A woman who says the Belk department store fired her after she refused to wear a Santa hat during Christmas has won a in a $55,000 suit against the company, reports the News & Observer. The worker was a Jehovah’s Witness, and said her religious beliefs prevented her from wearing such a cap. However, she had no problem with fulfilling her job, which was to wrap presents. For Belk to have won, they would have had to have proved that letting her not wear the cap would cause them “undue hardship.” Apparently, they were not able to meet this requirement. [More]
jobs
Jehovah's Witness's Suit Over Being Fired For Refusing To Wear Santa Hat Reaches $55,000 Settlement
By 4.1.11
Fewer Than 5 Percent Of New Jobs Went To Women
By 3.7.11
Not only are women not making as much as men with equal education, but employers are filling hardly any new jobs with females. [More]
White House: More Women Are Educated Than Men, But Don't Get Paid As Much
By 3.2.11
In a mysterious inequity, American women earn about 75 percent of what their male counterparts make at all levels of education, according to a White House report that claims to be the first comprehensive federal evaluation of the status of women since 1963. [More]
Will A Bank Employ Me If I Defaulted On My Mortgage?
By 2.23.11
S. finds himself in a situation that’s very common in this recession: he’s unemployed, and his house was foreclosed on. The twist to his story is that he’s considering applying for a job at the very bank that his mortgage was from. Does he have a chance? [More]
Intel Says It Will Add Thousands Of Workers This Year
By 2.22.11
It’s a buyer’s market for any corporation looking to stock up on talent. Intel is one of all too few businesses taking advantage of increasingly desperate job seekers, announcing it will add 4,000 workers in the U.S. this year. [More]
Bernake Says Unemployment To Stay "Elevated"
By 2.9.11
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testified before the House Budget Committee today that he expects unemployment to “remain elevated” “for some time.” So if you were putting your job search on the back burner, thinking, “oh, I’ll just try harder when the economy gets better,” it might be time to reevaluate that strategy. [More]
Unemployment Falls To 9%, New Job Rate Falters
By 2.4.11
During a snow-battered January, US employment only rose 36,000, well-below the expected 145,000, according to the just-released jobs report by the Department of Labor. Unemployment also fell to 9% by .4 percentage points. While that looks odd on the face of it, the difference is largely because that rate is calculated using a different report than payroll data. So, how’s your job-search going? If the answer is, “poorly,” you’re in good company. [More]
Employers Hired 187k Employees In Jan, 47k More Than Expected
By 2.2.11
Private employers hired 187,000 new employees in January, according to data released today by ADP. This was 47,000 more than economists expected. The number comes in advance of Friday’s Labor Department jobs report. [Marketwatch] [More]
Is Your Outplacement Firm A Joke?
By 1.31.11
Are you really getting the best deal from your outplacement firm? WSJ looks at the cottage industry of consultancy firms that companies hire to help fired employees get new work. Problem is the level of service some of the lower-bid firms provide reflect their cost. [More]
7 Great Jobs You Probably Can't Get
By 1.12.11
Job-listing site CareerCast.com recently released its list of the best and worst jobs for 2011, and now I’m really wishing I had finished that philosophy minor, because apparently being a philosopher is better than being a doctor or lawyer. [More]
Jobless Claims Drop To July 2008 Levels
By 12.30.10
In a potential sign of a mending economy, unemployment claims for the week ending Dec. 25 fell 34,000 to 388,000, the lowest levels since July 2008. However, the good news might be slightly enhanced by it being the week of Christmas, which can throw a wrench into into how the claims are tallied. The last two years have seen the same trend, with claims then jumping upward in January. The news was received by unemployed folks in the same way as when you were a kid you found a cool wrapped present only to discover it was only a decoration. [More]
Top American Companies Are Creating More Jobs Abroad Than Here
By 12.29.10
With 96 percent of the top 500 American corporations turning profits this year and stock prices soaring to the highest levels since the recession began, you’d think you’d start to see a dent in that near double-digit unemployment rate. But that’s not so, partially because companies are boosting their bottom lines by moving toward outsourcing. [More]
Buzzwords To Avoid When Looking For A New Job
By 12.14.10
Are you a team player? Do you have a proven track record as a problem solver in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment? If so, you might want to think of better ways to describe yourself the next time you’re applying for a new job. [More]
What The New Tax Deal Means For You
By 12.8.10
Besides the Bush tax cuts getting stretched another two years, the proposed new Obama-GOP tax deal has other goodies in the bag for you. [More]
What A Work At Home Job Scam Looks Like
By 11.15.10
Fraudsters are trying to take advantage of the unemployed in the bad economy by posting enticing work at home job ads. But what you’re really signing up for is to be the rube in an advance fee fraud scheme. Here’s the email one job-seeker got back. Bear in mind this is the first contact back from the “employer” after sending in her resume. All spelling and spacing is sic. [More]
Doomgraph: This Recession's Unemployment vs Other Recessions
By 11.5.10
Time to crap your pants. [More]
US Added 151,000 Jobs In October, Where's Mine?
By 11.5.10
Beating expectations, the US added 151,000 jobs in October, for the first time since May. Analysts had projected only a 60,000 gain. It wasn’t enough to nudge the unemployment rate, however, which held at 9.6%. [More]
