Did you know? The number of job openings hit the highest level on record. The U.S. now has 11 job openings per 10 unemployed persons.  While job openings have been rising across the economy, manufacturing, construction, hotels, and restaurants had the highest increases in recent months.  The biggest issue for employers is quality of hire.  Source:  The Wall Street Journal 9/12/18

And quits are even higher: The U.S. Department of Labor said that the number of job openings rose 1.7% to 6.9 million, the most on record dating back to late 2000. The number of people quitting jumped 3% to 3.58 million, also a record. Quits are typically a good sign that jobs are plentiful, because people usually quit when they have another job or are confident they can find one.  Private sector surveys also point to solid gains. ManpowerGroup’s employment outlook survey found that employers in all 13 large industries that it tracks plan to add workers in the final three months of the year. The staffing company’s survey also found that hiring should pick up in all four regions.  Wage growth is also expected as many quits are for higher paying jobs.  Source:  AP 9/13/18

Incomes are rising: The income of a median U.S. household rose for a third straight year in 2017 as solid economic growth helped put more people into full-time jobs. But income inequality also worsened as the wealthiest Americans enjoyed even larger pay increases.  Incomes for a typical U.S. household, adjusted for inflation, rose 1.8%, from $60,309 in 2016 to $61,372. The proportion of Americans living in poverty also dropped for the third straight year, to 12.3% from 12.7%. Now the bad news.  The data also underscores the lasting damage the Great Recession did to the majority of American families. U.S. households are still earning essentially the same that they did in 2007 just before the Great Recession. And their inflation-adjusted median income remains slightly below the record in 1999 of $62,000, Census said.  Source: AP 9/12/18

Next big issue for employers – lack of employees to run legacy systems: Baby-boomer retirements over the next few years could leave companies without the IT expertise required to operate their legacy systems, even as they race to update older apps and shift more workloads to the cloud, industry advisors warn.  Part of the problem is that in the rush to modernize IT systems, many firms neglected to document legacy IT processes or hire new people with a working knowledge of how they function, they say.  As a result, a surge in retirements over the next few years “will leave many large companies with unsupported systems,” said Martha Heller, chief executive of Heller Search Associates, a recruiting firm that focuses on technology executives. Without taking steps now, the problem will only get worse, she adds. The total U.S. labor force participation rate is projected to hit 61% in 2026 after peaking at 83.8% in 1996, when the entire baby-boom generation was under 54 years old, according to U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor data.  For the IT workforce, a combination of retirements and industry growth will create some 140,000 open jobs in IT annually over the next seven years, according to IT trade group CompTIA.  Source: WSJ 9/14/18

DOL launches apprenticeship finder tool: The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a new Apprenticeship Finder tool that allows users to search for apprenticeships by city, state, and occupation. The finder addresses a shared need for employers looking to promote their apprenticeship opportunities as well as job seekers searching to access them. It also can help employers publicize apprenticeships across new or nontraditional industries where they may be less common, according to the DOL.  If your organization has an apprenticeship program and wants to be listed in the finder tool, click here.  Source:  CCH 9/17/18, U.S. DOL

Got operations in Connecticut? Now not able to refuse to hire someone on medical marijuana:  Refusing to hire a medical marijuana user because she tested positive on a pre-employment drug test violates Connecticut’s medical marijuana law, a federal court in Connecticut has held, granting summary judgment to the job applicant on her employment discrimination claim. Noffsinger v. SSC Niantic Operating Co., LLC, d/b/a Bride Brook Nursing & Rehab. Ctr., No. 3:16-cv-01938 (D. Conn. Sept. 5, 2018). When the pre-employment drug test came back positive for marijuana, Noffsinger was not hired because the employer followed federal law holding that marijuana is illegal. Noffsinger filed a complaint in state court, alleging, among other things, a violation of Connecticut’s anti-discrimination provision. Bride Brook argued that it did not violate the law, because it did not discriminate against Noffsinger based on her status as a medical marijuana user; rather, it had relied on the positive drug test result. The court dismissed this argument, concluding that acceptance would render a medical marijuana user’s protection under the statute a nullity.  Source:  Jackson Lewis 9/6/18

EEOC opines on accessibility for digital interviewing:  Upon a question to the EEOC, Senior Attorney Advisor Sharon Rennert noted in her August 15 letter that the ADA’s prohibition in Title I against discrimination in employment includes recruitment, advertising, job application procedures, and hiring. Title I also makes it illegal for covered entities to refuse "to make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability" unless the entity can show it would cause "undue hardship."  So, when an applicant requests a reasonable accommodation to proceed with a digital interview or requests a different interview method as a reasonable accommodation, the company will violate the ADA if it refuses to provide one and cannot show an undue hardship. Similarly, the company will also violate the ADA "if it does not provide a way for an applicant to request a reasonable accommodation in a timely manner, thus resulting in the applicant’s losing the opportunity to compete for the position," Rennert explained.  Source:  CCH 9/12/18

Want a free pizza, don’t get a Dominos tattoo on your body: As part of a Domino's Forever campaign launched by an independent franchise owner in Russia, the pizza chain offered up 100 free pizzas each year for 100 years to customers that got tattoos of the brand's logo on visible parts of their body. However, Russian diners were all too happy to etch themselves with the iconic domino in the name of free pizza, causing Domino's to curtail the number of accepted winners to 350.   These types of promotions seem to be popping up everywhere.  Melbourne's Cafe 51, an Australian burger joint, offered up free burgers for life to patrons that got inked with one of the chain's signature burgers. Last year, restaurant company 40 North offered free all-you-can-eat wings to customers at some of its chains on National Chicken Wing Day if they had a tattoo of a chicken or chicken wing on their body.  KFC even said it would give parents $11,000 towards their child's college tuition if they named their baby Harland, after the company's founder.  Maybe companies needing to hire good talent should promote “get company logo tattoo and unlimited raises every year?”   Source: CNBC 9/11/18