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Employment Agency Owners in Georgia Indicted

Several employment agency and restaurant owners in Georgia were indicted on suspicion of conspiring to induce undocumented workers to enter and remain in the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced last week.


The employment agencies—New Fuzhou, Zhong Mei and Lucky—allegedly placed the workers in mainly restaurant jobs in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


The employment agencies were based in Chamblee, Georgia, and owned by Chun Yan Lin, 44, of Chamblee; Ai Lin Fu, 40, of Norcross, Georgia; and Pili Chen, 55, of Tucker, Georgia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Another person arrested Thursday, June 3, Chunbiao Xu, 33, of Norcross, faces the same charges as the employment agency owners.


Others named in the indictment were restaurant owners who allegedly used the undocumented aliens, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The restaurant owners include Xiang Mei Ke, 32, of Duluth, Georgia, and Jing Xing Jiang, 42, of Lawrenceville, Georgia. Two other restaurant owners were also arrested Thursday, including Liang Feng Chen, 32, of Duluth, and Sau Ting Cheng, 41, of Duluth, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


“These defendants allegedly provided jobs that frequently exploited the workers by subjecting them to long shifts, six days a week, often with substandard pay and living conditions,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “On top of that, the defendants took large deductions from the workers’ pay to reimburse themselves for the costs of the employment agencies’ illegal services.”


The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.


Thirty-nine individuals were also arrested administratively in this case, and are being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending immigration removal proceedings. 


Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


 


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CFOs Plan Net Decrease in Staff

Six percent of CFOs plan to hire full-time accounting and finance employees in the third quarter of 2010, and 9 percent anticipate staff reductions for a net decrease of 3 percent, according to the Robert Half Financial Hiring Index released Monday, June 7, by Robert Half International Inc.


Eighty-three percent of CFOs planned no changes to their staffs.


“Though most CFOs are optimistic about future growth for their companies, many remain cautious in their hiring outlook and are keeping a close watch on economic trends,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half.


The survey questioned more than 1,400 CFOs in the United States. 


Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


 


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Panel Contends Health Care Should Be Viewed as Asset, Not Liability

Health care as economic development holds promise for Southeast Michigan and the state, said panelists at a session at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.


But here’s the rub: While health care is well-recognized as one of the state’s leading job providers and a bright spot of growth amid Michigan’s economic downturn, what doesn’t get as much attention is the potential for health care investment to be a remedy for economic turnaround.


And it should, said health care officials during the event Thursday, June 3.


Some ideas:


• Have state pension funds invest in Michigan companies.


• Lure back talent that has left Michigan for out-of-state careers.


• Form a research triangle that stretches from Detroit to Houghton to Kalamazoo and encompasses many universities.


• Engage business leaders around health care.


Nancy Schlichting, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System, who came to Michigan 12 years ago after working in leading markets around the country, said that “everywhere I’ve been, except for Michigan, it was recognized in those markets that health care was truly an asset.”


In Michigan, she said, health care was looked at as a cost, a liability, and health care leaders weren’t viewed as business leaders.


She said a city’s educational and medical institutions, a combination called “eds and meds,” can anchor a community and provide stability.


Health care systems contribute jobs, help fuel the economy, hire highly educated and high-salary employees, and are major educators, Schlichting said.


For example, Henry Ford has gone from about 12,000 employees a decade ago to 23,000, is the 16th largest teaching hospital in the U.S. and has trained a third of the doctors in the state, and the “value of research and innovation I think cannot be underestimated,” she said.


“We are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. We think health care is inherent in that,” Schlichting said.


But she also said she hopes to see “more support from the business community, in recognizing the value that we bring.”


Mike Duggan, president and CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, said that while the business community is concerned about its health care costs, it hasn’t engaged providers like DMC and Henry Ford that “know more about holding down the cost of health care than anybody.


“We actually get the concept of keeping people well, keeping people out of the emergency rooms. But it doesn’t occur to anybody to knock on the door” and say they need help in containing their health care costs, although that may be starting to change, Duggan said.


Entrepreneur Jeffrey Williams, who has been the chief executive of several startup companies and is currently president and CEO of Ann Arbor-based Accuri Cytometers Inc., said that “there’s a very strong network of resources and assets in Michigan around health care.


“I believe that Michigan has most of what it needs to really create a very vibrant life science community, where you can get these young companies started and growing” to help diversify the economy, he said. Accuri makes desktop devices that automate cell analysis for researchers.


But Williams said three ingredients are important for the state to have: ideas, capital and talent.


In the first area, “there is no lack of ideas in Michigan,” he said.


