Employment-related immigration measures enacted

While national attention on immigration has declined, state legislatures are deliberating record levels of immigrant-related legislation, confirmed the National Conference of State Legislatures, according to a July 17, 2009, report.
In the first half of 2009, state legislation related to immigration topped last year's totals. So far this year (between January 1-June 30, 2009), more than 1400 bills have been considered in all 50 states. At least 144 laws and 115 resolutions have been enacted in 44 states, with bills sent to governors in two additional states. A total of 285 bills and resolutions has passed legislatures; 23 of these bills are pending Governor's approval and three bills were vetoed. No bills have been enacted in Alaska, Massachusetts, Michigan or Ohio.

10 Things Successful People Won’t Tell You

By Kassandra Vaughn

There is no secret to extraordinary success. If one person can achieve it, all people can. However, few people do. Clearly, there’s a missing link between the success people crave and the actual results they get. That missing link can be found in the ten things successful people won’t tell you:

1 It all started with an idea.The monumental shifts that took place in the most successful people were not earth shattering moments. The world didn’t stop. It wasn’t an overnight wonder. The birth of extraordinary success is an idea, a passing thought that arrived because a friend said something, he or she read a newspaper article, or a life experience occurred that gave them an idea. Ideas are the product of everyday living and there’s nothing extraordinary about it except for the fact that this person took the faint notion and ran with it, all the way, 100%.
Bottomline: Go with your gut. When an idea strikes, go with it and don’t stop until the vision you have does one of two things: 1) leads you to a better idea and bigger vision or 2) fulfills itself exactly the way you imagined it would.

2 Talent isn’t enough.There are a lot of brilliant, gifted people who never make much of their lives. There are a lot of not-so-gifted, relatively dull people who experience extraordinary success on a regular basis. What’s the difference? Persistence. Talent is not enough to succeed but persistence is. One of the surest ways to fail is to continually feel that you need to get another degree, certification or training to succeed. If another person didn’t need that to accomplish the goal and did, that’s proof positive that you don’t need to learn another thing to take action now. It’s not about talent; it’s about persistence. Talent can always be developed later.

3 Success doesn’t happen overnight.There is no such thing as an overnight success. You and I might know these “success stories” today but we weren’t there ten years ago when they were “in process.” Success is acquired over time. The culmination of the dream may happen overnight but the investment of time, passion and planning occurred over time.
4 Achievement is in the details.For a boxer, victory isn’t achieved in the ring. It’s achieved in all the workouts, sparring sessions and practices that occurred from week to week leading up to the fight. The same applies to extraordinary success. Your success is guaranteed by the amount of passion, perspiration and persistence you put into achieving the goal on a daily basis. Focus, on a daily basis, is key.

5 They thought about giving up A LOT.On the journey to extraordinary success, there are going to be times of doubt and uncertainty. In fact, there will be days and weeks that make you strongly consider giving up. The only difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is that those who succeed decided to look at setbacks as being temporary; those who didn’t succeed saw the obstacles as insurmountable failures and gave up.

6 It’s not who or what you know; it’s what you do with what and who you know.Connections and knowledge will be of little assistance if you aren’t prepared to take hold of the oportunities as they present themselves. Lots of people sit with their opportunities until they expire. Action is meant to be taken now.

7 You’re never too old to pay dues.Mastering your craft is a process of lifelong learning. The moment you believe you know enough and don’t have more to learn is the same moment you lose the momentum to achieve extraordinary success. You can never be too equipped for success. Stay flexible and keep learning. At the same time, you don’t have to learn and be everything to everyone. Staff your weaknesses.

8 There are key elements to your success that you can’t plan.Serendipity (not luck) happens. You have to be ready for the opportunity when it presents itself but you can’t plan or forecast when that person is going to bump into you in the restaurant, who that letter reaches when your potential agent throws it in the garbage only to be picked up by a junior agent. There are parts of this journey that come together beautifully on their own for which you can never plan or try to make happen. It’s serendipity. Allowing the process to unfold is key.

