Arizona Immigration Law, Hiring and a Little U.S. I

May 27, 2011 – 7:16 am
by Taylor Korsak Remember U.S. I? When the Articles of Confederation benefitted state power, the new states felt like little countries and colonists abhorred the idea of centralized government? The spirit of '76? Come on! The battle between state government and federal government- one that has been ongoing since the United States’ birth – has zeroed in on hiring. The most recent and most notable flare up surrounds immigration law - with Arizona being the major proponent – and the 5 – 3 Supreme Court ruling Thursday is considered a victory for those supporters of state level immigration reform. CNN reports that the Supreme Court has “backed an Arizona law that punishes businesses hiring illegal immigrants.” The opposition, which includes the Obama Administration, says the latest ruling in favor of the reforms “steps on traditional federal oversight over immigration matters.” In contrast with a more controversial immigration statute, Thursday’s ruling has been referred to as a “judicial warm-up” – ...

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Obama, Trump and Background Checks: An HR Weigh-In

May 4, 2011 – 2:09 am
By Taylor Korsak Okay so Obama really was born in Hawaii. Hmm…what else is there to confirm? Well, according to Donald Trump, the next step in this ongoing background investigation for the President of The United States nearing the end of his first term involves his academic records. CNN reports Trump’s rather insightful statement, “Word is he (Obama) wasn’t a very good student.” Well, Mr. Trump, word on the street is (to finish the gossipy phrase) an army of ex-pats will swarm out of the country if you ever take office. Just saying. Trump’s comments, as the Baltimore Sun Reports, probably stem from Obama’s 1995 memoir, “Dreams of My Father,” where he wrote of his careless approach to academics during his senior year of high school. Despite explaining in the book he had learned ‘not to care’ (due to pot, booze, and cocaine when he could afford it), Obama graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law. In response, upon ...

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Lindsay Lohan as Victoria Gotti: Is it Ever O.K. to Take Hiring Risks?

April 13, 2011 – 9:27 am
by Taylor Korsak Pop Quiz: Of the following people, who do you hire for the job? A 24 year old woman with a drug and alcohol problem, battling a felony grand theft charge. Normal person Normal person Normal person Probably not A. - unless you’re a filmmaker. Lindsay Lohan popped up at Tuesday’s press conference for John Travolta’s new movie “Gotti: Three Generations” and is apparently in talks to play the late Gambino crime family boss’ daughter, Victoria Gotti, according to the AP News. I bet you think I’m going to be really hard on Lohan, but I’m not going to do that. Over the summer of 2010, I saw Robert Rodriguez’s Machete with Danny Trejo and Lohan who played, most memorably, the “nun with a gun.” She’s not bad at all! I think her highly publicized bad behavior (which is so publicized, I’m skeptical of its truthfulness) has had a positive impact on her acting ability, even with what little we ...

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Chris Brown Explodes on Good Morning America, HR sez ‘R U O.K.?’

March 30, 2011 – 3:19 am
By Taylor Korsak When Robin Roberts, co-host of Good Morning America, brought up Chris Brown’s less than civil relationship with Rihanna, I exclaimed the meme: Oh snap! No I didn’t. I don’t really care. But when he subsequently smashed a window in his dressing room and shirtlessly exited the GMA building, I was reminded of my all-girl high school days. Not that we ever smashed windows or tore off articles of clothing in fits of rage, no. But there was quite a lot of drama. After pummeling his dressing room last week, Chris Brown appeared on BET’S “106 & Park” where he apologized, expressed disappointment in his actions, and said he was caught off guard by Ms. Robert’s reference to his violent past. He referred to a talking point sheet he’d seen prior to the interview however ABC released a statement denying a talking point sheet had been provided, according to an AP News report. To ...

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A Response to Japan: The Role of HR in Business Continuity Planning

March 16, 2011 – 7:19 am
by Taylor Korsak On Friday, March 11, I woke to the news of Japan’s 8.9 magnitude quake and the subsequent tsunami. In the few days since, mounting troubles continue to jar us – videos and pictures have shown a crumbling Japanese coastline, towns gutted and washed away by black water, and children, arms outstretched, undergoing radiation scans. It’s difficult, first, to comprehend the fragility of our great cities and towns, and then to put it into words. The northeast of Japan, in just days, has experienced a hellish chain of events that the AP News reports has likely killed over 10,000 people. As weakening tsunami waves made their way from Japan across the Pacific, Friday and evacuation plans for Hawaii and the west coast of the U.S. flashed on TV sets and computer screens, I questioned the extent to which we’ll ever be prepared for disasters like these. As we focus on the lives lost, ...

