Sixth Circuit Rules Telecommuting may be a Reasonable Accommodation – Employee Benefit News

Sixth Circuit rules that telecommuting may be a reasonable accommodation – Articles – Employee Benefit News.

Under this precedent, an employer may be required to grant some degree of telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation. However, employers still may require regular attendance during regular working hours, even if that attendance is via telecommuting

The article notes the employee was terminated and had a history of irritable bowel syndrome.  Now this whole work from home thing is getting real interesting.

Blog Shift – From Life Underwriting Expert to Professional Writer (gasp)

As I typed the title I heard a collective gasp from the Force.  You can’t be serious?  Professional writer?  Do you know how hard it will be to make a living?

Yes, as a matter of fact I do.

I have this to say to my legions of followers:  do not panic.  Here are the service offering changes to expect this year:

  • I will continue to offer my consulting services on a limited basis to select clients.
  • Life underwriting expert witness litigation support services will continue to be provided.
  • Technical underwriting services are fully committed at this time.
  • Professional corporate writing services for life insurance companies and their respective distribution channels.

There are a lot of very smart people in business today; there are not a lot of good writers. Couple this with the fact that companies need to produce more words, via a greater number of channels, than ever before, and you quickly come to realize that the corporate landscape is rife with opportunity for those who know how to communicate, you know, good.  I.J. Schecter

Here is what to expect from this blog:

  • More natural writing posts.  As I transition to more writing for hire I need to write more.  This blog will the primary landing area for my brain droppings.
  • Less links to what I consider to be essential reading for professional life underwriters.  The links to relevant articles will continue, just not in the frequency and quantity of the past five years.
  • More painfully blatant examples of shameless self-promotion.  Got to eat.  And yes, I still have a mortgage, one child in medical school, one child still an undergraduate, three cars and and a nasty writing habit to support.

I look forward to helping you succeed in your business.

Thanks for reading and your continued support.

Trapped in a Cycle of Internships With Little Pay and No Job Offers – NYTimes.com

While the idea of slaving away in two, three or four quasi jobs without a clear path for advancement may seem unimaginable to an older generation, those in their 20s seem to respond to their jobless fate with a collective shrug. To them, internships are the new normal. “For some people, being an accountant, taking a safe route, is perfectly fine, but that’s not where my values lie,” Ms. Thomas said.

via Millennials Feel Trapped in a Cycle of Internships With Little Pay and No Job Offers – NYTimes.com.

Passion is overrated.  The real question is how long are you willing to chase your dream before you understand all you are doing is letting other people totally screw you over?

The Dangerous Rise of “Entrepreneurship Porn”

A good friend who runs a professional services firm told me with some shock that his most profitable employee is a single mother who works part time. So this year, she got a big bonus. Despite working for someone else, she feels recognized and rewarded. And by being part of a larger organization, she gets to have more time with her kids. This sort of story is rare – but it doesn’t have to be.

Companies Take Steps to Curb Worker Burnout – News OK

One strategy Goldman Sachs has been trying is to make people feel less at risk in their jobs. That\’s not easy in most companies, much less so in investment banking.

To keep junior analysts from burning out, the bank has decided to start hiring first-year analysts as permanent employees, instead of taking them on as contract workers. It is also encouraging them to not work weekends.

via Companies take steps to curb worker burnout | News OK.

Life/work balance is a choice, not another corporate initiative.  You have one life.  Make the right choice.

READ THIS NOW – Writing Wednesdays: “Poof Goes the Middle Class”

People are becoming entrepreneurs. The mind-set of the employee is vanishing like the factory where it was born. It has to. We’ll all die if we wait for some force outside ourselves—business or government—to bring us jobs or teach us who we are or how we ought to live.

We have to invent our own ways, and that’s just what we’re doing.

via Writing Wednesdays: “Poof Goes the Middle Class”.

Poof goes the middle class – latimes.com.

A couple of weeks ago I caught up with my old college buddy on the phone.  I asked how his son was doing after taking refuge in his parents’ basement post college graduation.

“Michael’s doing great.  He moved out to Brooklyn and is doing project work.  Very happy, very busy.  Michael has four or five projects on the go.”

Call it what you want – freelancer, contract worker, portfolio careerist.  The employee mindset is becoming a thing of the past.

Blue Bunny to Lay Off 58 workers – The Des Moines Register | desmoinesregister.com

The cut comes at a time when Iowa also is being buffeted by big layoffs at Wells Fargo & Co. and the former Aviva USA insurance company, now known as Athene. The Iowa unemployment rate increased to 4.9 percent in August from 4.8 percent in July, but it remains one of the lowest in the U.S.

via Blue Bunny ice cream manufacturer to lay off 58 workers | The Des Moines Register | desmoinesregister.com.

Memo to Blue Bell and Braum’s:

Bigger is not always better.