9 The Millionaire Mindset doesn’t come naturally; it’s acquired through practice.Most of the wealthiest people you see didn’t start out in life that way. In fact, many of them were poverty stricken until well beyond their 20s. For each of them, something happened that shifted their perspective. They made a choice to change the way they looked at their lives and, the moment they did, the life they looked at changed.

10 Money came when they weren’t looking.“People who think about money rarely think about anything else.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer
“Money is the easiest thing to demonstrate.” – Louise L. Hay

For truly successful people, money came because they did what they loved and loved what they did, not because they were focused on all the money they would make. When you get your focus off of making money and onto making a difference, the money comes. Trust it…
There is no secret to success. Success is a habit that must be developed and kept daily. There is no magic pill to this nor is there any special kind of person who gets this. It’s available to all and the moment you begin to believe in your ability to achieve it, you will be guided to the steps necessary to have extraordinary success. However, the key is your taking action. Nothing less will do.

New Minimum Wage Takes Effect

The federal minimum wage rose from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour today, representing the last of three scheduled increases that started under the Bush administration.

Convincing Americans? Not so much

President Obama took his argument to the airways last night, well at least a few airways. (That in of itself is a telling story) President Obama has had successful at bending public opinion, and Congress, to his will -- on the stimulus package, financial bailouts and his budget, with unprecedented new investments in education and renewable energy. But Healthcare reform seems to be a different animal. What is your take on this subject?

Healthcare Premiums Projected to Rise Nearly 12%

Initial HMO premium rates will increase by about 11.8 percent in 2010, about the same as last year, according to research by Hewitt Associates, a consulting firm. The actual rate increase will less after plan changes, negotiations, and terminations.

Most employers are considering a number of strategies to help mitigate the impact of high HMO premium increases for 2010. These strategies include:

• Consolidating Vendors or Moving to Self-Insurance


• Aggressively Negotiating with Health Plans


• Changing Plan Design


• Improving Employee Health

Union Avoidance under an amended EFCA

Now, with card check eliminated, it is likely that the Senate, with a filibuster-proof majority of 60 Democrats, will get Employee Free Choice Act pushed through quickly. What that means for employers of all sizes is that unions may be gearing up for massive organization drives.

Card-Check Provision Dropped from Union Bill

The New York Times is reporting that Democrats have agreed to drop a provision in legislation that would have made it easier for employees to form unions.
Democrats appear to be ready to drop the card-check provision from the Employee Free Choice Act, the newspaper reports. The provision would have required certification of a union if a majority of employees have signed authorizations designating the union as their bargaining representative--a process known as card check.
Under current law, the National Labor Relations Board oversees an election process for unions that uses secret ballots. Card check is allowed, but employers have to agree to it first.
The revised legislation would make union elections happen quicker, which unions favor because it would give employers less time to campaign against unionization, the newspaper notes. Other option being considered are a requirement for employers to allow unions to have access to their property, the newspaper notes.
The card-check provision was the most controversial element of the union legislation and was strongly opposed by business groups. While Democrats have a super-majority in the Senate, several Democrats had voiced opposition to the card-check provision, which would have meant supporters of the card-check provision lacked the votes to end a filibuster.

Scary Statistics

OSHA estimates there are about 85 forklift fatalities per year, 34,900 serious injuries and 61,800 non-serious injuries. The number one cause of forklift accidents is complacency . Diversified Sourcing Solutions is now providing free OSHA forklift certification training. Training is conducted on-site, avoid expensive OSHA violations, improve workplace safety. To learn more visit www.calldiversified.com/freecert.html

Call me crazy!!!! But...............

More and more we read in publications, over the internet and hear from word of mouth in the business community, about OSHA’s increased activity and fines being issued for forklift violations and lack of proper training. Just recently a company in NH was fined $119,500.00 in a forklift related death of an employee. A company in Florida received fines totaling over $45,000.00 just for forklift violations. I believe this is an important issue not only for the safety of employees but also for the bottom line. So I have decided to do something out of character in the business world. I’ve decided to help both employee and company by providing Free OSHA Forklift Certification. That’s correct, free OSHA forklift certifications. Why? That’s simple; because it’s the right thing to do. My thought is, possessing the expertise and the resources to do so, why not. If I’m able to prevent an injury or perhaps even a death and help businesses avoid costly fines that could jeopardize their business and even cost workers jobs, then that’s what I should be doing, after all this is my line of business. It makes perfect business sense to me, by helping others I am endearing myself and my company to new potential customers and building a solid foundation for future business. If you’re in the greater Atlanta area and are interested in receiving this service contact me and I'll set it up.

