Arriving at the White House in 1861, Abraham Lincoln faced the enormous challenge of holding together a country that was fractured over slavery.
As everyone who has passed a high school civics course knows, Lincoln went on to lay the foundation for the modern United States and become a towering figure in American history.
What may not be as apparent is that Lincoln also serves a role model for executive leadership in talent management and team building.
If anyone could outline Lincoln’s HR gifts and how they can be applied in 2009, it would be historian and writer Doris Kearns Goodwin. Goodwin, author of the 2005 book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, will be Tuesday’s keynote speaker.
Goodwin has written books about Presidents Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt. A former aide to Johnson, Goodwin later helped him prepare his memoirs. Goodwin also was an NBC political analyst, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Colby College, as well as a doctorate from Harvard, where she also has taught.
In addition to her penchant for politics, she loves baseball. Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir is her ode to the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers, her favorite team. As a baseball writer, she became the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room. She was a consultant to Ken Burns for his PBS documentary The History of Baseball.
In her best-seller Rivals, Goodwin depicts how Lincoln, a two-time loser in races for a Senate seat in Illinois, emerged from the political wilderness to capture the Republican nomination against three political heavyweights—New York Sen. William Seward, Ohio Gov. Salmon Chase and Edward Bates, a St. Louis judge.
But unlike most presidents—and CEOs—Lincoln did not vanquish his competitors. He appointed them to Cabinet positions to take advantage of their policy and political skills, even though each of them initially was openly contemptuous of Lincoln.
Seward became secretary of state, Chase secretary of treasury and Bates attorney general. In his New York Times review of Goodwin’s book, James McPherson, professor emeritus of history at Princeton University, related the story of Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago Tribune, asking Lincoln why he reached out to his enemies to fill critical posts.
“We needed the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet,” Lincoln replied. “These were the very strongest men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services.”
The Charleston, South Carolina, Mercury wrote this about Lincoln’s staffing decisions, according to Goodwin’s book: “He has called around him in counsel the ablest and most earnest men of his country. Where he has lacked individual ability, experience or statesmanship, he has sought it and found it. Force, energy, brains, earnestness he has collected around him in every department.”
But when they joined his government, Lincoln’s rivals did not immediately become his friends. Lincoln endured criticism and squelched power plays, holding his politically fractious but talented Cabinet together. Over time, Seward became one of his staunchest allies.
For the past two years Linda A. Hill has traveled thousands of miles around the globe studying innovative managers and the roles they play in the success of their companies. This means going deeper into organizations than the CEO level. And so most of her subjects aren’t household names. “We’re trying not to simply write about CEOs,” Hill says. “We’re also looking at people in the midst of organizations.”
Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Area at the Harvard Business School, has been collaborating on a book on the subject of business innovation with Greg Brandeau, the senior vice president of technology at Pixar, and Emily Stecker, her research assistant. She figures it should be ready for publication by year’s end.
With a working title of Leadership as Collective Genius, Hill’s book looks at 12 company leaders worldwide who have fostered innovation at their companies. She’ll talk about what those successful business leaders do on a daily basis during her Masters Series session.
Not all the leaders are in the U.S. and Europe.
“I wanted to make sure we have [cited] leaders from around the world,” Hill says, “to show we have a global perspective.”
One leads an Islamic bank in Dubai. Another, Brandeau, manages technology at Pixar. Another runs India-based HCL Technologies, a notably innovative high-technology outsourcing company. Others include the architect of eBay’s success and the successful leader of IBM’s investment strategies to help underdeveloped countries.
What Hill has learned is that the most successful business leaders call upon the various “slices of genius” among their employees. The goal, she says, is to “unleash and harness the creative talents of a diverse group.” Doing this well is a leadership style she learned from Nelson Mandela: “leading from behind.”She cites it in a passage from Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, in which Mandela recalls how a leader of his tribe talked about the talent to lead:
“A leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”
The successful business leaders she has studied, she adds, “Don’t all have the same style. But they’re fundamentally more comfortable leading from behind, rather than leading from the front.” They let their specialists do their jobs. And that means leaders “have to get out of the way,” Hill says.