But he also said companies are not cheap to start, and Michigan needs more capital. One idea might be an equity matching program, in which the state matches equity funds raised by a company, Williams said.


He said the “real big issue in Michigan is talent.”


Williams said Michigan should do more to recruit people who have left the state to find jobs and gain experience, bring them back here, “convert them to young companies,” and help build an industry in Michigan.


Chuck Perricone, former speaker of Michigan’s House of Representatives and now CEO of The Perricone Group, spoke on Southwest Michigan’s efforts to build an economy in both technology and life sciences.


He said the Kalamazoo region has hospitals that have distinguished themselves nationally, corporate success stories, three accelerators focusing on life sciences, and aggressive efforts under way to raise private and government capital for area growth.   


Filed by Amy Lane of Crain’s Detroit Business, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


 


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National Health Data Initiative Unveiled

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine, unveiled the Community Health Data Initiative, a national effort to promote the use of community health data to spur innovation and development of new applications.


In taking steps to improve quality of care and build a health care system “that meets the needs of every American,” HHS wants to leverage new health information technology tools to achieve those goals, Sebelius said during a community health data forum in Washington sponsored by the Institute of Medicine.


The department has a huge store of health care data on the regional, state and national scales, including the use of health care services and hospital data. In making such data available to various developers and technology pioneers, innovators “have identified at least 20 areas to improve health,” putting together numerous new applications to track health care trends in their respective communities, HHS Deputy Secretary Bill Corr said.


Most of these sample applications have been developed or refined in the three months since HHS and IOM hosted a meeting on March 11 to explore the feasibility of a health data initiative, according to a statement from HHS.


As part of these efforts to promote community health data, HHS officials stated that a new health indicators “warehouse” would be deployed online at the end of this year, providing data on national, state, regional and county health performance on rates of smoking, diabetes, obesity and other health indicators.


Filed by Jennifer Lubell of Modern Healthcare, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


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Knowing Auto Features in DC Plans Doesnt Mean Theyre Used

Ninety-four percent of large employers with defined-contribution plans are familiar with 401(k) automatic enrollment and 78 percent are familiar with automatic escalation, but only 42 percent use auto enrollment and 28 percent use auto escalation.


Of those using automatic enrollment, 58 percent enrolled only new hires when first adopted, and 35 percent automatically enrolled all nonparticipating employees upon adoption.


“Employers were most likely to identify the following as ‘major reasons’ that companies offer automatic features: it helps employees save more for retirement (74 percent), it is easier to pass nondiscrimination testing (49 percent), and it demonstrates that we are a socially responsible company (35 percent),” according to an AARP news release detailing the survey’s findings.


Of the employers without automatic enrollment, 30 percent cited concerns that employees would not like it, 20 percent cited costs, 14 percent cited contentment with the status quo, and 10 percent cited a lack of information about automatic enrollment.


Sixty-six percent of employers without automatic escalation said they believe employees would not like it, 52 percent said employees would find it confusing, and 35 percent cited a concern about employer matching costs.


AARP commissioned Woelfel Research to conduct the survey of 806 large employers with 401(k) plans between December 15 and February 24.


S. Kathi Brown, senior research advisor at AARP Research & Strategic Analysis and author of the report, could not be reached for comment. 


Filed by Timothy Inklebarger of Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


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Obama Administration Dont Review San Francisco Health Care Law

The Obama administration is urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to review a 2008 appeals court ruling that upheld San Francisco’s controversial health care spending law.


The San Francisco law, which took effect in 2008, requires companies with at least 100 employees to spend at least $1.96 per hour per covered employee on health care, while employers with 20 to 99 employees must spend at least $1.31 an hour.


The spending requirement can be satisfied in various ways, including payment of employees’ health insurance premiums and contributions to health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements.


Last year, the Supreme Court asked the Justice Department for its opinion on whether the high court should review the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision. At the time the case was before the 9th Circuit, the Bush administration said the 2006 law violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which pre-empts state and local laws and rules that relate to employee benefit plans.


But in a brief filed last week by acting Justice Department Solicitor General Neal Kumar Katyal and other attorneys at the Justice and Labor departments, the Obama administration said the Labor Department began to “re-examine” its views after the appeals court ruling.


The brief noted that since the 2008 ruling, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform legislation. The health care reform law “significantly reduces the potential that state or local governments will choose to enact health care programs” like San Francisco’s and “may also affect the question whether such programs are pre-empted by federal law,” the brief said.


Just as the Labor Department decided that regulatory action on the pre-emption issue is premature, the Supreme Court’s “review of the issue is not warranted at this time,” the brief said.


