Inflated Credentials

The Wall Street Journal had a story on inflated academic credentials: Inflated Credentials Surface in Executive Suite by Keith J. Winstein.

Kroll issues an annual report of its “hit ratio” that says about 20% of job seekers and rank-and-file employees undergoing background checks by their companies are found to have inflated their educational credentials.

Referring to this story, Chris MacDonald of The Business Ethics Blog, writes in Executives & Inflated Academic Credentials:

The details are not exactly eye-popping. A few execs said they completed degrees they only started, one said he got a Bachelor’s degree when all he really got is an Associate’s degree. But still. Their information was inaccurate, and that’s bad. It’s dishonest (though the WSJ acknowledges that some cases might best be chalked up to misunderstandings) and it sets a lousy example for people lower down the corporate ladder.

Littler Mendelson White Paper on California’s Mandatory Training Law

Littler mendelson, P.C. put together a White Paper on California’s Mandatory Training Law for Sexual Harrassment.

The purpose of this white paper is to provide analysis and practical information to employers as they re-train their supervisors in the 2007 training year pursuant to California’s mandatory training law.

The authors of the White Paper are David Goldman, Tara Bedeau and Christopher Cobey.

How Big Do You Need to Be to be Required to Provide Sexual Harassment Training

California Assembly Bill 1825 codified in California Government Code section 12950.1 requires that employers train supervisors on sexual harassment every two years if the company has 50 or more employees.

But does that mean more than 50 employees in California or more than 50 employees in total?

The Sexual Harassment Training and Education Regulations Section 7288.0 (a)(5) provides:

“Having 50 or more employees” means employing or engaging fifty or more employees or contractors for each working day in any twenty consecutive weeks in the current calendar year or preceding calendar year. There is no requirement that the 50 employees or contractors work at the same location or all work or reside in California.

Regulations for Sexual Harassment Training in California

On April 23, 2007, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission Adopted its March 27, 2007 Sexual Harassment Training and Education Regulations With No Further Changes. I previously posted about the enactment of the statue: Sexual Harassment Training in California.

Sexual Harassment Training and Education Regulations

Sexual Harassment Training Requirements in California

California Assembly Bill 1825 codified in California Government Code section 12950.1 requires that employers train supervisors on sexual harassment every two years.

AB 1825 applies only to entities that regularly employ 50 or more employees or regularly receive the services of 50 or more persons pursuant to a contract. Presumably the “receiving services” language is an attempt to avoid deciding if a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Although not specified by the statute, courts have held that Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)’s other minimum employee requirements count only employees working in California.

The law imposes an initial and continual training requirement on covered employers.  Covered employers must provide sexual harassment training and education to each supervisory employee once every two years, and to each new supervisory employee within six months of their assumption of a supervisory position.

While AB 1825 does not define “supervisor,” presumably, the definition contained in the FEHA will apply. A “supervisor” is any individual having the authority “to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend that action . . . if the exercise of that authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.” (Government Code § 12926(r).)

The training must be conducted via “classroom or other effective interactive training” and include the following topics:

  • Information and practical guidance regarding the federal and state statutory provisions concerning the prohibition against and the prevention of sexual harassment.
  • Information about the correction of sexual harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment in employment.
  • Practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

Social Networking for Lawyers

I am in New York City today participating in a panel on Social Networking for Lawyers sponsored by New York Legal Marketing Marketing Association. I will be joining Robert Ambrogi of Legal Line, David Johnson a member of the advisory board of Legal OnRamp and John Lipsey of Martindale Hubbell.

The LMA put together this reading list for further reading:


Social Networking Articles

Social Networks Get Down to Business
eMarketer Daily Newsletter, August 18, 2008
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006482

LinkedIn: A Competitive Intelligence Tool
By Shannon Sankstone, Marketing the Law Firm Newsletter, August 14, 2008
http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202423760902

The Social Network as a Career Safety Net
By Sarah Jane Tribble, The New York Times, August 13, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/technology/personaltech/14basics.html?ref=personaltech

Social Networking: For Lawyers Only?
By Robert J. Ambrogi, Law Technology News, August 8, 2008
http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202423612473

Social Networking May Pay off in the End
By Robert Ambrogi, Law Technology News, June 9, 2008
http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202422007910

Exclusive First Look at Martindale Hubbell Connected
By Robert Ambrogi, Legalline, July 31, 2008
http://www.legaline.com/2008/07/exclusive-first-look-martindale-hubbell.html

LinkedIn to My Facebook on My Blog – Social Media for Lawyers and Law Firm Staff
By Jenn Steele and Doug Cornelius
Published in ILTA’s March, 2008 white paper titled, Marketing Technologies – Putting Your Best Face Forward
http://www.dougcornelius.com/pro/publications/linkedin_to_facebook_on_my_blog.pdf
http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=05cdf159-64b1-4a35-9d2b-bec72defe67d
or
http://www.iltanet.org/communications/pub_detail.aspx?nvID=000000011205&h4ID=000001184605

Social Networking Surveys & White Papers

Humans Seek Connections: The Case for Online Social Networking
LMA Resource Committee, with Jayne Navarre
http://www.legalmarketing.org/about-lma/products-and-services/white-papers/newssocialnetwork

Networks for Counsel Study: Online Networking in the Legal Community
Independent research, sponsored by LexisNexis
http://www.leadernetworks.com/networks_study_form.shtml

Social Media in the Inc. 500: The First Longitudinal Study
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research
http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/blogstudy5.cfm

Social Networking Sites

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com
Facebook www.facebook.com
Legal OnRamp www.legalonramp.com
Twitter www.twitter.com

Originally posted on my old KM Space blog.