Delaware Employment Law Blog

When I posted my estimates for the Top 5 Workplace Resolutions for the New Year, I failed to mention my year-round resolution to work to improve my writing.  It's a skill everyone needs and, as we become more dependent on e-mail, Twitter, and text messages, it's a skill that's easy to forget about.  So, to make sure I don't forget to work on my writing, I turn to a bunch of resources for help.  And, because I'm a big fan of sharing, I'm sharing those resources with our readers.  In the first of three posts in this series, I wrote about my 10 favorite writing blogs that take a funny perspective on proper language skills. 

In this second post in the series, I share 20 Online Dictionaries that you may find useful sometime.  You never know when you'll need to look up a phrase spoken to you in Philly slang.  In the third post in the series, I'll get back to the serious stuff with 30 of the best blogs about writing.  Until then, enjoy!

1. A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms
2. American Heritage Dictionary
3. American Sign Language Dictionary
4. Astronomy and Space Dictionary
5. Building and General Construction Technology Dictionary
6. Cut-the-Knot Glossary of Mathematical Terms
7. Dictionary of American Regional English
8. Dictionary of Sanskrit Terms
9. Encyclopedia of Law and Economics
10. FOLDOC  Computing Dictionary
11. Glossary of Applied Linguistics
12. Glossary of Managed Care Terms
13. Lectric Law Library's Legal Dictionary
14. Mobspeak Glossary
15. NetLingo The Internet Dictionary
16. One Look - includes reverse lookup
17. Online Etymology Dictionary
18. Oxford English Dictionary News
19. Philly Tawk
20. RhymeZone
21. Street Drug Slang Dictionary
22. Sushi Glossary
23. The Phrontistery, Online Dictionary of Uncommon and Unusual Words
24. Yiddish dictionary
25. Your Dictionary

Want to go green in the office for 2009?  Sure you do!  It's one of our new year's resolutions, remember?  Well, there's no time like the present.  Going green at work doesn't require a company-wide initiative--there's plenty that can be done at the individual level that can have real impact.  Of course, the more, the merrier.  So get some friends to join you in your eco-friendly endeavors.  Here are just a few ways you can make the move towards a greener office today. 

Curb Your Paper Consumption

The average U.S. office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year.  (If that's the average across all industries, I dread to think how much the average law firm employee uses.)

An easy and effective way to reduce the amount of paper used in your office is to get into the habit of printing on both sides of the page.  Our printer will print double-sided easily, so we print just about all of our documents this way.  (An added bonus is the fact that our binders are half as small as they used to be!) 
Also, print in draft mode whenever possible. The ink you save will save the company money, as well as help reduce its carbon footprint. By purchasing remanufactured ink cartridges, you can contribute significantly.  According to Office Depot, for each remanufactured ink cartridge used, approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic are kept out of landfills and about a half a gallon of oil is conserved.

Employers can build employee morale in countless ways. The most effective, though, are often overlooked because they're not as glossy as others.  For my nickel, the most effective employee-engagement strategies also are the lowest cost strategies.  Training, for example, can be a low-cost (or free!) way to motivate employees at any time.  It costs nothing to take a moment to recognize a job well done.  As Ken Blanchard would call it, "One-Minute Recognition."

The most costly employee-engagement strategies, on the other hand, can be the least effective.  Wally Block at Three Star Leadership posted about a recent N.Y. Times article that asserts the very same claim. In the article, Kelley Holland proposes that employers can't engage employees with "team-building" activities--at least not the traditional team-building that we know.  And I certainly do agree.  Strongly.

Can we all agree that a round of the Egg-Drop Game at the annual retreat simply is not sufficient to build any kind of team?  And why not?  If it's not obvious, the egg-drop game and it's corporate-sponsored brother, the Wilderness Adventure, cannot build true employee engagement because they're insincere.  Give your employees a little more credit than that, already. 

Insincerity is a poison and it's an obvious one.  It's easy to spot a lame, once-annual attempt to corral the worker bees together over hamburgers and s'mores, put on a happy face, and calling it "team building."  Your employees don't buy it.  When they return to work on Monday, they know that there is no change on the horizon.  Everything returns to normal and no team is ever formed.

Instead of spending money on these external programs and getting no results, try something different.  Try something that costs nothing and is far more effective.  Try saying "thank you."  Try greeting your direct reports and colleagues with a friendly, "Good morning" instead of gruffing past them into your office, closing the door behind you. 

Take a minute to appreciate the extra efforts of a team member--and let them know that you noticed.  Even if this means that you need to schedule time to be nice.  Fine, do it. 

