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A restaurant chain that
caters to children has been fined tens of thousands of dollars for,
ironically enough, breaking federal child labor laws. But the chain's crime
wasn't that it forced 8-year-olds run the pizza oven, instead it involved
something some businesses owners wouldn't think twice about asking a minor
employee to do – take out the trash. The incident is noteworthy
because it is a great illustration of just how easy it can be for businesses
to get in trouble with federal authorities when they employ children. The chain
in question, Chuck E. Cheese's pizza parlors, was fined almost $30,000
largely because many of its Bay Area restaurants were having minors operate
large trash compactors used by many businesses. This is considered hazardous
equipment by the federal government. And federal labor laws prohibit minors
from doing anything considered hazardous. Knowing and following the
law is important. State and federal authorities can impose hefty fines for
violations of child labor laws. Violating the law can also expose your
company to civil suits and potential embarrassment -- the U.S. Department of
Labor regularly publicizes companies with egregious child labor law
violations. It is also important to train mid-level managers on child labor
regulations. They need to know when they can schedule teenagers to work and
what tasks they can assign to them. Know the law:
In an age where cyber security is a real threat
to even small businesses, one of the stupidest things an employee or business
can do is leave themselves vulnerable to hackers by choosing a
simple-to-guess password to their networks. You might think it's clever to
use “passw0rd” or “qwerty”
but it isn't – and hackers take advantage of these simple passwords.
To illustrate this point, SplashData,
a maker of cyber security applications, recently issued its top “25
Worst Passwords of the Year.” The list was assembled from files containing millions of stolen passwords
posted online by hackers, according to SplashData's
CEO, Morgan Slain. “Hackers,” Slain said,
“can easily break into many accounts just by repeatedly trying common
passwords. Even though people are encouraged to select secure, strong
passwords, many people continue to choose weak, easy-to-guess ones, placing
themselves at risk from fraud and identity theft,” Slain said. The most common passwords are: ·
password ·
123456 ·
12345678 ·
qwerty ·
abc123 ·
monkey ·
1234567 ·
letmein ·
trustno1 ·
dragon ·
baseball ·
111111 ·
iloveyou ·
master ·
sunshine ·
ashley ·
bailey ·
passw0rd ·
shadow ·
123123 ·
654321 ·
superman ·
qazwsx ·
michael ·
football The best advise is to use passwords that
have at least eight characters and contain numbers, letters and other
symbols. And while this is no guarantee that you will avoid being hacked, it
certainly makes you a harder target for those hoping to breach your network's
security.
There are many reasons sexual harassment is bad
for business: lawsuits, bad morale and declines in productivity, just to name
a few. But new research shows that you may have to pay your workers more to
put up with jobs where sexual harassment is common. Women in jobs where there is an average risk of
sexual harassment are paid about 25 cents more an hour than women who are in
jobs with a low risk of sexual harassment, according to a new study by
researchers from Vanderbilt University. And its
twice as bad with men, who earn 50 cents more per hour in high-risk jobs.
However, unsurprisingly, women were six times more likely to experience
sexual harassment on the job. “Sexual harassment in the workplace is
so universally despised that people require some extra compensation for
exposure to a sexually harassing environment,” said Joni Hersch, a professor of law and economics who conducted
the study. “The only other work-related risks that receive hazard pay
are for risk of injury or fatality.” The study, which was published in the
American Economic Review, looked at claims for sexual harassment filed with
the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and corresponding local
agencies. Research like this shows that it is not only
important to prevent sexual harassment on the job because of the threat of
litigation – and to carry appropriate liability insurance for this risk
– but because it can cost companies extra money every month in the pay
they give their employees.
