This is Interim Executive Director Janis Brewer's last week with WF. Thank you, Janis, for your vision, dedication, and professionalism over the past half year.

Program Director Paula Brantner will be serving as Acting Executive Director.

We've added a page on Credit Checks to our Pricacy section.

We've added a page on medical privacy to our privacy section.

We've added a page on off-duty conduct to our privacy section.

We've added a page on class actions to our practical information section.

We've added day laborers page to our worker type area.

We've added a federal employee: discipline or removal (merit systems protection board) page to our worker type area and a retaliation: workers comp page to our whistleblowing and retaliation area.

We've added a workplace searches page to our privacy area, an appeals page to our unemployment insurance area; and a probationary employees page to our worker type area.

We've added FAQs on general information, eligibility, and amount to our unemployment insurance page.

We've added a practical information FAQ to our whistleblowing and retaliation page.

We've added an FAQ on independent contractors to our worker type page.

We've added an FAQ on filing a government agency claim to our practical information area.

We've added an FAQ on trucking whistleblowers (staa) to our whistleblowing and retaliation page.

We've added an FAQ on arbitration agreements to our hiring page.

We've added an FAQ on airline employees (AIR 21) to our whistleblowing page.

This is Executive Director Dan Mahoney's last week with WF. Without Dan's vision, dedication, and talent for the last five years, WF would simply not be what it is today. Thank you, Dan.

We are happy to welcome Interim Executive Director Janis Brewer, whose abundant nonprofit management experience will be invaluable to WF's ongoing development as a leading employee rights organization.

We've added and FAQ on federal employee discrimination to our your rights page and an FAQ on settlements to our practical information page.

We've added FAQs on retaliation: public employees and plant closings/mass layoffs (warn act) to our your rights page and an FAQ on damages to our practical information page.

We've added an FAQ on attorneys' fees to our practical information page.

WF Program Director Paula Brantner's blog, Today's Workplace, is a Forbes Best of The Web pick for 2005 in the Career Blogs category.

We've added FAQs on child labor standards, temporary/leased employees, and workers' compensation to our your rights page.

We've added an FAQ on sexual harassment to our practical information page.

We've added an FAQ on valuing your case to our practical information page.

We've added an FAQ on mitigation to our practical information page.

We've added an FAQ on non-compete agreements to our hiring page.

We've added a criminal records FAQ to our other rights page.

We've added a retaliation: political activity FAQ to our whistleblowing & retaliation page.

We've added a government fraud/False Claims Act FAQ to our whistleblowing & retaliation page.

Administrative Assistant Eva Silverman joins the staff today. With a background in employee rights both academically and professionally, Eva is a great acquisition for the WF team. We're thinking third base, specifically.

We've added a general information FAQ to our whistleblowing & retaliation page.

The latest addition to the whistleblowing & retaliation section of our your rights area covers retaliation for union activity.

The new whistleblowing & retaliation section of our your rights area is off to a good start with a new page on corporate whistleblowers.

With the addition of a comprehensive military leave page, the leaves section of our your rights area is now complete.

With the addition of a comprehensive race harassment page, the harassment section of our your rights area is now complete.

Just want to get all the money you earned? Check out our just completed deductions from pay and unpaid wages pages to learn what your rights are.

Check out our completely updated overtime and overtime exemptions pages to get a handle on these confusing regulations, including the changes that took effect last Fall.

We've completed 6 new pages in the Pay & Hours section of our Your Rights area. Check these pages for comprehensive information, in convenient question-and-answer format, about comp time, tips, commissions, final pay, vacation pay, breaks, and filing a complaint.

We've also added a page on environmental whistleblowers to the Health/Safety section.

If you follow employment trends, you've probably seen more than one story in the past two weeks about Weyco, an Okemos, Michigan company that recently adopted a no-smoking policy so strict that employees who refused to quit smoking and/or submit to a smoking test were fired after the policy went into effect January 1. For Weyco, the coverage may constitute its 15 minutes of fame, but for the rest of us, it has also been an opportunity to educate the public about how limited employment protections really are, and how intrusive employers may try to be.

Flash in the Pan, or Threatening Trend: Workplace Smoking Restrictions

Development Associate Bryan Pangilinan is returning to full-time music and voice studies at San Francisco State University. We are, of course, very sad to lose Bryan's talents and camaraderie, but we are happier still to send him off in pursuit of more heartfelt interests. Good luck, Bryan--see you in the spotlight!

Late last year, when a measure to reduce the taxation of plaintiffs' discrimination awards by eliminating taxation of attorneys' fees was passed, those currently in legal battles against their employers, and the advocates who represent them, had a reason to celebrate. No longer would their victories run the same risk of being completely undone by taxation. Even then, however, the celebration was tempered by the measure's lack of retroactivity, which meant that cases won or settled before the new law's effective date still faced an excessive tax burden. Any hope of undoing that burden for those still subject to it faded considerably on Monday, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Commissioner v. Banks. In ruling unanimously against the plaintiffs in Banks, the Court essentially adopted a "tough luck" approach: if your case didn't settle or go to trial after the new law went into effect, sorry, you're out of luck.

Discrimination Victims' Hopes Dashed With Supreme Court Decision on Taxes

Did you know that: Wal-Mart offers affordable health care benefits to its associates? Or that Wal-Mart does not encourage its associates to apply for public assistance? Or that currently, 74 percent of Wal-Mart’s hourly associates in the United States work full-time? (See walmartfacts.com for similar juicy tidbits) If this does not match your understanding (or personal experience) of Wal-Mart's labor practices, then you've been listening to too many "special-interest groups...spread[ing] misinformation" according to Lee Scott, President and CEO of Wal-Mart. (See Ad Copy.) You can count us among them, but is it really misinformation?