Knowing that style, she adds, is key to identifying leadership traits among those in the business world, which has been dominated by the “leading from the front” model. People who have the traits to lead innovative efforts are often overlooked, she says, because they don’t fit the stereotypical front-and-center boss.
One aspect of innovative leadership, she adds, is “amplifying differences rather than minimizing them” among underlings. “Once you unleash people’s talents, you have to harness it to serve the collective good,” Hill says. “A lot of companies never unleash people’s talent.”
Whether you’re staying for a whole week or just trying to visit a few places in between conference activities, you will want to get a taste of the best of Chicago. The third-largest city in America is also one of the country’s most popular convention spots, and Chicago always has its welcome mat out. Family-friendly attractions, distinctive neighborhoods, upscale shopping and a vibrant nightlife are sure to please your family, significant other and even your boss.
Attractions As the city’s official visitor center, the Chicago Cultural Center is a great place to begin your visit to Chicago.
Daily programs and exhibits highlight the city’s performing, visual and literary arts. The center also boasts the world’s largest Tiffany stained-glass dome among its must-see features.Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., (312) 744-6630.
Navy Pier is the No. 1 tourist destination in the Midwest. Free concert performances, sightseeing boat tours, a family pavilion with restaurants and shops, and a 3-D Imax theater are among its attractions. Other highlights include the Chicago Children’s Museum, Crystal Gardens indoor botanical park, the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows and the Skyline Stage for concerts and plays. The highlight of the pier is a 15-story Ferris wheel. Cap off a Chicago visit with fireworks, held on Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout the summer.Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., (800) 595-PIER.
There is no shortage of parks—or beaches—in Chicago. Situated beside Lake Michigan, the city offers 29 miles of walking, jogging and cycling paths along with 15 miles of beaches. Two of the most popular beaches offering fun for adults and children alike are Oak Street Beach and North Avenue Beach. Oak Street Beach, 1000 North Ave., (312) 742-5121. North Avenue Beach, 1603 N. Lake Shore Drive, (312) 742-PLAY.
Millennium Park is Chicago’s latest addition to its repertoire of parks and arts venues. The beautifully landscaped 24.5-acre park is home to several works of art and the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, featuring free concerts by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, and a variety of performers representing the city’s diversity.Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St., (312) 742-1168.
Zoos and conservatories Nothing says “family friendly” better than the words “free admission,” and if you’ve brought your family to the conference you’ll want to visit the city’s top-notch presentations of flora and fauna.
Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the last public zoos in the country that offers free admission. Located in Lincoln Park along Chicago’s lakefront, the zoo is home to more than 1,000 mammals, birds and reptiles. A newly expanded lion house holds Siberian tigers, African lions, leopards and other big cats. The African Journey section features giraffes, elephants and other African animals living in lush surroundings similar to their native habitat. A working replica of a Midwestern farm is among the featured exhibits at the zoo. Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 N. Clark St., (312) 742-2000.
In the heart of Lincoln Park, adjacent to the zoo, is the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Take a break from the hectic convention pace and stroll through the gardens.Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 N. Stockton Drive, (312) 742-7736.
One of the largest indoor gardens in the nation is the Garfield Park Conservatory. The conservatory is celebrating its 100th birthday with yearlong events as part of “CHICAGOASIS: The Greenest Show on Earth.” Let your pocketbook rest while the family visits the children’s garden and you take in one or all of the five permanent collections at this free, city-owned garden under glass. Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave., (312) 746-5100, www.garfieldconservatory.org.
Sports Chicago is a sports town, no doubt about it, with 16 professional teams and four major American sports. The SHRM Annual Conference lands in Chicago during baseball, women’s basketball and soccer season, so check the home schedules of your favorite team:
Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, 1060 W. Addison St., (773) 404-CUBS.
Chicago White Sox, U.S. Cellular Field, 333 W. 35th St., (312) 674-1000.
