Too Old to Preside Over Age Discrimination Case?

A man in New York City is suing non-profit Young Concert Artists under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act for limiting the age of competitors to musicians between the ages of 19 and 26.  The claimant, Martin Stoner, is a 60-year old violinist with a long career in the music industry. 

Bizarre you say.....you don't know the half of it!

The case was dismissed and the claimant has now requested that the 88-year old judge assigned to the case recuse himself because he is too old.

More on the case here and here.

Fall Back!

It's that time of year again -- Daylight Savings Time comes to an end this weekend.

It's the one time a year that you get to go back in time! It's also the one time of year I find Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" stuck in my head. 

This weekend, at 2am November 6th, Daylight Saving Time ends, and we revert to Standard Time. Well, most of us will -- there are some areas of the U.S. (namely Arizona and Hawaii) as well as some areas of the world that do not recognize Daylight Saving Time.

iPhones and other new technology will change automatically - any 'old-fashion' gadgetry will require some assistance.

Not a bad idea to post signs near time-clocks in your facilities to remind employees of the pending time change.  A - it's a nice touch, and B - it's much easier to take this proactive step than to address a plethora of "can I get an hour of overtime if I punch in now" requests when employees arrive early Monday morning. 

Enjoy the extra hour of sleep, play or work -- however you choose to make use of the "fall back" change!

May all Your Endeavors be Insightful,

Nora A Burns, SPHR







Nora A Burns, SPHR is founder of Insightful Endeavors International, Inc a Denver based firm specializing in team selection and development.  She has over twenty years experience in human resources and organizational development and is committed to helping organizations large and small build and develop effective teams to drive bottom-line results.  She is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and The Center for Association Leadership (ASAE) and is a sought after speaker for conferences as wall as corporate training opportunities.

Mouse in the House

There is a mouse in my house.

As I sat in my living room talking with a friend I saw it scamper behind the bookshelf. 

Yes, I understand conventional wisdom that if I have seen one mouse there are several more in hiding.  I, however, am focused on the one mouse that showed its face in my space. 

It’s late – most stores are closed – to Amazon.com I go.

I type “mouse trap” into Amazon’s search engine and receive 2,789 results.  

It’s unlikely Hasboro’s Mousetrap game is going to be of much use in this situation, so I opt to narrow the search. 

Under “Home & Kitchen” there are 595 results for “Mouse Trap”. 

I must say, after nearly five years without spotting a single mouse or any sign of mice, I have been unaware of innovative ways people have created to catch and/or kill mice. 

Live capture traps, electronic traps, glue board traps, standard/classic snap traps as well as sonic pest chasers if you simply want them to move to the neighbor’s house.

Apparently a lot of people have taken to heart Emerson’s quote, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door”.

The traps selected have arrived.  I have set three and am hopeful this will be a short-term project. 

Why am I sharing this with you? 

A self-professed HR geek, I realize that I want to get rid of these mice in much the same manner that many managers want to get rid of “problem employees”.

• I don’t want to see them suffer.
• I don’t want others in the space (in this case, my dog) to be negatively impacted. 
• I don’t want to handle the messiness of it all and would like very much if someone else would do the dirty work.
• I really wish they would just go live somewhere else.

The thing is – while I can find a no-view, no-touch mouse trap, not getting actively involved in proactive performance management with direct reports is definitely not the way to go in the workplace!

Would love your thoughts!

May all Your Endeavors be Insightful,

Nora A Burns, SPHR

Twitter:  @NoraBurns

Nora A Burns, SPHR is founder of Insightful Endeavors International, Inc a Denver based firm specializing in team selection and development.  She has over twenty years experience in human resources and organizational development and is committed to helping organizations large and small build and develop effective teams to drive bottom-line results.  She is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and The Center for Association Leadership (ASAE).

Legal Discrimiantion Based on Religion

This week the US Supreme Court declined to hear a case that pitted three former employees against World Vision Inc.  By refusing to hear the case, the Justices have essentially affirmed the lower court's decision allowing World Vision to use religion as a component of employment decisions.

Yes, you read that correctly.

At the heart of the case is the fact that World Vision is a faith-based humanitarian organization and as such reserves the right under the Civil Rights Act to hire and retain only those employees who hold the same religious beliefs.  The organization doesn't keep this practice a secret, on the "careers" section of their website it states:

"Who You Are:
You are a committed Christian eager to put your faith into action every day as you use your life to make a tangible difference for children in need. ...... 

