HR News

HR News

1) Companies Settle Racial, Sexual Harassment Charges
Two Texas employers recently settled charges of racial and sexual harassment with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency recently announced. Austin Foam Plastics, Inc., (AFP) a producer and distributor of corrugated box and cushion packaging, has agreed to pay $600,000 to resolve a number of harassment charges. According to EEOC, a female manager at AFP sexually harassed male employees by subjecting them to unwelcome sexual comments and sexual physical contact. The manager also conditioned more favorable terms of employment on acquiescence to her sexual advances, the agency alleged.

2) USCIS E-Verify Website Redesigned
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently launched a complete redesign of the E-Verify Web Interface that enhances its usability, security, accuracy, and efficiency. The newly redesigned E-Verify features a new home page, a redesigned case alerts feature, improved case management, and a streamlined tutorial.

3) Govt to provide unemployment allowance to jobless workers


Following is the Text of the Statement of the Union Minister of Labour & Employment, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge in reply to the Calling Attention Notice given by Shri Gurudas Dasgupta, Shri Basudeb Acharia and Advocate A. Sampath Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) regarding “Situation arising out of large-scale loss of jobs due to retrenchment and closure of industries, including IT sector, and steps taken by the government in this regard”.

4) 17 Percent Actively Recruit Veterans, BLR Poll Finds
Seventeen percent of respondents say their organization actively recruits veterans, according to a recent BLR poll. Nearly 80 percent of respondents report their organization does not have a policy to actively hiring veterans.
The poll asked respondents “Does your organization actively recruit veterans?” The results are displayed below:
No 79%
Yes 17%
Not yet, but we plan to 4%
The government has taken steps to advocate hiring veterans. A new online toolkit was launched to help guide employers through the process of hiring veterans.
The government also launched an online training tool to educate employers on understanding war injuries.
5) Economic crisis takes its toll of jobs


The unemployment estimates for the first quarter of the fiscal year beginning April 2009 are not so optimistic. The Labour Bureau estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs in the period.

The worst affected sector was the textile industry which has shed 154,000 jobs followed by IT/BPO sector with 34,000 jobs and the gems and jewellery sector with 20,000 job losses.

Employment was the worst hit in exporting companies across all sectors with losses touching 167,000 jobs. At the same time employment opportunities to the tune of 35,000 were created in all but three sectors.

In the period October-December 2008, the hit was the highest across India with nearly 500,000 workers loosing their jobs.