Put it on your calendar--three times a day, in 5-minute increments--"Engage Employees."  When the "appointment" arrives, just look up.  Catch someone doing something right--or even almost right--and tell them that you noticed.  Be sincere.  You'll be amazed at the results.

New FMLA regulations go into effect on January 16, 2009.  On January 13, 2009, Delaware attorneys William W. Bowser and Scott A. Holt will be speaking to Delaware employers about how to comply with the new regs.  Delaware Society of Human Resources will host the event at Cavalier Country Club, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

For those Delaware employers who are not members of DESHRM, the Employment Law Department will host a breakfast briefing at the end of the month on the new regulations, as well.  More information on the details of that seminar will follow.  Until then, you can get a head start on the topic by checking out these earlier posts:

• Department of Labor Issues Long-Awaited FMLA Regulations

• New FMLA Regulations Define Scope of Active-Duty Leave

• New FMLA Regulations Explain Military-Caregiver Leave

• 10 Most Important Changes to the FMLA Regulations

Our FMLA breakfast briefing sold out in two days!  Thank you to everyone who registered so quickly for this update on the new FMLA regulations.  If you weren't one of the early birds, don't worry, we're adding a second session. 

Due to the immense popularity, we're adding a second session.  We will conduct the same presentation at 2 pm on January 30, 2009.

Other than the time, everything about the seminar will remain the same.  Same place (the YCS&T offices in downtown Wilmington, Delaware).  Same date (January 30, 2009).  Same great presenters (William W. Bowser, Scott A. Holt, and Molly DiBianca).  And the same maximum attendees per organization per session (2). 

Don't delay, though, the afternoon session is expected to sell out almost as quickly as the morning session did.  The registration form is below.  We hope to see you then!

New Years' resolutions aren't my thing. If they were, I'd resolve to continue to develop my writing skills.   But, since it's not quite January 1, I'll go with something a little more light hearted first.  Here are 10 of my favorite blogs on which I hope my writing is never featured.   Happy New Year!

1. Apostrophe Abuse
2. Banterist: Grammar Cop
3. Grammar Blog: I Get Gerund
4. Literally, a Web Log
5. Mr. Rewrite
6. SPOGG
7. The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks
8. The Grammar Vandal
9. The Perplexicon
10. Language Log

Writing and legal writing in particular are the actual topics of this post.  As mentioned in an earlier post, I don't actually make any resolutions for the new year.  But I'm a sucker for a catchy title, so I'm going to say this series is about New Year's resolutions anyway.  One of my year-round goals ( i.e., my resolutions),  is to improve my writing skills.  Today there is no more powerful tool than the written word.  The written and spoken word is today's pinstripe suit.  

Most of my court appearances today are made via a teleconference with the judge and opposing counsel also on the phone.  It is not uncommon for me to meet a client in person for the first time after having counseled them for more than a year.  With the phone and e-mail, face-to-face encounters have become less and less common. 

As a result, the image of the lawyer in the perfectly presentable pinstripe suit carries far less significance.  If you never see the lawyer, what he or she is wearing becomes close to irrelevant.  What you do "see" is your lawyer's words.  Which is why it is important to me to maintain a proper "word wardrobe," if you will.

I won't deny that I still love a well-made suit, pinstripe or not, and I won't pretend that I have the slightest intention of abandoning my devotion to fashion.  But I recognize that it will suit me best to invest in today's most important accessories--my writing and language skills. 

In this multi-part series, I'll talk about various ways to improve this valuable accessory and the resources that can help.  For today, here are the ways I work on my writing annually, quarterly, and daily. 

Annually  

I attend one writing seminar a year.  The best I've ever attended, without a doubt, was one by Bryan A. Garner.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of his Legal Writing seminars, you should drop whatever you are doing and sign up.  It can revolutionize your writing.  Especially if you've read his books, his seminars are great for putting that theory into practice.

Quarterly 

Then, a few times a year, I ask other writers to read and comment on my work.  Our writing-guru-in-residence, John Paschetto, in particular, is an amazing resource.  I can say, without hesitation, that John is the most skilled writer I have ever had the pleasure to meet.  In addition to being a partner in our firm's Business Planning Section, and a remarkably skilled editor, he also has a way of commenting on the written word in such a way that makes the recipient want to get better. 

Daily

And, on a daily basis, I turn to the internet, where writing resources are diverse and plentiful.  Of course, I utilize the current and timely content available in the blogosphere.  I also employ a variety of content-rich websites that cover every topic imaginable and serve as inspiration and motivation when writing becomes more of a chore than a pleasure.   

