Micheal Vandervort

Do a Better Job of Managing Your Brand Touchpoints!

Executives: Talk to your employees! There is a really good article in Fortune reminding executives they be doing a much better job of communicating with employees who don’t work at a desk. If your business depends on an army of delivery drivers, cooks, and waitpersons, retail sales staffers, field technicians, or other employees who move around [...]

May 6, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Legislative Update: NLRB: It’s Broke and You Can’t Fix It!

by Micheal Vandervort

Fast, Furious, Ineffective Dysfunctional continues to be the watchword regarding news related to the National Labor Relations Board. The activity related to fixing the operational problems is moving at a fast and furious, but mostly ineffectual pace. Here’s a news summary with some relevant links for you to check out. New NLRB Nominations President Obama is attempting to return [...]

April 16, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Donglegate: HR Gone Wild

by Micheal Vandervort

Donglegate is just a workplace issue gone wild…. Today’s post is a morality play, filled with arrogance, rudeness, naivety and stupidity. That’s because I am writing about harassment, sexual and otherwise – and the potential outocmes of dealing with the stupidity of sexual harassment. Or maybe I am only joking. Have you heard about Donglegate yet? [...]

March 27, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Does the Pope Get Severance Pay?

by Micheal Vandervort

Somewhere in the Vatican right now, a frantic HR clerk is searching through dusty record boxes trying to find the information on how to do the retirement benefits for a Pope. Nobody has used those specific policies since Gregory XII left the office in 1415. That’s right, Pope Benedict has given his two week resignation notice. [...]

February 11, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

The NLRB is out of business…maybe

by Micheal Vandervort

A DC Circuit court ruling may have put the National Labor Relations Board out of business – or not. It depends on who you want to listen to. If you line up on the Conservative side of things, then this ruling is the greatest day in the history of the United States since Ronald Reagan was [...]

January 28, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Labor Relations Round-up for January

by Micheal Vandervort

Time for the first labor relations round-up of 2013, and a prediction you can take to the bank. The NLRB will continue to make life much more complicated for HR practitioners throughout the year. 5 Must Read Stories Labor negotiations with dock workers could disrupt business on U.S. east coast NLRB releases annual report for [...]

January 14, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Who will be the next Secretary of Labor for Obama?

by Micheal Vandervort

Yesterday, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis made the rather surprising (and somewhat late) announcement that she was resigning from the Obama administration. Solis had been the first, and only, Hispanic woman in a top Cabinet post in the Obama administration. She was also viewed as a friend to labor unions and organized labor. President Obama [...]

January 10, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Living on an Expense Account

by Micheal Vandervort

Living on an expense account ain’t easy Do you have a love hate relationship with business travel? I know I do. When I’m on the road for extended periods of time, I start to get cranky and bitch a lot about being away from home. When I get stuck in the office for too long, I start [...]

January 9, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

You have the Right to Work – and not pay union dues in Michigan

by Micheal Vandervort

Michigan Right to Work law creates controversy Last week, Michigan became the 24th U.S. state to adopt a “Right to Work” (RTW) law. According to media reports, the law was passed at near warp speed, and caused a shock wave of controversy and discussion. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder who approved the law just twenty minutes after it landed [...]

December 17, 2012 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Bad Reviews. There’s a US Department of Labor App for That

by Micheal Vandervort

US DOL App & Your Government Dollars at Work Ever wanted to have an app from the U.S. Department Labor on your smartphone? You can finally make your dream come true. There’s now an app that helps customers identify for that. The U. S. Department of Labor is getting into the mobile applications game with something [...]

November 19, 2012 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

10 Labor Relations Resources for Tuesday’s Election & Beyond

by Micheal Vandervort

Tuesday is Election Day 2012 Election Day 2012 is looming. No matter how the election turns out, the results of the vote on Tuesday are going to impact labor policy in the United States. No matter who elected, you can expect the NLRB to continuing moving forward with the vigorous reform agenda they have been [...]

November 5, 2012 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

How Labor Unions Are Stealing Your Brand to Organize & Campaign Online

by Micheal Vandervort

Read more about how unions are using social media and the internet to actively organize, recruit, and campaign online. Click here. Insights into Trademark Infringement, Unions, & the Internet One of the first rules of brand protection is enforcement action anything that looks or smells like infringement on your brand name, trademark or other [...]

October 22, 2012 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Understanding HR’s Role In Mergers and Acquisitions

by Micheal Vandervort

Human Resources Involvement in Mergers and Acquisitions Over the course of my career, I’ve been involved in several merger and acquisition activities. If you have ever been involved in one, you know I’m not exaggerating when I say that dealing with an M&A is one of the most complicated projects you will ever undertake. Whether [...]

September 24, 2012 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Do You Know Who is Using Your Email at Work?

by Micheal Vandervort

“Just drop me an email, and I’ll get right back to you on that.” How many times a day do you say that? Email at work is like the phone on your desk. It’s company property to be used as necessary for company business. It’s a workplace communication tool, ready and available for your use [...]

September 10, 2012 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

How Labor Relations Impacts HR Even If You are Union Free

by Micheal Vandervort

Labor Relations is old school HR For many human resources professionals, labor relations is a part of old school personnel work. Not the kind of stuff we do anymore in a world with social media,talent communities and millennials demanding instant promotions. The place I work doesn’t even have a union, how is going to affect [...]