Labor Legislation

Nearly half of U.S. employers struggle to fill open positions

Even as millions of Americans hunt for jobs, nearly half of U.S. employers say they’re having trouble finding the right people to hire for open positions. Demand for skilled trades workers and engineers makes those jobs particularly difficult to...

Tags: Career and Workplace, Unemployment Benefits, Employment, Labor Markets, Employment Opportunities

Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Bob Dylan, others

WASHINGTON — President Obama pinned the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Bob Dylan's neck as the singer stood in the White House inscrutable in black sunglasses. "I have to say that I am a really big fan," Obama said as he introduced Dylan, one...

Tags: Crime, Law and Justice, Awards and Prizes, Career and Workplace, Barack Obama, Justice and Rights

Job seekers learn to tweak their resumes to dazzle a computer

PHILADELPHIA — In ancient Greece, priests gathered at the Temple of Apollo on Mount Parnassus, the better to interpret the deity-inspired prophecies of Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi. Google Inc., for all its omnipresence, is no deity, yet legions...

Tags: Delphi Corp, Kenexa Corporation, Media Industry, Career and Workplace, Economy, Business and Finance

401(k) fees could reduce average nest egg by 30%, study says

Here's the latest scary retirement statistic. The average American couple could pay nearly $155,000 in fees for their 401(k) plans over their careers, reducing their eventual nest eggs by more than 30%, according to a new report. Rather than the...

Tags: Mutual Funds, Retirement, Personal Finance, 401K, Career and Workplace

Settlement over alleged Cortines harassment could unravel

Making jobless go cold turkey isn't the answer [Video]

It's a mark of a civilized society that we look after the unfortunate during hard times. On that score, the United States is about to (once again) come up short. Hundreds of thousands of long-term jobless Americans are now receiving their final...

Tags: Democratic Party, Career and Workplace, Unemployment Benefits, Employment, Labor Markets

Dewey & LeBoeuf law firm files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Storied law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf – which once advised the Los Angeles Dodgers on their restructuring – is itself filing for Chapter 11 protection as it prepares to liquidate. It’s a far fall for the New York firm, which in its heyday...

Tags: Crime, Law and Justice, Bankruptcy, Career and Workplace, Legal Service, Financially Distressed Companies

California Senate OKs ban to keep employers from social media passwords

California's Senate doesn't think your employer should have access to your Facebook account, and now, it's passed a bill reflecting that attitude. The state Senate passed SB1349 Friday, which would make it illegal for employers and admissions officers at...

Tags: Social Media, Employees, Colleges and Universities, Ted Gaines, Career and Workplace

Democrats, losing ground in Wisconsin, play down recall election

WASHINGTON — Recent polls have pointed toward a victory for Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin’s June 5 recall election. But here’s the clearest evidence to date that national Democratic party officials believe their side is...

Tags: Democratic Party, Charity, Career and Workplace, Barack Obama, Tom Barrett

Typical CEO made $9.6 million last year, study finds

Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for chief executives. The head of a typical public company made $9.6 million in 2011, according to an analysis using data from Equilar, an executive pay research firm. That was up...

Tags: Corporate Performance, Philippe P. Dauman, Career and Workplace, Animal Planet (tv network), TLC (tv network)

Guest worker idea stuck in web of politics

DELANO, Calif. — "You'd think agriculture would have Republican politicians on our side, but on this issue we don't," Kevin Andrew was saying as we toured some grape fields north of Bakersfield, where farmworkers were thinning vines. Come harvest...

Tags: Work Relations, Democratic Party, Career and Workplace, Republican Party, Kevin McCarthy

Newton: Greuel's hot hand

It's still very, very early in the campaign to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, but right now, it's City Controller Wendy Greuel who's playing the hot hand. The only independent poll shows her in a tie with City Council President Eric Garcetti and...

Tags: Zev Yaroslavsky, Eric Garcetti, Career and Workplace, Lobbying, Richard Riordan