Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has signed a sweeping bill that will raise the minimum wage, mandate paid family and medical leave for Massachusetts employees and phase out Sunday and holiday premium pay for retail employees. Here’s what employers need to know.

(Reuters) – Barnes & Noble Inc said on Tuesday it terminated Demos Parneros as chief executive officer, citing violations of the bookseller’s policies.

LabourStart headline – Source: Equal Times

LabourStart headline – Source: IUF

Even though the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was signed into law in December 1967 and took effect 50 years ago this month (in June 1968), age discrimination remains too common and too accepted as outdated assumptions about older workers and ability persist, according to a report released June 26 by Victoria A. Lipnic, Acting EEOC Chair, on the State of Older Workers and Age Discrimination 50 Years After the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

“Open secret.” The ADEA was an important part of 1960s civil rights legislation that was intended to ensure equal opportunity for older workers. Today’s experienced workers are more diverse, better educated, and working longer than previous generations, yet the report finds “many similarities between age discrimination and harassment,” explained Lipnic. “Like harassment, everyone knows it happens every day to workers in all kinds of jobs, but few speak up. It’s an open secret.”

Worse for women, minorities. The report points out the prevalent perception that age discrimination exists in our workplaces: More than 6 in 10 workers age 45 and older say they have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace; of those, 90 percent say it is somewhat or very common, according to a 2017 survey. African Americans/Blacks report much higher rates of having experienced age discrimination or knowing someone who had, at 77 percent, compared to 61 percent for Hispanics/Latinos and 59 percent for Whites. More women than men also say older workers face age discrimination.

And in the tech industry. Older workers in the technology industry report significantly high rates of age discrimination, with 70 percent of those on IT staffs reporting they had witnessed or experienced age discrimination. In fact, the report states that more than 40 percent of older tech workers are worried about losing their jobs because of age or consider their age to be a liability to their career.

Who files charges? The demographics of older workers who file ADEA charges have changed markedly since 1967, the report states, most significantly as to gender. In 1990, almost twice as many ADEA charges were filed by men than were filed by women. In 2010, the number of women filing age charges surpassed the number of men filing age charges for the first time, a trend that continues today.

In 1990, workers in the age 40-54 age cohort filed the majority of ADEA charges and workers in the age 65+ cohort filed relatively few. But by 2017, more charges were filed by workers ages 55-64 than the younger age cohort. Moreover, by 2017, the percentage of charges filed by workers age 65 and older was double what it was in 1990.

Impact. According to the EEOC report, the financial and emotional harm of age discrimination on older workers and their families is significant. Once an older worker loses a job, she will likely endure the longest period of unemployment compared to other age groups and will likely take a significant pay cut if she becomes re-employed. Plus, job loss has serious long-term financial consequences: Older workers often must draw down their retirement savings while unemployed and are likely to suffer substantial losses in income if they become re-employed.

“Fissuring of the ADEA’s ties to Title VII.” Importantly, the report stressed that experts have expressed concerns about Supreme Court decisions in the past 15 years “that have severed the ADEA from its ties to Title VII, by relying on textual differences between the ADEA and Title VII, rather than their shared purposes and prohibitions.” The most significant ADEA case that divorces the ADEA from Title VII precedent is Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., which held that older workers could no longer use the motivating factor framework derived from the same Title VII prohibition shared by the ADEA to prove unlawful age discrimination. Instead, the Supreme Court reasoned that the 1991 addition to Title VII of a provision setting forth a motivating factor framework did not apply to the ADEA because Congress failed to similarly amend the ADEA.

The report stressed that “while individuals with race or sex discrimination claims under Title VII can prove unlawful disparate treatment under either a ‘but for’ causation standard or a ‘motivating factor’ standard, victims of age discrimination are limited to just one — a ‘but for’ standard.” As a result, some courts have interpreted Gross as making ADEA cases harder to prove.

Recommendations. Stereotypes are tenacious and it takes generations to change a stereotype, the report pointed out, yet workplace practices can counter unconscious bias and stereotyping. Some of the report’s recommendations include:

Include age in diversity and inclusion programs and efforts. Research demonstrates that age diversity can improve organizational performance and lower employee turnover. Studies also find that mixed-age work teams result in higher productivity for both older and younger workers.
Avoid age bias by recruiting workers of all ages and not limiting qualifications based on age or years of experience. Contrary to common perception, older workers do not cost significantly more than younger workers. Millennials are leaving their employers, on average, after three years, whereas older workers, on average, provide employers with more stability, longer tenures, and ultimately a greater return on investment.
Assess interviewing strategies to avoid age bias, as studies and experience show that interviewers tend to favor job candidates who remind them of themselves. An age-diverse interview panel for prospective employees may be viewed more positively by candidates and may be less vulnerable to implicit bias.
Provide career counseling, training, and development opportunities to workers at all ages and at all stages of their careers. Mixed-age and reverse-age mentoring can increase worker productivity and satisfaction. Workers of all ages value flexible work options that can provide work/life balance at various times in their careers.

