Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


This is a special post for me as last week marked the first full year of The Majority Opinion blog.  That's right, it was a little over a year ago that I posted the first blog to much 'fanfare'...ha.  I want to thank the readers of the blog for following along with me over the past year and reading through the articles, comments, notes, etc. that I have posted.  I could not do this without loyal readers and for that I am grateful.

With that being said, let us get going with this post.  As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week.


N.F.L. Cheerleader Lawsuits Creating Dissension Within the Ranks?

With the recent announcement of the settlement of one of the Oakland Raiders lawsuits for $1.25 million (First Oakland Raiders Cheerleader Lawsuit Settles - Blog), this is a timely followup to some of the other cheerleader lawsuits still pending.  Eric Morath has a brief look at how many former and current cheerleaders view these wage and hour lawsuits with contempt and have pushed back at the allegedly illegal actions by the teams and the N.F.L.  It is not surprising that some cheerleaders are offended by the lawsuits and the fact that the cheerleaders who brought the lawsuits would "break rank" by doing so...but it is interesting reading nonetheless.  


10 "Soft Skills" That Every Employee Should Have

The HR Bartender is one of the premier HR Blogs that I read each week.  I always find interesting articles that I think my readers would also enjoy...this one is no exception.  This particular article identifies 10 "soft skills" that every employee should have.  It is a quick read, but has some good insights on how employees can stand out and set themselves apart from co-workers.  Some of the skills are common sense, such as being able to collaborate, while others such as dealing with stress management, are useful ones that I have not thought of before.


Auburn Football Ball Boy is a Reminder to Update Employee Handbooks

Football season is here, which means every Monday, (occasional Tuesday and Wednesday), Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night are already planned out for the next few months for me.  The other week, I was watching Auburn's first football game and noticed that after a receiver caught the ball and made a bee line for the endzone, an Auburn ball boy ran alongside down the sideline, in full view of the ESPN cameras.  Kris Dunn uses this situation (and kindly includes a video of the play) as an example of why employers need to update their employee handbooks to avoid "look at me" situations like this and have a plan in place on how to deal with employees in the workplace that pull similar stunts.  Interesting take, but one that employers should pay attention to.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa