With the accusations against Hollywood film producer and executive Harvey Weinstein coming fast and furious, we are once again confronted by the specter of sexual harassment and assault in the United States. Of course, the situation should not come as a surprise (although sometimes it seems to): within only the past few years, we have […]
American workplace
First Anniversary!
One year ago, I posted my first blog on WisdomWordsPPF.org! I thought I would provide a review of the topics and topic areas, to give new visitors a feel for what I have been covering and to help sporadic visitors to get caught up. (Note that there are overlaps in the following selections.) Posts on […]
News Stories that Don’t Go Far Enough
They stop short: journalists reporting stories about serious problems in the US, in even the most respected outlets, who often stop at the problem rather than explore possible solutions. Significantly, many possible solutions can be found in Europe and other advanced nations. While I greatly appreciate the depth and professionalism in which the journalists cover […]
The American Workplace 6: Summary and Suggestions
We need to be honest about the state of workers and the workplace in the United States of America: in many cases, the situation for millions of individuals and families is demoralizing, unhealthy, detrimental to the social fabric, and sometimes downright dangerous. We have seen in this series how US workers have virtually no job […]
The American Workplace 5: Wages, Savings and Debt
How is your dollar doing? A look at some statistics about wages, savings and debt in the US is instructive. If you are not doing terribly well financially, you are not alone – and there are ways out of our collective problems, if we are willing to look seriously at ideas from other nations and […]
The American Workplace 4: Work and Overwork
Work – overwork – the dignity of work. In this fourth installment of my series on the American workplace, I want to challenge the pervasive American notion that working excessively is a virtue and that not working practically around the clock means that one is a “slacker.” I also want to put the issue into […]
The American Workplace 3: Bullying
One of the uglier secrets of many American workplaces is the phenomenon of bullying. According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, workplace bullying is defined as “repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators. It is abusive conduct that is: “Threatening, humiliating, or intimidating, or “Work interference — sabotage […]
The American Workplace 2: Paid Leave
In our previous blog, we discussed job security and the absence of national legislation in the US ensuring it. In Europe and many other nations, as we saw, there is national legislation. However, the US does not have nation-wide laws that mandate paid time off for workers – sick leave, vacation time and holidays, and […]
The American Workplace 1: At-will Employment Continued
Over the next few weeks, I will be addressing issues having to do with the American workplace. Because work is such a vital part of most Americans’ lives, and because Americans spend so much of their time in the workplace, it is an issue of social justice: how people are treated, and how workplace practices, […]