Resume gaps still problematic:  Resume gaps may no longer carry the same stigma they once did, but they are not entirely free from negative impacts on hiring and compensation, according to research by Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg and Oberlin College associate professor Eric Lin. Recently published research in the Harvard Business Review, highlighted three primary reasons behind a cultural shift in attitude about resume gaps: pandemic-driven unemployment-many firms reduced their workforce due to sudden drops in demand, and some workers shifted to caregiving roles due to school shutdowns and health care disruptions. This widespread impact helped normalize resume gaps; generational perspectives-Gen Z, which makes up nearly one-third of the global workforce and is projected to be the largest group by 2035, has a more positive attitude toward work gaps, according to a McKinsey & Co. study; and social media transparency- sharing gap experiences has become more mainstream, helping reduce the stigma associated with resume gaps.  However, resumes with no gaps had a call-back rate of more than 11%, while resumes with one- or two-year gaps had a 10% call-back rate and three-, four- and five-year gaps had a more significant drop, with call-back rates of 4.6%, 3.7% and 3.1%, respectively. Source: The Business Journals 8/6/24

When HR is the discriminated party: A former HR manager for poultry processor Allen Harim Foods’ discrimination and retaliation claim will move forward after a Delaware district court judge on August 5 denied the company’s request for summary judgment (Gray v. Allen Harim Foods). The plaintiff, who worked in multiple HR manager roles at the company’s Harbeson Poultry Plant, said she faced age and sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation for taking time off to care for her wife.  When the employee returned to work, management allegedly moved her to a vacated corporate safety manager role — which paid $17,000 less than her HR role and included worse benefits, court documents said.  Additionally, when the plaintiff was allegedly coerced into taking the corporate safety manager role, management informed the worker that a new employee had been hired for her position while she was out on FMLA leave. The new employee was 30 years younger than the plaintiff. At one point, management allegedly told the plaintiff they needed to put “the right people” on the “right seats of the bus,” court documents note. The alleged discrimination she faced along with the FMLA violation make a “plausible constructive discharge claim,” the court stated.  Source:  HR Dive 8/8/24

ACLU violates the NLRA by firing attorney for online posts:  The American Civil Liberties Union violated federal labor law by firing an attorney who spoke out against her bosses on social media, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled. Dating back to 2019, Oh had spoken out against sexism, unfair treatment of female workers, and former National Political Director Ronald Newman's "culture of public shaming and verbal abuse," according to the judge's decision. Oh made other complaints about management in 2022, the judge said, claiming that her supervisor, Ben Needham, wouldn't allow critical remarks about Newman, according to board filings. She also alleged that another supervisor, Lucinda Ware, lied to her.  Oh tweeted in April 2022 that she couldn't "overstate just how physically repulsed I feel working under incompetent/abusive bosses" and said a bill-tracking project that Needham proposed "would be a total waste of our time," according to NLRB filings. Oh and other ACLU workers are represented by Nonprofit Professional Employees Union International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 70. The NLRB judge determined that Oh's complaints at the ACLU and tweets were protected under the National Labor Relations Act, and she was fired without any discipline or otherwise following its policies.  Source: Law360 8/7/24

More employees want employers to be nonpolitical: According to a new survey from Bentley University and Gallup, businesses are one group that Americans do not want to hear from on current events: Fewer than four in 10 U.S. adults (38%) believe businesses should take public stances, a decline of 10 percentage points since 2022. The survey -- the third iteration of the Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report -- was conducted April 29-May 6, 2024, with a nationally representative sample of 5,835 U.S. adults from the Gallup Panel.  In 2022, three-quarters of Democrats thought businesses should take a stance on current events; yet, over the past two years, that support has decreased by 22 percentage points. Over the same period, Asian and Black adults have become 27 and 18 percentage points less likely, respectively, to think businesses should speak out. The only groups who now express majority support for businesses taking public stances are LGBTQ+ adults (55%), Black adults (54%), and Democrats (53%). While Republicans’ support for businesses speaking out has increased from 17% to 22% over the past year, they remain the political constituency that is least likely to want businesses to take public stances overall. Adults 60 and older saw a similar three-percentage-point increase in their support for businesses speaking publicly on current events in the past year, from 35% to 38%, though both percentages are lower than this group’s 43% who favored businesses speaking out in 2022.   Source:  Gallup 8/13/24

Employee found dead in cubicle days after signing in: A Wells Fargo employee in Arizona was found dead in her cubicle four days after she clocked into work.  On Friday, Aug. 16 at around 7 a.m. local time, Denise Prudhomme, 60, arrived at the company's office near Priest Drive and Washington Street in Tempe, police said.  "We can confirm Denise was a Wells Fargo employee. Denise last scanned into the building on [Friday, Aug. 16] at approximately 7am and there is no further scan in or out," Tempe Police added. Prudhomme's body was discovered at a third-floor desk in the office by on-site security on Tuesday, August 20.  "The preliminary investigation did not show any obvious signs of foul play," police said. "We have no further information at this time as this is an on-going investigation." Wells Fargo told USA Today that the company spoke to Prudhomme's family before addressing employees about her death, noting that Prudhomme had been sat in a "very underpopulated area" of the office. According to NBC affiliate KPNX, an unnamed employee said that several people had said they smelled a "foul odor," but "passed it off as faulty plumbing."  The building has 24/7 security, but most employees at the Tempe location work remotely.  Source: People 8/30/24