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“Winning”! What Can HR Learn from Charlie Sheen?

March 7, 2011 – 4:14 am
By Taylor Korsak I was one of the over one million people to follow Charlie Sheen soon after he created his Twitter account this week. Why? Because I think he is the F18 he says he is. We’ve all closely followed a celebrity train-wreck at one time or another, but this one is particularly spectacular because Sheen has been wildly confrontational - of course at the cost of his job (for now) and his kids (for a few days) – as opposed to taking the backseat and saying very little. Oh by the way, Can we all just accept there’s something hypnotic about famous people messing up and move on? Newsflash: we’re voyeurs by nature, so please get over it. The truth is Sheen’s history is disgustingly misogynistic; he accidentally shot a fiancé, has been accused of assaulting several call-girls, and has threatened to behead a former wife. While these are significant reasons to ignore Sheen’s riotous ...

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Lessons from Tucson: We’ve Been Warned

January 14, 2011 – 10:44 am
By Taylor Korsak  Americans felt shock and grief in the wake of Saturday’s tragedy when a disturbed young man left 6 people dead and 14 wounded at a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona. In the aftermath, questions focus on missed opportunities for intervention and on how such horrors can be prevented in the future. A New York Times article entitled “College’s Policy on Troubled Students Raise Questions,” by A.G. Sulzberger and Trip Gabriel, notes Arizona’s Pima Community College may not have taken appropriate precautions when handling alleged gunman Jared L. Loughner’s suspension because the school neglected to mandate a psychiatric evaluation, an easier feat in Arizona than in most other states. The article also includes a statement from a co-author of a 2002 federal study on school violence who said that gunmen often experience a personal loss before acting out and that a suspension, though perfectly legal and in a school’s right, may only add ...

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There’s an Intern in the Room

January 7, 2011 – 10:06 am
By Taylor Korsak I had been used to a retail environment. I spent a little over two years answering customers’ questions, guiding folks ambling up and down aisles of DVDs, and making recommendations while dressed in an unflattering blue uniform. I began working retail looking for some pocket cash and structure in the summer before I entered Seton Hall University. It served me well and I stayed through November 2010, the first semester of my junior year. Then I came to IQPC as an editorial intern. In the strangeness of an office I noticed the low hum of people working together, bluish computer light flickering on their faces- the New York City well-dressed collection of them reading, typing, heads angling downward. As a college student, I am expected to intern at organizations in my corresponding field of study in order to gain experience and knowledge. How many organizations? More than a couple, I’m sure- or ...

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Safety, death and human resources

November 17, 2010 – 7:02 am
Years ago I was certified as an emergency-medical technician, one of those folks who acts as a first-responder in medical emergencies. I never did much with the certification, although I did go out on a few calls with other EMTs.  Once I was able to help a man who had collapsed in the subway. And on another horrible and sad day, I held the hand of a homeless man as he died after being hit by a truck. My EMT certification has long since expired. And I remember very little from my training. But sometimes I'll see or hear something that brings back a piece of what I learned. That's what happened earlier this week when I read the terrible news about a human-resources manager being killed in India. According to news reports, Joginder Singh was attacked by factory workers when layoffs were announced. As I read that piece and mourned the man's ...

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Protected speech vs. protecting the company

November 11, 2010 – 1:09 am
When writing about human-resources issues, it's often necessary to state the following: I'm not an attorney. It seems that the HR world has become so complex, so regulated and so litigious that it's become difficult to offer an opinion without wondering what the lawyers will make of it. Which brings us, of course, to the big news in the HR world this week: the National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint against a company that fired a worker because of disparaging remarks she made on Facebook about her supervisor. The case is more narrow than it may first appear. As the Harvard Business Review points out, the NLRB seems to be saying the worker's comments were a "concerted action" -- a federally protected form of speech tied to unionization efforts. No doubt lawyers on both sides will argue well and emphatically that writing mean things about your boss on Facebook is, or ...

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