The San Francisco law, challenged by a restaurant trade association, has attracted national attention from employer groups who feared that if the law is allowed to stand, it would lead other cities and states to pass health care spending measures and result in multistate employers having to comply with a hodgepodge of requirements.


But the interest of states and cities in such approaches has chilled since the federal health care reform law, which includes programs that will provide subsidized health coverage to the lower-income uninsured.  


Filed by Jerry Geisel of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


 


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House OKs Increase in Manager Tax, Defined-Benefit Funding Relief

The House on Friday, May 28, voted 215-204 to approve a major tax and jobs bill that includes funding relief for defined-benefit plans, enhances fee disclosure for defined-contribution plans and increases taxes that investment partners must pay on carried interest.


The legislation, The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, now goes to the Senate, which has adjourned for the Memorial Day recess but returns June 7.


The funding relief provision would allow DB plans to stretch out amortization periods for investment losses for two of the years between 2008 and 2011 over a period of either 15 years or nine years, at the option of the plan sponsor. Current law requires plans to amortize their investment losses over seven years.


The legislation would require partnerships to treat 75 percent of carried interest that is not due to a return on capital as ordinary income, at a rate of up to 35 percent. Carried interest currently is taxed as a capital gain at 15 percent.


In a statement, Rep. George Miller, D-California, said the DC plan disclosure provisions would expose hidden fees that could be eating into participant retirement savings.


“It is beyond time that Americans have basic, clear and timely information on the costs and the choices contained in their 401(k) plans,” Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said in the statement.


“We think the passage of defined-benefit pension plan funding relief will help save jobs and businesses across America,” said Jason Hammersla, a spokesman for the American Benefits Council. “We remain concerned with the many conditions and restrictions placed on the relief, but we believe the measure is critical to America’s continued economic recovery.”


Filed by Doug Halonen of Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.


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Dear Workforce How Do We Help Employees Achieve Better Work-Life Balance?

Dear Worried About Burnout:

Corporate culture is the most critical driver of successful work/life balance. Some cultural issues, as well as personal life issues, might differ from country to country. But there is some common ground that typically transcends global boundaries. For example, employees often need work schedule options that give them the flexibility to accommodate their personal and family needs, whether it’s child care, unexpected family emergencies, doctor appointments, personal time for school events and so on. So a flexible policy on work arrangements becomes the centerpiece of a work/life balance strategy.

But any flexibility policy your company puts in place will only be words on paper if the culture doesn’t exist to endorse and support the policy. When you have the right culture for flexibility, you know it right away, and so do your employees. Flexibility becomes a normal part of the way people work, rather than an enforced policy.

The type of work, the level of trust with employees and uniform guidelines are critical factors for granting any form of flexibility. In addition, it should be standard procedure to have a formal collaboration between manager and employee: a request proposal, for example. The proposals must be weighed on the basis of both professional needs and personal needs.

To gain managers’ support, it is important to develop a “what’s in it for me” business case for work/life balance. This will differ from manager to manager. For one manager, it might be a recruitment or retention issue. For another, it might be the additional productivity from enabling employees to work at their most productive times—early starters/finishers versus late starters/finishers, for example—or from their most productive work environment (office versus remote location). For another manager, it might be the reduction in unscheduled absences—it’s often easier to take the whole day off than to ask for a couple of hours to deal with a personal or family issue. In the end, managers have to see some return on investment, such as enhanced productivity.

The employer’s primary responsibility is to train managers to be sensitive to their employees’ personal needs and to break down traditional “face time” mentality: the attitude that employees can be trusted only when they’re within their manager’s line of sight. Employees’ primary responsibility is to maintain the productivity standards that are expected of them. A joint responsibility is to communicate with one another on these issues in an open and trusting environment. This concept of shared responsibility becomes a win-win by valuing both business success and personal fulfillment.

A culture of trust, combined with effective training and communication, provides the perfect environment for flexibility—and the work/life balance that comes with it.

SOURCE: Richard Federico, Workplace Innovation, Bridgeport, Connecticut, January 12, 2007. This response originally appeared in Dear Workforce on February 15, 2007.

LEARN MORE: Please read how Best Buy is giving employees more control in deciding how and when work gets done.

Workforce Management Online, May 2010 — Register Now!

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce Why Should We Give Cash Incentives to In-House Recruiters

Dear Incentive to Succeed:

Certainly in-house recruiters should have incentives. The challenge that many companies encounter with recruiting incentives is that they are not balanced out. Corporate challenges make successful recruiting difficult. Incentive pay for in-house recruiting rarely works because most plans include rewards but no consequences. It makes sense that in-house recruiters who achieve their goals should receive incentives, but your company must also put in place consequences for failing to achieve those goals. Encourage success and eliminate incompetence.