The report recognizes the similarities between age discrimination and other discrimination. Only about 3 percent of those who have experienced age discrimination complained to their employer or a government agency, according to recent research. Even with a booming economy and low unemployment, older workers still report they have difficulties getting hired.

“I hope the report also serves to put to rest outdated assumptions about experienced workers,” Acting Chair Lipnic commented. “As I’ve said many times, they have talent that our economy cannot afford to waste.”

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced that last year there were 50 cases of workers complaining they were denied entitlements like overtime pay, because their employer had classified them as a manager or executive.

The Ministry added that of all the cases, 90% of them had evidence to back the complaints.

“The MOM takes a serious view of attempts to misclassify employees in order to avoid employer obligations,” a Ministry spokesman said in a statement.

According to the Ministry, the incidence of such worker misclassification has been consistently low compared to other complaints. The 50 cases from last year make up less than 1% of all cases received by the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).

Under the Employment Act, workers earning below $2,500 (SGD 1,829.9) are entitled to benefits like overtime pay, unless they are classified as managers or executives.

Singaporean MP Patrick Tay estimated that 30,000 workers in Singapore are classified as professionals, managers and executives but earn below SGD 2,500 a month (USD 1,829.9). Tay also added that some bosses inflate an employee’s job title to avoid paying overtime to them.

When contacted on Monday, Tay told The Straits Times that although only 50 cases were reported to the ministry , most were substantiated.

India’s net employment outlook for the period from April to September increased to 95% from 91% in the preceding half-yearly period of October-March 2017-2018, according to the latest Employment Outlook Report from TeamLease, the largest staffing firm in India.

The net outlook of 95% is the highest level since the period from October-March 2016-17.

The FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), business process outsourcing (BPO), retail, IT-enabled services, media and entertainment and construction and real estate sectors are expected to drive hiring during the April to September period.

For the period from April to September, the outlook improved ineight out of 16 sectors and stayed neutral in one (power and energy sector) when compared to the previous period ended March 2018.

Rituparna Chakraborty, Co-founder of TeamLease, commented, “A majority of cities (five out of eight) have shown positive outlook towards hiring across hierarchy. Medium-sized businesses are the most optimistic and have reported a 5% improvement in hiring sentiment. These factors combined are expected to boost the job market.”

Data across hierarchy levels showed that the outlook for junior and mid-level jobseekers improved by 4%, while improving slightly for entry-level (2%) and senior level (1%) jobseekers when compared to the previous period.

Out of the eight cities surveyed, Mumbai (4%), Delhi (3%), Bengaluru (1%), Hyderabad (1%) and Pune (1%) are expecting growth. Meanwhile, a drop in hiring is expected in Chennai (-1%), Ahmedabad (-2%) and Kolkata (-3%).

TeamLease’s report also found that 96% of companies responded positively (saying hiring would increase from the previous half-year) while 1% responded negatively (saying hiring would decrease from the previous half-year) and 3% said there would not be any change in the volume of hiring from the previous half-year.

More than a third of skilled professionals in New Zealand plan to look for a new job in the next 12 months with an uncompetitive salary being the main motivating factor for 55% of them, according to research from Hays.

While 36% plan to change jobs, Hays also found that 33% of skilled New Zealand professionals rule out looking for a new job in the coming 12 months, while the final 31% were unsure.

Of those planning to look elsewhere, 48% cite a lack of promotional opportunities as a factor. Other motives are poor training and development (29%), a lack of new challenges (28%), poor work-life balance (18%) and a poor benefits package (18%).

“Salary and benefits remain a key driver for job hunters, with career progression becoming more important to them,” Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand, said. “As our survey shows, employees are increasingly willing to consider career advancement elsewhere if they do not believe it can be achieved with their existing employer.”

“Three of the top four factors spurring people to look for a new job focus on career development,” Walker said. “This suggests employers could be doing more to develop their existing talent. One way to do this is to upskill existing staff, which not only meets their developmental and promotional needs but helps an organisation cultivate its future talent needs,” he said.

Meanwhile, 45% say they are extremely or very satisfied in their current job, and 47% and 58% are extremely or very satisfied with their current employer and current direct manager respectively.

Hays’ study also found that voluntary staff turnover increased in 33% of organisations in New Zealand over the last 12 months.

The majority of Chinese university and college graduates said they are willing to work, reports Xinhua citing data from Zhaopin. The data showed that 6.4% more higher education graduates will choose to work this year, when compared to the previous year. The data polled more than 90,000 recent university and college graduates. China is expected to see about 8.2 million higher education graduates this year, 250,000 more than 2017, the report said.

SEOUL (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor’s unionized workers in South Korea voted to strike over stalled wage talks, raising the prospect of stoppages in production of in-demand SUVs and adding to the woes of the firm that is facing potential new U.S. tariffs.