Due to having 4 federal cases, 2 state cases & 3 union negotiations & related labor-management matters ongoing at the same time & most nearing some form of resolution, my posting this Spring & Summer has been sporadic.

On the other hand, union activity seems to be increasing among small businesses in the private sector.  I’m not sure if this is due unions’ believing that desperate times call for desperate measures, or if it’s because management is intensifying efforts to combat union activity because of the high & rising pension & healthcare costs associated with union collective bargaining agreements. Nevertheless, there’s been a definite increase in union activity among private sector small businesses. As troubling as this is for business, this has been great for the government (justifies regulatory jobs) & practitioners like me.

Moreover, it’s worthwhile to note that for the first time in U.S. history, the number of unionized employees in the public sector now exceeds the number of unionized employees in the private sector. Glad to see that government employees are protected from the abuses of their employers (us).

Furthermore, I’ve seen an increase in self-represented employees and former employees filing lawsuits & other charges against businesses. Again, when the economy is bad, and people are desperate, they’ll do what they have to do to make ends meet, with or without legal representation.

For more information about what’s happening in labor & employment law & human resources, check out my LinkedIn group, Charles Krugel’s Labor & Employment Law & Human Resources Practices Group.

Seminar handout from my presentation on 5/12/10 for BNC’s Entrepreneur’s Committee. Just click on the hyperlink HERE–Handout is 21 pages and in PDF format.

On Wednesday, April 21, 2010, from noon until 1:30PM, I’ll be presenting the labor & employment law primer at the Business Connections Luncheon – Best Practices Part 1 for the Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce & SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives; www.scorechicago.org).  The presentation format will be largely Q & A with handouts provided.  It’s at Vehe Barn, 23570 Cuba Rd., Deer Park, IL.  For more information visit http://www.lzacc.com/events_calendar.html; to register contact Dale Perrin at 847.438.5572.

On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, from 6PM to 8PM, I’ll be presenting a labor & employment law seminar for the Lake/McHenry Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), http://nawic368.org/.  It’s at the Cubby Bear North in Lincolnshire at 21661 Milwaukee Ave.  This presentation is co-sponsored by NAWIC & SCORE.  Registration information is available via Evite here.

On Wednesday, May 12th, from 8:30AM until 11AM, I’ll be part of a panel presentation for Business Network Chicago’s Entrepreneur’s Committee concerning hiring issues for startups and small businesses.  For more information, please contact Susan Barahia at sbarahia@bnchicago.org or 312-371-3786, or check out BNC’s website at http://www.bnchicago.org/index.php.  It’s at Wells Fargo Advisors, 222 S. Riverside Plaza (Adams & Canal), Chicago, 3rd Floor.

On Friday, May 14th at 9:30am, at Chicago’s City Hall, #805, 121 N. LaSalle St., I’ll be presenting a free labor & employment law seminar. Thanks to the City of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs for setting this up.  This will be largely Q&A & open discussion along with handouts.  If you would like to attend, please contact Alfredo Camarena at 312-744-5344 or alfredo.camarena@cityofchicago.org.

In March, I was elected to the Lakeside Community Committee’s Board of Directors.  For the past 44 years, Chicago’s Lakeside Community Committee, has been committed to facilitating quality foster care and related services for needy children; reuniting biological parents and their children;  and strengthening the social and economic base of Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood and surrounding communities.  Currently, the LCC has about 60 staff members servicing more than 250 children and families.  I remain Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Government Affairs Team for the Greater O’Hare Association, one of Chicagoland’s largest business associations; board member for the The Chicago Bar Foundation’s Young Professionals Board; Board Chair for the YMCA Alliance, the adult education and workforce development arm of the YMCAs of Chicago; and Board Member for ChildServ, a 115 year old child advocacy and children’s group home organization.

Starting in March, I became a regular contributor to Slate.com’s small business blog BizBox.  Slate’s BizBox, is sponsored by OPEN from American Express, and serves as a clearinghouse for the latest news, analysis and advice for entrepreneurs and small business people.  Obviously, my contributions relate to labor & employment law & HR management.  I’m part of a panel of four professionals writing on issues affecting small businesses.  Thank to Jerry Kalish of National Benefit Services Inc. for setting this up.  The panel includes Jerry, who works with business owners who want to put more money away for retirement, and companies who want a state-of-the-art retirement program; Chris Cooper, a Program Coordinator at the Small Business Succession Planning Program and The Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University; and Susan A. Berson, a partner in The Banking & Tax Law Group LLP, www.banktaxlaw.com.