Chicago Fire (men’s soccer), Toyota Park, 7000 S. Harlem Ave., Bridgeview, Illinois, (888) MLS-FIRE.
Chicago Sky (women’s basketball), UIC Pavilion, University of Illinois at Chicago, 525 S. Racine Ave., (866) SKY-WNBA.
Neighborhoods Sample the best that the world has to offer, right in Chicago’s ethnic enclaves. Some are more obvious, such as Little Italy and Chinatown in the city’s South Loop and Greektown in the West Loop.
Others have developed their ethnic identities based on the immigrants who settled in those neighborhoods, such as the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, home to one of the largest Irish-American communities in the United States; and Andersonville, which touts a Swedish contingent among its ethnically diverse residents.
Nightlife Chicago’s diversity is evident on the night scene too. From blues to jazz, soul to salsa, gospel to house music, Chicago remains the scene setter. The Uptown neighborhood is home to nightclubs, restaurants and other music venues, but other popular clubs are scattered throughout the city. Among the favorites: Blues: Blue Chicago, 736 N. Clark St., (312) 642-6261; Buddy Guy’s Legends, 754 S. Wabash Ave., (312) 427-0333; Kingston Mines, 2548 N. Halsted St., (773) 477-4646; House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., (312) 923-2000.
Jazz: Andy’s Jazz Club and Restaurant, 11 E. Hubbard St., (312) 642-6805; The Back Room, 1007 N. Rush St., (312) 751-2433; The Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway Ave., (773) 878-5552.
Piano bars: Howl at the Moon, 26 W. Hubbard St., (312) 863-7427; Jilly’s Piano Bar, 1007 N. Rush St., (312) 664-1001; Red Head Piano Bar, 16 W. Ontario St., (312) 640-1000. [
Theater and Concerts The vibrant theater community offers bound-for-Broadway shows and Broadway hits such as Wicked. Original productions and classics can be seen at the famous Steppenwolf Theater, the Royal George Theater and the Apollo Theater.
Improv and comedy go hand in hand in Chicago. Second City Theater has produced some of the great comic geniuses of the past half-century, and the actors at ComedySportz deliver the quick quips and gibes in unscripted fashion.
To find out what’s playing, who’s on stage and where, go to the League of Chicago Theater’s Web site, which covers the Chicago theater community.
And check the Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island and the Grant Park Music Festival for a schedule of free summer concerts in the warm Chicago evenings. Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island, 1300 S. Lynn White Drive, (312) 540-2668. Grant Park Music Festival, Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph Drive, (312) 742-7638.
Architecture Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper, and its architectural markers offer a timeline of the history and development of this diverse city. Its notable buildings date to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the mid-20th century Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House, while the latest examples of modern skyscrapers are exemplified by such structures as the minimalist Federal Center courthouse building, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Robie House, University of Chicago, 5757 S. Woodlawn Ave., (773) 834-1847; Chicago Federal Center, 219 S. Dearborn St., (312) 435-5850.
The landmark Sears Tower is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest building in the world. From its Skydeck observatory, viewers can see into the neighboring states of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. No wonder it has its own ZIP code! Sears Tower Skydeck, 233 S. Wacker St., (312) 875-9447.
Hop to the top of the John Hancock Center in 39 seconds on North America’s fastest elevator. When you arrive at the Hancock Observatory on the 94th floor, step out onto the Skywalk, a caged open-air observatory with 3-D talking telescopes that speak in four languages.John Hancock Center, 875 N. Michigan Ave., (312) 751-3681.
Shopping The expression “Shop till you drop” takes on new meaning in a town that employs an official director of fashion. The Magnificent Mile, a portion of lake-hugging Michigan Avenue and neighboring Randolph Street, is a destination location for shoppers. A collection of 460 stores offers everything from high-end boutiques to name-brand retailers. The Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, (312) 642-3570.
But there’s more. Oak Street, just off Michigan Avenue, continues the upscale shopping experience; State Street Retail Historic District boasts the world’s second-largest department store (a Macy’s outpost); the famed boutiques of Armitage Avenue in Lincoln Park; and Wicker Park-Bucktown, recently spotlighted for its shoppers’ delights in Vanity Fair.