You are an experienced, results-oriented professional excited at the prospect of using the unique gifts and talents God has given you to help children and families in need. World Vision U.S. hires only those who agree and accept to its Statement of Faith and/or the Apostles' Creed."

 As a faith-based humanitarian organization, World Vision has the court's permission to discriminate in hiring based on religious affiliation.  This is not something you should consider as a private organization as you would not have the same dispensation.  Furthermore, just because an organization can legally discriminate, I personally wouldn't recommend that they do so.

First, this could be a PR nightmare for World Vision.  Time will tell what the overall effect of the press on the case is.  

Secondly, it could result in a loss of funding for the organization as non-Christians who have donated in the past opt to put their financial resources to use within other organizations that do not have the same employment practices. It's possible - I'm uncertain how large of an impact this will have.  May be an interesting case study for people in the non-profit arena who study such things.

Thirdly, I absolutely, fundamentally believe in building a diverse and inclusive workforce.  By bringing together people who look at the world through different filters we are able to create more innovative solutions.  An inclusive workforce brings out the greatest brilliance of employees as fear isn't keeping ideas in the shadows.

As such, I find some irony in this portion of their "Who you are" statement on the career page:
 "You recognize the importance of working together with diverse partners--including individuals, churches, corporations, and governments"

It's worth noting, that there are faith-based humanitarian organizations the do not choose to utilize their right under the Civil Rights Act to discriminate based on religious affiliation.  Habitat for Humanity, for example.

As a long-time volunteer with Habitat, I am well aware that while they are a Christian-based organization, you do not need to be a Christian to (a) Be a Habitat Homeowner, (b) Volunteer with Habitat or (c) Work for Habitat as an Employee.

Volunteering with Habitat I have worked alongside Christians, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists and Jews and those are only the religious affiliations I've been made aware of - I am certain others have been present on builds as well. 

Similar circumstances - different approaches.

What do you think?  Would love to hear your insights as a hiring manager, job candidate, supporter of non-profit organizations and member of the community at large!


May all your Endeavors be Insightful,

Nora A Burns, SPHR
Insightful Endeavors International, Inc

Lessons from a Black Swan.....

Two unpaid interns who worked on the wildly successful movie 'Black Swan', are lead plaintiffs in  a class action lawsuit related for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Simply put - they weren't paid and they believe they should have been.  

It seems to me this happens quite a bit.

I cringe whenever I hear business people talk about adding summer interns to do filing and other front-line admin tasks. 


Interns are not meant to be free labor.  They are meant to provide a meaningful educational experience for the student. 

The intern experience is carved out by the Department of Labor for the benefit of the student....not the employer.   This means, for example, if an intern is simply running for coffee and lunch orders, doing filing and sweeping floors they are truly an employee and should be paid at least minimum wage.

While all the facts of the 'Black Swan' case have not yet come to light, if the interns truly were only doing 'menial tasks' the studio could be on the losing end of this suit.  Truly, the DOL doesn't care if you're fetching coffee for Natalie Portman or Bob in accounting .....such tasks, if the majority of the role, do not meet the expectations of an unpaid intern. 

Employers should tread very carefully if deciding the use of unpaid interns - please call your employment attorney.  If you don't have one, please send me an email or give me a call and I'll gladly recommend one that I know and trust. 




More on the 'Black Swan' case:  New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/business/interns-file-suit-against-black-swan-producer.html ; ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/US/black-swan-unpaid-interns-file-lawsuit-fox-searchlight/story?id=14632803

Are all the walls in your house white?

This past weekend I was chatting with an out-of-state friend via Skype.  I have not seen this friend's current home other than the Skype video view of his office.  This weekend he decided to give me a virtual tour of the house. As he walked into the third room with the Skype video feed active, I noticed the walls appeared to all be the same color.

"Are all the walls in the house white?" I inquired.

"No” he responded, "none of them are."

Pause (imagine the perplexed look on my face as I wonder what is wrong with my camera/video feed).

"They're eggshell". 

(Note the photo - he showed me a white paint sample which he had handy to demonstrate his point and graciously held it there while I snapped a photo of my screen!)

To put this conversation in Emergenetics terms, his strong Analytical preference knew he had selected “eggshell” for the paint…..my strong Conceptual preference isn’t quick to discern the difference between “eggshell” and white”.

We enjoyed a health laugh about the difference in how we view the same information - after which I provided him with a tour of my home - including the red kitchen which I love and he found a bit .....well....bright!