This week, I was elected to the Lakeside Community Committee’s Board of Directors.  For the past 44 years, Chicago’s Lakeside Community Committee, has been committed to facilitating quality foster care and related services for needy children; reuniting biological parents and their children;  and strengthening the social and economic base of the community.  Currently, the LCC has about 60 staff members servicing more than 250 children and families in Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood and surrounding communities.  I remain Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Government Affairs Team for the Greater O’Hare Association, one of Chicagoland’s largest business associations; the The Chicago Bar Foundation’s Young Professionals Board; Board Chair for the YMCA Alliance, the adult education and workforce development arm of the YMCAs of Chicago; and Board Member for ChildServ, a 115 year old child advocacy and children’s group home organization.

On March 29, 2010, from 11:00—1:30 pm, I’ll be part of a panel presentation, along with the accounting firm Porte Brown, concerning fraud prevention in trades and construction.  This presentation is for the Federation of Women Contractors, http://www.fwcchicago.com/.  Obviously, my role will concern human resources and labor and employment law issues. The location is 8430 W. Bryn Mawr, 10^th Floor, Chicago (right off of the Kennedy at Cumberland).  Although the seminar is geared for FWC members, guests are welcome to attend for $35 including lunch.

On March 31, 2010, 8:30 AM—10 AM, I’ll be part of another panel discussion.  This one concerns recruiting, hiring and harnessing the right talent for business growth.  Topics will include recruiting for growth, evaluating employee performance, employee retention and leveraging employment agreements and contracts.  This is sponsored by The Executives Profit, www.theexecutivesprofit.com and American Chartered Bank, http://www.americanchartered.com/.  This will be held at 120 N. LaSalle Street, 11^th Floor Conference Room, Chicago.  It costs $20 to attend and includes continental breakfast.  You can register via Andrea at 847-317-9296 or go to www.theexecutivesprofit.com/calendar/index.asp?id=140.

On April 27, 2010, starting at 6PM (and ending around 8PM), I’ll be presenting for the Lake/McHenry Counties Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), http://nawic368.org/, on HR and Employment Law with a focus on their industry.  This will be at the Cubby Bear North, on Milwaukee Avenue in Lincolnshire.

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Don Paullin the owner and founder of Hiring Firing Experts, Inc., and the author of the book reviewed here Hire Hotdogs, Fire Baloney; Hiring the Best.  Don has 20-plus years of experience in the HR and operations field working for large corporations and now consulting to them.

The book is good and practical, and at less than 200 pages it’s a quick read.  The key element to Don’s approach is to craft a meaningful job description.  Hiring the best is a direct result of the analytical process that goes into the creation of a good job description and sticking to that job description in the hiring and assessment process.  Don also provides hundreds of great real world examples of interviewing questions, criteria and hiring tips.

One of the best things about Don’s book is that it’s common sense oriented and immediately applicable to running a business.  Once you understand the purpose and how to create a decent job description, everything else (e.g., interviewing, hiring criteria, selection, rejection, assessment) is logically based on that job description.

Although I may somewhat differ with Don regarding the job description’s necessity, this difference in approach doesn’t mean that I believe that job descriptions are useless or that any of his other tips are unnecessary.  Instead, my two keys to effective workplace relations is to adhere to the “Golden Rule” (i.e., treat employees well), and pay them on time and accurately (don’t mess with employees’ money).  Both approaches aren’t necessarily inconsistent with one another.  My approach may be more suitable to entrepreneurs, or those who like to go by their gut, and don’t want to deal with employment related issues in any sort of analytical way.  Because Don’s approach is so analytical, some may shy away from that level of analysis because of the fear of bureaucracy and red tape that sometimes inherent with HR practices.

Then again, whereas my approach is based solely on my own observations and opinions, and not on empirical or legal research, and Don’s approach is more grounded in legal and empirical research, from a preventive and proactive human resources perspective, Don’s approach makes more sense, and should help to greatly reduce a business’ employment related expenses and increase profits.