Tours So much to see, so little time?
Get the highlights of this great American city by taking one of several tours around town. There are various architectural tours, including the Chicago River cruise and the “Devil in the White City” Tour, hosted by the Chicago Architecture Foundation and based on Erik Larson’s best-selling book.
The Chicago Theater Tour and the Behind the Emerald Curtain Tour, which takes place on the set of Wicked, take you backstage in the heart of the city’s theatrical community to explore its most famous theaters. The Chicago Public Art Tour leads visitors through the city’s parks and neighborhoods where works of art are displayed for public enjoyment and to discuss why Chicago is often referred to as “an open-air museum.” (The Public Art Tour takes place on Wednesdays only, so carve out some time from your conference schedule on June 25 if you would like to take this tour.)
For the unconventional travelers, there are these unconventional tours:
Chicago Chocolate Tour: This guided walking tour takes guests to several of the city’s most popular chocolate shops.
Watson Adventures Scavenger Hunt: Gather up to six colleagues and set out on an adventure through Chicago.
Bobby’s Bike Hike: It’s tough to exercise while traveling on business, but this tour provides cruiser-style bicycles for participants to pedal through the city.
Chicago Food Planet: Get off the beaten path and eat where Chicagoans eat. This tour includes food tastings at specialty food shops, ethnic eateries and other nontraditional venues.
Other tour options include a free personal greeter, available by reservation through the Chicago Visitors Center, who will take you to the top places on your list, as well as on-your-own audio tours that can be downloaded into your MP3 player before you leave your hotel room.
Legislation that would ensure a broad interpretation of a law that bans discrimination against people with disabilities sailed through two House committees on Wednesday, June 18, and could soon get a vote on the House floor.
The measure, which would amend the Americans With Disabilities Act, passed the House Education and Labor Committee, 43-1, and the House Judiciary Committee, 37-0.
In a rare show of cooperation, both employer and advocate groups support the bill. They hope strong approval by the full House will generate momentum to push it through the Senate and get President Bush to sign it this year. President George H.W. Bush enacted the original ADA in 1990.
The bill clarifies that Congress meant for the ADA to encompass anyone “with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,” regardless of whether it is episodic, in remission or being controlled through medication.
The measure responds to Supreme Court decisions in 1999 and 2002 that narrowed the scope of the law. Following those rulings, courts have been applying a strict standard for defining disability and have held that “mitigating measures” like treatment can limit protections.
“These court rulings have effectively made the very workers Congress intended to cover nearly two decades ago subject to legal employment discrimination today,” said Rep. George Miller, D-California and chairman of the labor committee. “Workers with diabetes, cancer, epilepsy—the very workers ADA had intended to protect—can be legally fired or passed over for promotion just because of their disability.”
Republicans on the panel were satisfied that the previous version of the bill had been modified to address concerns of the business community. For instance, the final measure retains language that requires an ailment to impede a major life activity in order to qualify as a disability.
The groups “were able to come together and refine a product that represents the best chance I think we have to see legislation enacted this year,” said Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-California and the ranking member of the labor committee.
Business and disability advocates say that they have been working together for weeks with congressional staff to hammer out a compromise.
The bill “would maintain the functionality of the workplace while providing important protections for individuals with disabilities,” wrote Jeffrey McGuiness, president of the HR Policy Association, a lobbying group representing 250 large employers, in a letter to Miller and McKeon.
Miller praised the interest groups for cooperating rather than butting heads, and noted that the final product won’t completely please everyone.
“They’ve been exacting negotiations,” Miller said. “They’ve been difficult.”
Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, described the final measure as “something we’re all going to be able to live with.”
He warned members of Congress not to significantly revise the bill as it wends through the legislative process.
“If they do, it’s going to be hard for this coalition moving forward,” he said.
The fact that the disparate groups have united could catalyze Senate action, according to Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
“Senate members, once they see the deal, once they see the historic nature of the communities coming together, we think it will pass quickly,” Zirkin said.
