves in that factory, with their primitive tools and oversized hands, and you’ve got a serious W/C policy.
This begs an interesting question, though. Who’s Santa’s employer? If he’s in business for himself, he’s probably got some kind of S-corp set up, right? If he’s smart, he’d Sam Zell it and pump stock into an ESOP for those elves. If Santa’s just pulling a paycheck, though, my money’s on God as ER. He is a Saint, after all.
Anyway, if you’re having trouble getting that nog taste out of your mouth, or you just can’t stop being polite to strangers, just think of the liability insurance the Big Guy’s gotta take out on that North Pole operation. That should pull you into frustrated cynicism in time for your overcrowded new year’s parties and insincere resolutions.
Posted on December 19th, 2007 by Tim Eavenson | No Comments »
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Daniel Schwartz at Connecticut Employment Law Blog (which graphically puts our fledgling rag to shame) has brought a very important, under reported holiday issue to everyone’s attention – sexual harassment of mall Santa Clauses.
Yep. Apparently, creepy women older girls have been waiting in line to talk to Santa, hoping to raise their rank on the naughty list. From the Hartford Courant (via the post):
A 33-year-old woman who posed for a picture with Santa Claus at Danbury Fair Mall over the weekend wanted more than a photo, police said.
Sandrama Lamy inappropriately touched a 65-year-old worker dressed as Santa on Saturday while sitting on his lap, police said. She is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault and breach of peace, both misdemeanors.
While the post points out that the real Santa is “presumably…an independent contractor,” his buddies that fill in for him in malls may be employees. So? Liability? Schwartz says probably not, because the DOL regs require that the employer know or should have known the harassment was likely. From the post:
I’m just taking a hunch here, but I’m imagining that this kind of harassment of Santa Claus is pretty rare; thus, its unlikely the employer could have foreseen this kind of harassment. (Readers, please let me know if I’m off base here). And now, after the incident has occurred by this customer, the police have arrested the woman, making it unlikely to occur from her again.
For her part, according to an interview with the Danbury News-Times (via Above the Law), Lamy says didn’t do anything wrong. She didn’t even sit on his lap:
“Why would I do this? There were so many people there. If he (Santa) needed a few extra bucks I would have given it to him,” Lamy said. “I’ve never been involved in a crime or anything. This is shocking to me.”
Ok, that’s got to be the quote of the year. Still, what the hell was a 33 year old lady doing in line to see Santa in the first place? You’re asking for trouble is all I’m saying. (And you thought that Wizard of Oz kid with the goggles from a Christmas Story was creepy.)
I took my dog to see Santa at PetSmart last year. That gig’s probably pretty safe. Maybe you get peed on a little, but I’m thinking mall Santas have to worry about that one anyway.