A little HR humor

An employee urgently needed a few days off work, but knew the Boss would not allow him to take a leave. His idea was that maybe if he acted "CRAZY" then he would tell him to take a few days off. So, he hung upside down from the ceiling and made funny noises. His co-worker asked him what he was doing.

He told her that he was pretending to be a light bulb so that the Boss would think he was "CRAZY" and give him a few days off. A few minutes later the Boss came into the office and asked, "What are you doing?"
The employee told him he was a light bulb. He said, "You are clearly stressed out. Go home and recuperate for a couple of days."

He jumped down and walked out of the office.When his co-worker started to follow him, the Boss asked her, "And where do you think you're going?" She said, "I'm going home too, I can't work in the dark."

Jack Welch Says HR Managers Have the Most Important Job in America

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, believes that HR managers have the most important job in America and that CEOs should value their HR managers as much as their chief financial officers. Welch was the opening session keynote speaker at the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) 61 st Annual Conference and Exposition in New Orleans.
In a twist on the traditional keynote speech, Welch took questions from moderator Claire Shipman, author and national correspondent for ABC News' “Good Morning America,” as well as questions from SHRM members sent via video and Twitter. Not surprisingly, the discussion focused on Welch's views on how HR managers can succeed during the current economic downturn.

HR needs to create an atmosphere of growth and excitement, to make the organization “vibrate so people feel the excitement of tomorrow instead of the pain of today.” Welch urged HR professionals to make their companies more informal, less bureaucratic. In Welch's view, this will help organizations retain their best performers when the economy recovers.

I-9 Form Still Valid Beyond June 30

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says that the Employment Eligibility Verification form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09) will continue to be valid for use beyond June 30, 2009.
While the form has an expiration date of June 30, 2009, USCIS has requested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve the continued use of the current version of Form I-9. While this request is pending, the Form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09) will not expire.
USCIS will update Form I-9 when the extension is approved. Employers will be able to use either the Form I-9 with the new revision date or the Form I-9 with the 02/02/09 revision date at the bottom of the form.
The form is available on HR.BLR.com and will be updated once the new version is approved:

Taxpayers oust the majority of AIG's board

AIG shareholders, a.k.a. U.S. taxpayers, ousted the majority of the company's leadership at AIG's annual shareholders meeting Tuesday, removing the overseers of one of the biggest corporate unravelings in American history.
Just three of the 11 directors that oversaw the company's downward spiral in September remained on AIG's board. Two directors who were placed on the board after the company came undone, including Chief Executive and Chairman Edward Liddy, also stayed in place.
AIG's three trustees, who represent the government's near-80% controlling interest in the company, elected the new directors on behalf of the taxpayers.
The six directors who did not stand for re-election were not in attendance at the annual meeting.
The company's longer-term shareholders stood before Liddy and a small group of about 150 other shareholders, voicing loud objections to the old board. Many tied irresponsible management by AIG's board to the near-catastrophic losses of shareholders' stakes in the company.
"I notice none of the [outgoing] directors are here today," said one shareholder, Kenneth Steiner. "They left like rats leaving a sinking ship. Well, goodbye and good riddance."
AIG's new leadership will oversee AIG's repayment of more than $80 billion in debt owed to taxpayers as well as the company's roadmap to recovery, nicknamed "Project Destiny."
The new board includes former executives from American Express (AXP, Fortune 500), Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), KPMG, Delphi, Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500) and Northwest Airlines (DAL, Fortune 500). Liddy called them all "extremely talented," and suggested they they were well suited to help oversee the company's transition over the next several years.
Liddy, who announced last month that he would relinquish his two positions, said that he expects the new board will find a replacements "soon." The CEO and chairman positions are expected to be split.