Disabled individuals who want to work are another strong force pushing the bill.
“It’s about fairness in the workplace,” said former Rep. Tony Coelho, the primary author of the original ADA and past chairman of the board of directors of the Epilepsy Foundation. “A job is our dignity.”
The cost of providing health care coverage for workers is expected to rise substantially next year. According to research conducted by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute, employer medical care costs will increase by 9.9 percent in 2008. The auditing firm also expects a 9.6 percent bump up in medical coverage costs for businesses in 2009.
Those increases should worry employers, who have seen the growth rate of medical coverage costs slow down in recent years.
“While the continued slowing of medical cost growth is welcome, the fact that the rate of growth may no longer be declining as sharply is worrisome,” said David Chin, leader of the institute. Chin said that rising inflation could easily cause cost increases in medical care, which already exceed the overall inflation rate, to surge.
The reasons for the projected increases? The boom in the health care industry has triggered the construction of replacement facilities, the expansion of private hospital rooms and the development of outpatient venues. The cost of construction is adding to the overall medical costs for employers, PricewaterhouseCoopers found.
Underfunding of public medical insurance programs is also adding to the bulging health care spending by employers. According to a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, under the current law, Medicare updates to physician payment rates are projected to be negative each year from 2009 to 2016—this is in spite of the fact that health care costs are expected to increase.
Employers, who are already struggling to manage the cost of providing health care to workers, are expected to continue the trend of cost-shifting some or all of the cost of paying insurance premiums to workers, the study said. While companies have tried to control the cost of premiums by switching to lower-cost plans or increasing co-payments or deductibles, Michael Thompson, principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global human resources services unit, expects those strategies to decline. About one-third of the employers surveyed said they expected to increase cost shifting in their medical plans for 2009.
The report also said employers will try the relatively new strategy of relying on prevention and disease management programs to keep premiums lower, rather than shift more costs onto workers.
“Increasingly, employers are adopting plan designs that help workers ‘earn’ discounts or bonuses for behavior that keeps them healthy, productive and engaged,” Thompson said.
Filed by Matthew Scott of Financial Week, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.
Legislation approved by a House panel to require greater disclosure of 401(k) plan fees won’t pass this year, the panel’s chairman and a sponsor of the legislation said.
The bill, H.R. 3185, which was approved in April by the House Education and Labor Committee, would require 401(k) plan administrators to disclose fees in four distinct categories: plan administrative and record-keeping charges; transaction-based charges; investments charges; and other charges as specified by the Labor Department.
Additionally, plan administrators would have to disclose any financial relationships among service providers that could lead to potential conflicts of interest as well as information about investment options and risks.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. George Miller, D-California, acknowledges that the bill, which his committee approved on a party-line vote, will not win passage this year, with a spokesman blaming opposition from the Bush administration.
Earlier, Bradford Campbell, assistant secretary for the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, said the legislation would make 401(k) plan fee disclosure more “complex and expensive than it needs to be.”
Employer groups opposed the legislation, saying it would have led to more litigation and higher administrative costs, while overwhelming participants with too much information.
Supporters of the legislation, though, argued that participants now lack the means to accurately compare fees.
Effective August 1, Gannett will freeze its pension plan, with participants no longer accruing benefits. At the same time, Gannett will enhance its 401(k) plan by matching employees’ salary deferrals, up to the first 5 percent of pay, with company stock. Gannett now matches 50 percent of employees’ salary deferrals up to the first 6 percent of pay, also in company stock.
McLean, Virginia-based Gannett says it is moving away from its defined-benefit plan to save money.
“Freezing the pension plan benefit is another important step in keeping Gannett financially strong. This change will mean a considerable savings for the company even after returning significant dollars to employees through the enhanced 401(k) plan,” Gannett CEO Craig Dubrow wrote in a memo to employees.
The change affects nearly all of Gannett’s roughly 25,000 employees in the U.S., a Gannett spokeswoman said.