Another obstacle for an incentive pay plan is that in-house recruiters are not typically rewarded for their own work; it simply isn’t the norm in business. The employees they bring on board are rewarded and receive incentives on a wide scale, but only about a quarter of recruiters nationwide are awarded incentives by their own companies. In this respect, you don’t have a lot of successful models on which to base your plan.

But incentivizing your in-house recruiters is a good idea. To achieve it, you need to put in place a method or process for tracking recruiting activity. Ensure that recruiting doesn’t become a numbers game by incentivizing post-hire performance on the part of recruits and longevity of tenure with your health care provider as well as the number of successful recruitments. In the end, cash is king with recruiters. Make sure, however, that they are rewarded for the quality of the recruit as well. Patient evaluations and referrals of recruited physicians and dentists can be taken into account, as well as patient loyalty.

When crafting an incentive plan, consider long-term as well as short-term goals.

SOURCE: Deborah Millhouse, president, CEO Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina, May 3, 2010

LEARN MORE: For a counterpoint, please read “Employers Move to RPO for Scalability and Cost Savings.”

Workforce Management Online, May 2010 — Register Now!

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce How Do We Let Employees Know That Their Opinions Matter?

Dear Solicitous and Sincere:
Employees want to know where your company is going and understand their role in helping it attain its business goals. This responsibility of leadership constitutes the real job of managing in the modern global economy. Here are 10 practical ideas to make sure employee voices are heard.
1. Hold town hall meetings. Share information and ask for input. One global information services firm holds quarterly sessions and recently created an online portal where the company’s strategy was available along with critical measures. High-potential employees were invited to participate in brainstorming sessions regarding these new strategies. This was part of a key development program and did a lot for recognizing star employees.
2. Provide information. Even when business is not performing at the best level, it is important to share the truth. In darkest moments, the leaders need to share the light at the end of the tunnel. In the absence of knowing, employees think the worst.
3. Set quarterly goals. Every goal does not need to be a huge stretch. Set some reasonable ones that are easier to achieve. You might even consider eliminating the dreaded performance review, replacing it with quarterly goal-setting and face-to-face monthly progress meetings.
4. Develop recognition programs. Midlevel managers would appreciate a recognition checklist that helps them see the range of informal ways to say thank you. Train your managers and give them simple tools.
5. Invest in training. Customer-service training is intended to help employees understand how they impact the customer experience. Through this, you also could learn what they value. One hospitality company in San Francisco introduces the concept of “knock-your-socks-off service” at new-hire orientation. Every new employee is asked to name a favorite shopping experience. This activity creates a connection with the new person and helps the company’s culture come to life.

6. Write “thank you” notes. I know this sounds old-fashioned, but these notes can have a big impact. We are all pleased to get feedback, especially when it is not expected. Have simple cards prepared so that you can give one out each week to deserving workers.
7. Create cross-functional task teams. Give employees a chance to participate in a team problem-solving task force. Use your shared intranet to post the problem for the quarter and ask those interested to volunteer on a team. Highlight their suggestions at an all-hands meeting. Act on those who present sound solutions backed with business case analysis.
8. Create a wellness team. To underscore that you value employee wellness, dedicate a group of employees to research projects and plan some wellness activities. Several health care organizations in Southern California have used this approach to gain measurable business results, including reduced absenteeism and increased contributions to 401(k) programs (since they also addressed “financial wellness”).
9. Highlight career opportunities. Offer detailed write-ups on career paths and an online job bank with skills defined for key categories needed. Enhance internal postings. Offer career-coaching lunch-and-learn sessions. Build online references for expanding skills.
10. Assess leaders. Take the time to develop managers and train them on engaging and respecting employees. Have managers make visible simple investments that support openness, such as open-space floor plans or new ways to communicate and share knowledge across teams. There are some inexpensive Web tools that help promote sharing.
Reassess how your business works and how you might inspire your team. Ask your leaders if they are willing to focus attention, time and budget on engaging talent. Start small, but take action to show your employees that this is important to you and your company.
SOURCE: Sherry Benjamins, S. Benjamins & Co. Inc., Seal Beach, California, May 3, 2010
LEARN MORE: The article “What Drives Engagement in the Digital Age?” disputes the long-held corporate notion that more money is the best way to manage employees.
The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.
Workforce Management Online, May 2010 — Register Now!
The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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 Dear Workforce Newsletter