Special-Interest Groups, Stop Picking on Poor Wal-Mart

Regular readers of this blog are well aware of the ongoing battle to prevent new overtime regulations from going into effect. You may have noticed, however, that Workplace Fairness, as well as other groups working in opposition to the new regulations, have not been focusing so much on this issue lately. Now we are hearing the latest spin from those on the defense side, which is that the whole battle was "much ado about nothing"-- one that was engaged in for political rather than substantive reasons. Once the white flag has essentially been waved, one might expect a little more graciousness (and intellectual honesty) from the victors. Or maybe not.

Much Ado About Nothing? Just Look at Your Next Paycheck

I realize that I, and many of the readers of this blog, manifest some bias in favor of workers who take on their employers in the legal system. After all, it's why we do what we do. However, even recognizing this bias, every once in a while, a case comes along that makes even a cynical employee advocate ask "what planet are these judges from?" when reviewing their ruling against an employee. One such case is that of Jespersen v. Harrah's, decided last week by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Let's hope this case is another one that the Supreme Court will champ at the bit to overturn, or even better, that there will be enough wisdom found amongst a larger (en banc) panel of the court, that Jesperson, and justice, will prevail.

Have They Ever Shared a Bathroom with a Woman?

It's supposed to be the time of year when things slow down a little. But often it doesn't work out quite that way, with year-end quotas and court deadlines that won't budge even for the holidays. But new research is finding out that taking time off isn't just a luxury, but a necessity for good health and longevity. So it's important to find time away from work not just to be with your family, but to be around for your family in holidays to come. In fact, the only people who shouldn't be taking a vacation right now are job hunters, as experts claim that right now is a very good time to land that next job.

Take a Vacation...Unless You're Looking for Work

In What’s the Matter With Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, a book published earlier this year by Thomas Frank, we learn about how the state of Kansas over the last hundred years was transformed from a hotbed of political populism—and even radicalism--to a hotbed of conservative activism, which also purports to be populist. Frank’s analysis is both insightful and funny, and if you read it knowing that it was written before the November election, its brilliance is all the more apparent. For those struggling to understand why American workers don’t necessarily vote in their own interests, it is definitely worth reading.

I Don’t Think We’re in Kansas Anymore. Or Are We?

It's the time of year when many businesses hire teens for the holidays to handle the anticipated increase in work over the next few weeks. Some of those teens may be getting far more than they have bargained for this holiday season, unfortunately. Instead of just a little extra Christmas cash, these teens are facing sexual harassment from their supervisors and coworkers.

Teen Jobs with Adult Problems: Sexual Harassment

Administrative Assistant Maria Estrada joins the staff today. After 16 years as a real estate agent in the volatile Bay Area market, we're pretty confident she can handle anything we can throw at her. Welcome aboard, Maria!

Get your holiday shopping done, support an independent bookstore, and help Workplace Fairness all at the same time, and all right from your computer. First, check out our new Recommended Reading List. Then, use the links there to shop at Powell's Books--a progressive, unionized bookstore in Portland, Oregon, who will donate a percentage of your online purchase to Workplace Fairness.

Recommended Reading List

The evidence that the vast majority of Americans are giving more and getting less from their jobs isn't just clear, it's overwhelming. Whether you look at issues like job security, career opportunity, income, time spent on the job, health care, retirement security, legal protections for workers, or the right to organize, it's clear that things are getting worse for working people. Check out the newest area of our website, Short-Changed: America's Workers Are Giving More and Getting Less, to learn about the issues, to stay informed, and to take action.

Our daily e-newsletter has a new look and a new name, in the news. Check out a sample issue, then sign up for your free subscription to keep up on important work-related news stories from around the country and the world.

Whether you're a worker wondering what happens when you contact a lawyer, or a lawyer answering basic questions for potential clients, you'll appreciate our site's new practical information section. It's filled with many time-saving and informative pages, such as Building Your Case, where you'll find tips on gathering documents and identifying witnesses, and References, where you'll learn how to get a good reference in your next job search.

Practical Information

Thanks to a new partnership between Workplace Fairness and the United Steelworkers of America, USWA Associate Members now have access through the USWA web site to My Workplace Rights. This new website presents in-depth legal information, in FAQ (frequently asked questions) format, to help workers learn more about legal rights in the workplace, and to provide them the information and tools they need to avoid or address workplace problems on their own, decide when legal action may be appropriate, and learn where to turn for help.

Our site now features two surveys on the Workplace Fairness e-publications, Today's News Headlines and Workplace Week. Please help us evaluate and assess their usefulness to our subscribers. Using the information gathered from these surveys, Workplace Fairness will be able to better tailor our publications to meet your needs. These surveys will be part of a regular web site feature, so visit us often to take the latest survey.

Communications Associate Glenn Simpson joins the staff today. He is a recent immigrant to the West Coast from Baltimore, Maryland, where he was an Associate Editor of the Alternative Press Index. We hope his experience with independent media and knack for categorizing information will help us beef up the news and resources areas of our site.

"If you're getting a raw deal at work, turn to Workplace Fairness." That's what PC Magazine says in naming Workplace Fairness one of the 100 Top Websites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without for 2004.

This feature contains the latest news about the 2004 Presidential election and the candidates' stand on labor and employment issues. This feature, part of our site's News and Issues section, includes such topics as presidential debates, endorsements, and position statements by the 11 Democratic candidates and President Bush affecting jobs and workplace issues.

If you're interested in the latest developments and news coverage involving labor unions and their members, then our new site feature, Unions on the Move is for you. This feature, part of our site's News and Issues section, includes such hot topics as the latest on contract negotiations, strikes, lawsuits, and workplace organizing.