Gannett, which publishes 85 daily newspapers, including USA Today, and operates 23 television stations in the U.S., last year reported $1.05 billion in net income on revenue of $4.9 billion.
Earlier this week, Gannett said it would write down its assets by between $2.5 billion and $3 billion to reflect the declining value of its operations in the U.S. and Great Britain.
In freezing its pension plan, Gannett joins a long line of large and well-known U.S. companies—including Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sears Holdings—that have done the same.
Last year, for example, 52 percent of Fortune 100 companies offered a defined-benefit plan to new salaried employees, a steep decline from 2002, when 83 percent did so, according to a recent Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey.
Filed by Jerry Geisel of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.
Demand for senior executive talent increased during the first quarter of 2008 despite a slight dip in the tumultuous financial sector, according to a newly released state-of-the-industry survey from the Association of Executive Search Consultants.
The number of searches for financial services executives was flat compared with the preceding quarter, but down 7.2 percent from the first quarter of 2007. The technology sector was also down year over year, falling 5.1 percent.
Financial services is typically the largest executive search sector, but it dropped to second during the quarter with a 22 percent market share, trailing the industrial sector’s 24 percent.
Searches for manufacturing executives saw the biggest year-over-year gain, at 10.1 percent.
Overall global executive searches were up 9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. Year over year, they were up 1.4 percent. And industry revenue was up 13.2 percent year over year. Other yearly increases included a 5.5 percent rise in average revenue per search consultant and a 15.5 percent increase in average fee per assignment.
Les Stern, a partner in New York executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles who specializes in the financial sector, has seen dips in the sector last as long as three years and as short as a few months. He wouldn’t speculate how long this one might last.
“Whenever there is an economic downturn, the financial sector consistently goes through downsizing,” Stern says, with cuts made quickly. Then firms often find themselves suddenly shorthanded. Cuts in financial services typically are corrective actions caused by handing out “careless credit,” he adds.
The financial sector is so broad-based, Stern says, that the downturn of demand for executive searches within it cannot be pegged to trouble in one part, such as the mortgage industry. But he says Wall Street-based investment banks are the ones taking the biggest hits.
Paul Heller, president and founding partner of New York-based executive search firm Cromwell Partners, says many financial services companies are retooling their ways of doing business in reaction to meltdowns in the industry.
“As a result, they’re looking for different kinds of people than they’ve looked for in the past,” says Heller, noting that people with risk management and valuation skills are now in demand.
Peter Felix, president of the Association of Executive Search Consultants, agrees.
“While there have been very few searches in investment banking, capital markets and real estate, there is still a need for executives in private banking, asset management, private equity and insurance,” he says.
In this kind of climate, financial sector companies “tend to go for quality players” and hire the long-established executive search companies to fill their top jobs, Stern says.
The quarterly survey showed other executive search industry sectors maintained their market shares for the first quarter. Consumer products had 18 percent of the market, technology 15 percent, life sciences/health care 11.5 percent, nonprofits 6 percent and profes- sional services 3 percent.
A computer technician struck by a car while crossing a street to purchase cigarettes and snacks is entitled to medical and temporary disability workers’ compensation benefits, a New Jersey appeals court ruled last week.
In 2003, the technician, Carlos Cruz, was driving a company van en route to a client when he parked across the street from a delicatessen to take his “usual morning break,” according to court records in the case of Carlos Cruz v. Micros Retail Systems Inc.
The deli was about five blocks off the direct route from his employer’s office, where Cruz began his trip, to the client’s site. While crossing the street to the deli, a car struck Cruz and he suffered severe injuries, court records state.
Micros denied that the injuries arose while Cruz was within the scope of his employment, and a witness testified that company policy required employees to go directly to their work sites.
A workers’ comp judge, however, ruled that off-premises employees enjoy the same ability to deal with basic needs, such as lunch and coffee breaks, as do on-premises employees. Cruz’s stop for snacks was a minor deviation from his mission on his employer’s behalf, the judge found.
Micros appealed the judge’s decision, but the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, agreed with the reasoning of the workers’ comp judge.