Embrace the difference filters through which we view the world – our differences can build highly effective, productive and innovative teams if we learn to appreciate the filters of others rather than letting these differences cause miscommunication and distrust.
 

May all Your Endeavors be Insightful,

~Nora



Nora A Burns, SPHR is Founder and Principal of Insightful Endeavors International, Inc a Denver, CO based firm specializing in team selection and development. She is an member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). When she's not traveling to assist clients in building innovative teams to drive bottom-line results she resides in Denver, CO with Bella the insanely cute labradoodle.

The Quest for the Best Hire is not a World of Warcraft Quest

In a recent conversation with a manager at a large (Fortune 250) company, the discussion turned to hiring and interviewing.  With great excitement he shared his favorite interview question – I’m fairly certain he was expecting me to congratulate him on asking an outstanding interview question.  The question….his favorite/go-to interview question:  “Do you play video games?”

Unless you are hiring a video game tester please do NOT ask this question during  your hiring/interviewing process. 

Why not?

There are more than a few reasons why this is not a legitimate, valid question for the interviewing process.

First, let me share his rational:  The job requires managing multiple priorities and and if someone can manage the many aspects of a video game – keeping tabs on other players, objectives to be achieved, amount of life remaining, etc then he/she can keep up with all the aspects of the job. 

I understand the rational.  For over twenty years I’ve listened to people rationalize why they ask particular interview questions and in most cases there is a thread of logic.  Unfortunately, as with this case, the logic has some flaws and could put this manager and his company into a position of being challenged on the legitimacy and legality of their hiring process.

First and foremost, it’s not relevant to the job.  He is not, in fact, hiring a video game tester.  The golden rule for interview questions is that they be directly related to the job at hand. 

While there may be some truth to the fact that people who are good at video games are generally good at keeping tabs on multiple moving parts, it has not been validated and, more importantly:

(1) There are a lot of people who do not play video games who are exceptional at managing multiple priorities.

(2) There are people who play video games who are so obsessed with them that their work productivity may suffer.

Given that there are a lot of people who do NOT play video games who are exceptional at managing multiple priorities (the competency we are actually in search of) here is a risk of disparate impact with this question.  Disparate impact occurs when an employer uses a selection procedure/criteria, which has an effect of disproportionately excluding persons based on a protected class such as race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, or where the selection procedure is not “job related and consisted with business necessity”. 

Given that, according to Entertainment Software Association, only 40% of gamers (including everything from Wii to WOW) are women, there is already a risk of disparate impact on women.   Let’s add to that the economic factors which may exclude valid candidates.  Video games – be it a Wii Console or a computer with internet connection and subscription to World of Warcraft, are not cheap.  This implies a bias toward candidates with higher levels of disposable income.

In addition to risks of disparate impact there is also the impression this question leaves on prospective candidates.  When I posted this question on Twitter, Max Resnick (@Max_Resnick) responded:   

 "I would seriously question that position as a potential candidate.  How much extra work do I get so they can play #everquest longer"

While the job interview is designed to help you select the best candidate, questions asked also provide potential hires with insight into you and your organization.  While this hiring manager is not looking to spend more time on games himself, that may be the perception of a candidate who will choose to seek an opportunity with a more committed manager.

Finally, in addition to eliminating individuals who are exceptional at managing multiple priories simply because they do not play video games, this manager was elevating candidates in the process who play video games even though doing so may reduce their overall job performance.  According to researcher Nick Yee of the Daedalus Project, individuals who play World of Warcraft spend an average of 21 to 22 hours a week playing the game.  I was intrigued by this statistic and contacted twenty individuals who play WOW (admittedly a very limited sampling and not a statistically valid process).  Of these twenty players, 25% admitted to playing at work while they are “on the clock”. 

All-in, “Do you play video games?” is a not a question that should be part of your interviewing/hiring process for a myriad of reasons!  Furthermore, if an experienced hiring manager at a Fortune 250 firm is asking this question....are you absolutely certain managers in your organization up-to-speed on effective hiring/interviewing?  As the economy continues to turn and hiring picks up now is the ideal time to invest in hiring managers to ensure they fully understand and can apply effective (and legal!) interviewing techniques.

I welcome your insights, thoughts, ideas and submissions of your favorite “go-to” interviewing questions for discussion. 

May all your Endeavors be Insightful,

Nora A Burns, SPHR

www.insightfulendeavors.com
Twitter:  @noraburns