Every year, more and more evidence piles up
showing the dangers of texting and using the phone while driving. And every
year, more and more states increase the restrictions on the use of phones and
other personal electronic devices in cars. But, now, for the first time the
National Transportation Safety Board has taken the the
next logical step: a total ban on their use while driving. The N.T.S.B. has issued a recommendation to
all states that they should ban all texting, talking and other use of
electronic devices while driving a car. This would include the use of
hands-free devices. No state currently goes this far, but the N.T.S.B.
insists that it is needed to prevent more deaths and costly accidents on
America's roads. “According to [the National Highway
Traffic and Safety Administration], more than 3,000 people lost their lives
last year in distraction-related accidents,” said N.T.S.B. Chairman
Deborah A.P. Hersman. “It is time for all of
us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when
driving.” “No call, no text, no update, is worth
a human life,” she said. The N.T.S.B. is not the first organization
to propose such a ban, but it is almost certainly the most influential. About
two years ago the National Safety Council, a leading advocate of road safety
and a group that helped get seatbelt laws passed in many states, urged states
to ban the use of phones while driving – even hands-free phones. The data back up the potential need for such
an all-encompasing ban on the use of phones. Many
studies have shown that hands-free phones are no better than hand-held phones
in preventing accidents. And drivers who are texting, e-mailing or using the
Internet have been shown to be 163 times more likely to cause a
“safety-critical event.”
The growing risk of cyber
attacks on businesses has gotten so bad that the Securities and
Exchange Commission
has felt the need to take action to protect the investing
public. Specifically, the SEC recently issued instructions that publicly
traded companies should disclose to the public any time they have a
significant computer breach. Publicly traded companies are already required to
disclose information that is considered “material” to the
investing public. This most recent guidance only makes explicit that such
“material” information may include breaches of cyber security. In
addition, the SEC advised public companies that they may also need to
disclose potentially serious threats posed by cyber criminals, even if no
information is stolen. While this advisory only applies to publicly
traded companies, it shows just how much of a threat to business cyber attacks have become. Protecting your business from
these criminals involves not just proper security measures, but also making
sure you have adequate insurance. Talk to your insurance representatives to
see what options are available to you.
It was a banner year for the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, which recorded a record number of complaints of
employment discrimination and a record amount of money collected from
businesses through enforcement actions. The federal agency received almost
100,000 charges in the 2011 fiscal year and won $356 million for victims of
workplace discrimination – both of which were the largest numbers in
the agencies history. The EEOC is the federal agency tasked with
investigating claims of discrimination by employees. It can file suit or help
settle cases it thinks have merit. During tough economic times, it is common
that there is an increase in discrimination claims. This is largely because
those who lose their jobs are much more likely to file a claim with the EEOC
if they have trouble finding another job. In good economic times, workers
often don't bother filing a claim because they quickly find new work. That's why it is especially important for
employers to have adequate protection from these suits during times of
economic uncertainty. Employment practices liability insurance is a common
way to protect your business from these kind of
suits. Talk to your insurance representative if you have questions about your
business's risk and about your options. It seems that nothing is
immune from the economic downturn. A new study from the Workers Compensation
Research Institute shows that injured workers are coming back to work more
slowly that during good economic times. The report says that the economy has
made it more difficult for some employers to offer “light,
transitional, or modified duty to assist their injured workers in returning
to sustainable work or to provide permanent job accommodations for workers
with restrictions.” This problem has a real impact on both employers
and employees as it tends to increase the time workers are out on disability.
The 2011 hurricane season has finally come to an end after one of the
most active years on record. There were 19 named storms last year, tied for
the third-most since record keeping began in 1851. But only one hurricane hit
the United States – the much-hyped Hurricane Irene. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is hoping Irene and the overall active
year are enough to get American's out of their comfort zone and take
hurricanes seriously after couple of somewhat quiet hurricane seasons.
“Irene broke the ‘hurricane amnesia’ that can develop when
so much time lapses between landfalling
storms,” said Jack Hayes, director of NOAA’s National Weather
Service. “This season is a reminder that storms can hit any part of our
coast and that all regions need to be prepared each and every season.” New York's Department of Financial Services recently announced the
arrest of 18 people for workers compensation insurance fraud in separate
incidents in a recent crackdown on fraud in the state. Most of those arrested
were making claims for compensation for workplace injuries while working
other jobs, often off the books. Others involved faking an injury or even
cashing workers compensation checks for the dead. “Workers’
compensation fraud is a serious crime that victimizes honest businesses and
taxpayers who are forced to shoulder the burden of higher premiums,”
said Benjamin M. Lawsky, superintendent of the
department.
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