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The presidential election campaign kicked into full gear last week with the Democratic National Convention and anticipation of the Republican’s convention and official nomination. Now's the time to consider the employment-related prescriptions offered by nominee Barack Obama (D) and presumptive nominee John McCain (R). Here's a quick look at the candidates' platforms on workplace issues. No spin—we’ll leave that to the pundits. Just some details gleaned from the economic plans outlined on the candidates' official websites. CCH Human Resources Management Daily Document Update ¶25,243.
Salary increase budgets average 3.80 percent in 2008 across non-exempt, exempt and executive employee categories, while salary increase budgets for non-exempt hourly employees come in lower at 3.70 percent, The Conference Board reports. For 2009, the median budget for salary increases is projected to be 3.75 percent for both non-exempt salaried and hourly employees. The median salary increase budget projections for exempt and executive employees are higher at 3.80 percent for exempt and 3.90 percent for executives. CCH Human Resources Management Daily Document Update ¶25,247.
A total of 5,488 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2007, a decrease of 6 percent from the revised total of 5,840 fatal work injuries reported for 2006. While these results are considered preliminary, this figure represents the smallest annual preliminary total since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program was first conducted in 1992. Final results for 2007 will be released in April 2009. Based on these preliminary counts, the rate of fatal injury for U.S. workers in 2007 was 3.7 fatal work injuries per 100,000 workers, down from the final rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers in 2006, and the lowest annual fatality rate ever reported by the fatality census. CCH Human Resources Management Daily Document Update ¶25,246.
Organizations are taking a variety of creative steps to help their employees offset the high cost of gasoline. In addition to helping to organize employee ride-sharing and carpooling programs, U.S. companies are supporting increased use of telecommuting and compressed work weeks. CCH Human Resources Management Daily Document Update ¶25,251.
Eighty-one percent of American workers are currently worried about something when it comes to their job and, high gas prices is the number one concern, according to Adecco USA's latest Workplace Insights survey. High gas prices beat out a stagnant paycheck and work-life balance which took second and third place respectively and were tied for the top spot in Adecco's 2007 Labor Day survey. Regardless of these worries and recent increases to the national unemployment rate, only a small number of workers (25 percent) claim to currently be saving for unemployment with the majority (58 percent) having no intention to start putting money aside for potential job loss. CCH Human Resources Management Daily Document Update ¶25,250.
While many workers are having a tough time finding suitable employment in today's uncertain economy, companies also face challenges finding highly skilled people. "A dual hiring environment seems to be taking shape," said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. "Job seekers in some fields are competing aggressively for open positions, giving employers the edge in those segments of the hiring market. At the same time, however, companies continue to face a shortage of highly skilled professionals in fields such as technology and accounting. These in-demand workers may not be willing to leave secure positions unless firms extend very attractive job offers." CCH Human Resources Management Daily Document Update ¶25,252.
You may be surprised by the large majority of participants in the August Online Poll who report that their organization has not made any changes to help employees manage escalating gas prices. Seventy-one percent of participants report no changes have been made. Of the remaining 29 percent, 7 percent offer telecommuting; 5 percent encourage use of public transportation, 11 percent offer four-day workweeks; 3 percent offer car-pooling assistance; and 3 percent provide financial assistance. There were 347 respondents to the poll.
CCH® is the leading provider of information covering Human Resources, Employment and Labor Benefits, Pensions, Payroll, Safety, and Workers Compensation. For more information about our products and services, go to http://hr.cch.com/ or call 800-449-9525. This newsletter is copyrighted by CCH® and may be redistributed only for non-commercial purposes and only in its entirety, specifically including the CCH® headers, this paragraph and the CCH® copyright line. No other redistribution or re-purposing, including but not limited to use on a web site, intranet or extranet, is permitted without prior written permission of CCH®.
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