Understand Employee-Employer Agreements

                   

Be sure you’re agreeing to what you want, when you take a job. Don’t misread employment application fine print.

                       

Many companies include a mandatory arbitration clause. That means you agree to give up your right to take disputes to court, even when the employer has broken the law. Employers in financial services, health care and pharmaceuticals usually favor arbitration because it keeps costs down. It also prevents cases from being tried in the media.

                       

When the case goes to an arbitrator, the grounds for appeal are limited. The National Employment Lawyers

Association estimates that more than 30 million Americans are bound by arbitration clauses at work.

                       

A recent study found that arbitrators decided in favor of employees about 30% of the time, and when the individual arbitrator had worked previously on a case with the employer, the employee won only 12% of the time. Employees can often fare better in court because jurors are more easily swayed.

                       

Note: Arbitrators are not necessarily prejudiced. They may be wiser than jurors. But employees do not always have the better case. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Mismanagement Can Cause Heavy Layoffs

                         

I know the experts among the financial media and journalists are elated when companies sharply pare back expenses with massive layoffs. But then again, these observers really don’t have genuine business acumen.

                       

Something is amiss if management has overstaffed to a point where a sudden decision is necessary to lay off thousands of employees in one fell swoop. Forward planning to that point had to have been in considerable error.

                       

Moreover, it’s costly to train lower, middle and then higher management, only to suddenly get rid of them; perhaps soon afterwards, to start new hiring cycles, when times become better. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Why Overseas Pharmaceutical Costs Vary

                     

The media often give the impression that drug prices are too high in the U.S., compared to Canada and Europe.

                       

Prices for the same pharmaceuticals are certainly much lower overseas. But pharmaceutical companies there are forced to sell there below true cost.

                       

To do that with foreign governments holding guns to their heads, they must raise prices in the U.S, to make their profit. Otherwise, no further business.

                       

And if there is no business, no drugs can be produced. A company spends as much as a billion dollars to find and research a new drug before it’s on the market.

                       

Think about this the next tine you get a lesson from a politician on the enormous profits drug companies make. Furthermore, if the companies are so profitable, why are not all the experts on Wall Street falling over each other buying drug stocks? You will notice that pharmaceutical securities are not always investor favorites. They are merely politician scapegoats. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Real Unemployment Figures

                      

The conventional media overlooks the real unemployment numbers.

                       

As examples: There are those, who once jobless find

new employment within reasonable time. Then, there are those with in-between jobs that may be just temporary or part time. And others during a recession, who go off for work in totally fewer skills, for less work hours.

                       

The number of weeks someone is unemployed is an important statistic. While many unemployed give up seeking work and, if able, retire earlier under Social Security at reduced benefits.

                       

New job creation figures are important. Look also to see the type of jobs created. Government work is not creative. It does not have a multiplier effect as does private industry jobs.

                       

The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a whole list of unemployment categories. The real, practical number varies greatly from public announcements. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The Equal Pay For Women Question

                      

No doubt women had been discriminated against in the past. The question is whether they still are, when anti- discrimination laws have been around for decades and penalties are severe.

                       

Women still tend to earn less. But there can be valid reasons. Many women leave jobs in mid-career for maternity reasons; that distorts statistical averages. Others prefer to spend more time with family,

                       

Still, there are more variations in certain professions than others. Hostile environment may often remain. Occurrences depend on profession or industry.

                       

Women’s needs may also differ within those jobs, especially where measures of hostility may actually exist. So you cannot evaluate discrimination charges in such instances without further investigation. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Government Job Creation is Often Stymied

                                          

Government statistics often reflect fantasy jobs: Make work. Whether at a government office or at a construction site. Hand out a pick and shovel, if that’s what it takes.

Or place folks on unemployment insurance. Some say that resultant demand for goods and services will produce jobs.

                       

Good old Keynesian theory that does not work in practice and never does for long, if it ever does temporarily.

                       

Getting down to reality, many politicians have no concept of creating jobs, that of using the psychology of entrepreneurial spirit. That is why they will tax small business in the depths of a severe downturn. That’s why tax exemptions, not their tax cuts, are only short-term.

Or why politicians raise minimum wages for small business during economic recessions. And their use of such dampening forces to see that jobs are not created.

                       

Basically, the Left does not like business. They look at profits as criminal, to be taxed away for redistribution back to the community by wise governmental bureaucrats. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Teacher’s Pay and Education Reality

                       

Real dollars spent on education have more than doubled in the past forty years as teachers unions have gotten stronger. The bulk of increase represent teacher salaries and pensions.

                       

The number of teachers have increased by more than one third. Yet less than 40% of students who graduate are ready for college level. And, of course, do not measure up to international standards.

                       

A solution is possible, in the form of charter schools where union rules are somewhat relaxed and school vouchers, where funds are allocated to public education. set aside for parents to use for private school tuition. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)