Employment Learning Innovations & Workplace Culture Blog

Work Should Be Like Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival

Stephen M. Paskoff July 6, 2010 No Comments

A week ago, I listened to the best guitar music on Earth with my good friend and colleague, Ray Amelio, and 80,000 other fans at Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads Guitar Festival” in Chicago. For 12 hours, the hot Chicago sun blistered us, despite lots of suntan lotion, as we listened to performances by ZZ Top, Robert Randolph, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, BB King, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and Jonny Lang, to name just

A Parting Pastoral Letter: Lessons from My Five Years at ELI

ELI, Inc. June 25, 2010 No Comments

If you treat people right, they will want to come to work – and when they do, they’ll be more productive. And when they’re more productive, your business will be more profitable. It’s a philosophy that ELI® has stood on for over 20 years. I may not be the person with the highest business acumen, but for the past five years I’ve worked hard for a

FMLA Leave May Be Taken by Employees Serving as Parents, Even If Not the Biological Parents or Legal Guardians

ELI, Inc. June 24, 2010 No Comments

Posted by Constance A. Waters, Esq. (General Counsel) This week the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued an Administrator’s Interpretation of the definition of “son or daughter” under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). The interpretation will permit individuals who serve in the role of a parent to take leave upon the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or to care for a son or

Affirmatively Defenseless: Avoiding Workplace Blowouts

Stephen M. Paskoff June 22, 2010 No Comments

Ask senior executives to assess the risk in a business matter and many will turn first to their lawyers for guidance. They’ll seek a legal opinion on topics ranging from employment decisions, to work practices, to product development, to financial transactions to manufacturing processes. In our litigious society where legal costs and damages can be crippling, this makes sense. Skilled lawyers can quickly identify legal

Announcing a New Contest: Best Places to Get Work Done

Stephen M. Paskoff June 17, 2010 No Comments

Do a quick Google search for “Best Places to Work,” and you’ll turn up an astonishing 92 million results, including Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 Employers, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, and Best Places to Work in Federal Government. Scroll down and you’ll see a best companies list for just about every major city in America. For the organizations lucky enough to find a highly coveted

Values Trump Laws for Risk Management

Stephen M. Paskoff June 1, 2010 No Comments

Legal protections and the threat of financial damages clearly were not enough to prevent the recent catastrophic explosions on the BP deep-sea rig and in Massey Coal’s doomed mine. Initially, the penalties imposed on BP were said to be limited to $75 million, a pittance compared to the vast wealth of sea-bottom treasure anticipated by successful drilling. In the case of Massey Coal, the company successfully

Resources

Blog

Work Should Be Like Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival

A Parting Pastoral Letter: Lessons from My Five Years at ELI

FMLA Leave May Be Taken by Employees Serving as Parents, Even If Not the Biological Parents or Legal Guardians

Affirmatively Defenseless: Avoiding Workplace Blowouts

Announcing a New Contest: Best Places to Get Work Done

Values Trump Laws for Risk Management