Although compromise may be in the air with the Employee Free Choice Act, there are hard core organized labor advocates and hard core business opponents who’d rather play chicken. As previously noted, the likelihood of EFCA’s passage in its current form has evaporated. Some hard cores on both sides don’t want to budge, however, which means they’re content to wait until the November 2010 elections to see how the makeup of the U.S. Senate looks then.

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Can you lay off a pregnant employee or an employee on maternity leave without being guilty of pregnancy or sex discrimination? Of course. As long as you don’t use pregnancy as a factor in making the decision, you’ve done nothing unlawful. According to the New York Times, however, there’s growing suspicion that employers are using the economy as a cover for pregnancy discrimination.

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Most folks are glad to have any job right now, but it’s still ok to dream about the ideal job, despite the fact there isn’t one — unless the cartoon I borrowed from Eclecticity represents the only one.

Now that Senator Arlen Specter has announced he won’t vote for cloture if the Employee Free Choice Act is brought to the Senate floor and there’s a filibuster, it’s unlikely that EFCA, in its present form, will become law. That’s a blow to organized labor.

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President Barack Obama sits in the ultimate C-Suite. I don’t agree with everything he’s done, but he’s giving it his all. He’s everywhere: meeting with world leaders, holding press conferences, appearing at town hall meetings, working the late night crowd, and using the Internet to communicate with the American people. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

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I don’t know if the following were really Thomas Jefferson’s rules for life, but they are thought-provoking. Though not perfect, Jefferson was smart, innovative and practical — someone whose rules we could use today. Consider these rules as this week’s tip.

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According to the Associated Press, an increasing number of women strapped for cash in these woeful economic times have found a way to earn it. They dance in strip clubs, appear in adult movies or pose for magazines like Hustler. They may not be able to make advances toward the C-Suite, but, in tough times, they are able to get men from the C-Suite to make advances toward them.

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I recommend the following insightful, informative and intriguing posts from some of my fellow bloggers:

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Loverboy sings about work, the weekend, romance, going off the deep end, and needing a second chance. Though a 1980′s hit, the song seems to fit right in today.

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Most employers have a drugs in the workplace policy. Ususally, the policy says something like you can’t use, possess or distribute illegal drugs at work or be under the influence of illegal drugs at work.

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When Hilda Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor, I noted that employers could expect more aggressive investigations by the DOL. In light of a new report issued by the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan auditing arm of Congress, you can bet your bottom dollar on increased DOL activity.

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No, I’m not flip-flopping. I just wanted to make sure you heard a defense from a bonus recipient of American International Group.

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Lost in the whirlwind of bailouts and stimulus packages is immigration reform. Not that long ago, it was a hot issue. It’s hardly lukewarm these days. As the New York Times reports, however, we still have a lot of immigrants, some legal and some illegal. While all Americans are suffering from the recession, the immigrant community is moving toward dire straits.

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P. J. O’Rourke is a political satirist and journalist. He’s also a civil libertarian, which makes the following quote not the least bit surprising:

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We’ve seen news reports about executives of American International Group (AIG) receiving death threats over their recent bonuses. These reports may make us think about workplace violence in big companies, in metropolitan areas. Given the desperation lots of people are feeling right now, it would be a mistake to pigeonhole workplace violence in this manner.

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