In subsequent posts in this series, I'll divulge my list of the best resources the web has to offer those who want to improve their writing.  The posts will include:

1. 10 of the Funniest Blogs About Bad Writing;
2. 20 Online Dictionaries;
3. 30 of the Best Blogs About Writing;
4. 40 of the Best Books About Writing; and
5. 50 of the Best Writing References Online.

Employers don't care that their employees browse the internet all day long.  They don't care that employees do their holiday shopping online from the comfort of their offices.  Employers don't care that employees' internet usage exposes their companies to substantial security risks.  I'm convinced--they just don't care. 

Most employers do not have any rules about online shopping during working time.  And, of those employers who do have some sort of web policy that limits employee use, just a few have a program in place to monitor online activities. 

Millennials are the most likely group of employees to put their companies at risk over the holiday season.  An estimated 4 out of 10 U.S. workers aged 18-24 will spend up to five hours shopping online--on their work computers--this holiday season, according to the Shopping On the Job survey. 

That's more than half a working day!  

Not only are Gen Y employees the most likely to browse the web for that hard-to-find gift but they are also the least worried about the vulnerability of their work computers.  Millennials tend to be less concerned about safe web browsing when compared to their older colleagues. 

Despite the many voices of concern that online activity will have a negative impact on productivity and will expose the company's internal network to serious security risk, there doesn't seem to be much to prevent it. 

Is this because employers really don't understand the amount of potential loss?  Or do they not realize that, without a proactive procedure in place to deal with this risk, employees are not likely to change their habits?  Or maybe employers don't know what types of procedures to implement as a way to combat the potential losses associated with employees' online use during the holiday season. 

Other Posts on Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace:

Survey Says:  Employers' Policies on Technology in the Workplace

Is It Time to Update Your Electronic Communications Policy? If you’re the Mayor of Detroit, the answer is “Yes”

Blogs In the Workplace

Somebody's Watching You:  New Data on Electronic Monitoring by Employers

Women who serve on a board of directors do so differently than their male counterparts.  According to two Harvard scholars, there are significant differences between boards with and without female officers. Some of the differences include:

1. Women are less likely to have attendance problems than men.
2. The more women on the board, the better behaved are the male directors. 
3. Women are more likely to sit on monitoring-related committees than male directors. In particular, women are more likely to be assigned to audit, nominating, and corporate governance committees.
4. Men are more likely than women to serve on compensation committees.
5. Boards with gender diversity are more likely to hold CEOs accountable for poor stock price performance.

If these conclusions are accurate, would our country's economy be in a better state if only there had been more female directors?  Would women have held corporations more accountable for their conduct?

An employer's right to monitor employees' electronic communications is a very popular topic.  There are numerous questions in this area of the law that remain unanswered.  For example, can an employer can lawfully retrieve an ex-employee's personal e-mails sent and received from the company's computers?  The 9th Circuit took a shot at another big question earlier this year in Quon v. Archer, when it held that an employee's text messages were personal and could not be viewed by the employer--even though the pager used to send and receive the text messages was the employer's property.  Employees' text messages can result in significant consequences for their employment--just ask the former mayor of Detroit. 

What seems to get many employees into trouble is their misconceptions about the security of their electronic data.  It seems that many workers don't believe that their employers could access electronic mail and messages, even if the employer was inclined to do so.  Well, that is just plain wrong.  Electronic data can be retrieved.  And it's a lot easier than you may think.  A new product on the market, Sim Card Spy Elite by Brickhouse Security, is a compelling example of this fact.

The Sim Card Spy Elite is a recovery device that can retrieve "deleted" data from a SIM card.**  Just pop the SIM card out of a cell phone and insert it into the Spy Elite.  Then insert the Spy Elite into your computer and, Voila!  All of the data that you thought had been deleted from the cellphone is instantly restored.  Names, text messages, and last-dialed numbers are given new life.  The data can be viewed, printed, and even edited--all for the low price of $199.95.   

As technology continues to improve, powerful tools like this are going to become easier and easier for the masses to obtain.  No longer are these items accessible only to security insiders.  Not only should employees be wary of the potential use of these tools by their employers but, as the Larry Mendte saga made evident, employers must also be cognizant of the possible use of spy devices by employees as tools for coworker sabotage and espionage.  It's not as fictional as it may sound.  Just ask Alycia Lane.

**A SIM card is a tiny circuit board for cell phones that contains the user's account information. SIM cards are interchangeable between phones, allowing users to program a new phone by just switching the SIM card.