January HR Notes Monday, January 7, 2008 HR Notes is brought to you by: The HR Group, a leader and innovator in employee benefits, human resource management and outsourcing. 615.244.8484 -- www.hrgrp.com

Register to win a free ticket to Cool School or HR Building Blocks!
We want to hear from you!

Please take our short online survey about internships and programming. In exchange for five minutes of your time, you can register to win a free ticket to attend either Cool School or HR Building Blocks in March. Click here to share your thoughts.


Solve your labor issues with Goodwill's Career Solutions
Dive into an untapped labor pool to find loyal, dependable workers
By Betty Johnson, courtesy of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee

As many businesses face a shrinking workforce, sourcing other options may keep you ahead of the game. Employing people with disabilities can be the economic advantage.

The Department of Labor Statistics estimates that between 2002 and 2012, 35 million people will leave their occupations and need to be replaced. Often overlooked, people with disabilities may finally find their niche in the competitive labor market. Read more »


Tennessee Supreme Court expands workers' compensation coverage
Includes those employees who work from home or maintain home offices
Labor & Employment Alert: Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. (2007, November 21).

In a case of first impression, the Tennessee Supreme Court expanded the coverage of workers' compensation statutes to include those employees who work from home or maintain home offices. The court addressed the issue in an opinion released Nov. 16.

The court noted a line of previous decisions holding that the workers' compensation act was to be liberally construed in favor of coverage for the employee. It also observed that the law was "a social welfare statute." The court took notice of the trend toward telecommuting as a way for employers to reduce overhead and to improve employee retention, loyalty and morale. Read more »


Discuss hot topics affecting your employees!
In our upcoming HR Building Blocks workshop series, experience conversations about focused information you can apply to your daily talent operations.

Join leading HR professionals and business owners to discuss the following topics:

Developing Effective Interview and Performance Evaluation Systems

Compensation, Salary Surveys and Bonus Structure

Employee Benefits in Addition to Health Care

Come prepared to share ideas and questions in this roundtable environment, and learn from individuals and companies who face similar issues.

Thursday, Jan. 24
Registration: 2:30 p.m.
AT&T Building (formerly BellSouth)
Click here to register.

Series Presenting Sponsor: Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz, PC
Associate Sponsor: Bottom Line Conversations


Junior Achievement in need of job shadow volunteers

Each spring, Junior Achievement (JA) holds a Job Shadow Day for students in Middle Tennessee. This year, more than 1,100 students in Metro Nashville Public Schools have requested job shadow hosts. JA would like to give all of these students the opportunity to spend a day seeing the businesses in their community firsthand. However, they currently only have hosts for fewer than 400 students.

If you are willing to host a middle school or high school student for three to four hours on Friday, Feb. 8, contact Shannon Truss of Junior Achievement at 615-627-1189 or shannont@janash.com.

For more information on job shadowing and its benefits, see www.janash.com/jobshadow.


Area College to Career Fair connects employers, college grads

For businesses looking to hire recent college graduates, the Nashville Area College to Career Fair is the place to be. The fair will take place Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, and is sponsored by participating colleges and universities in collaboration with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Employers interested in hiring juniors, graduating seniors, master's and Ph.D. candidates of 16 four-year colleges are encouraged to purchase booth space. Admission is only open to students and alumni from the participating schools (see list below).

The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, 500 Wedgewood Avenue. Registration for companies is $300, which includes a booth, two lunches and access to more than 1,000 qualified applicants. Deadline for booth purchase is January 29, 2008. Please visit www.nashvillefairs.org for more information or to register online. With registration questions, contact Bill Fletcher, Middle Tennessee State University, at bfletch@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2501. A Teacher Recruitment Fair will also be held on location, but attendance and registration are separate. More information is available at www.nashvillefairs.org.

Sponsor Colleges & Universities:
Aquinas College
Athens State University (AL)
Austin Peay State University
Belmont University
Cumberland University
Fisk University
Lipscomb University
Martin Methodist University
Middle Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee Technological University
Trevecca Nazarene University
University of the South
UT Space Institute
Vanderbilt University
Western Kentucky University


2008 HR Excellence Award

To the HR professional:

Are you looking for a way to confirm that your initiatives are adding value and getting results?
Do you want top executives to develop a better understanding of the strategic role you play in your organization?
Are you looking for a way to demonstrate that you deserve a seat at the table?

The HR Excellence Awards Program can help. Whether you're a top HR executive who wants to see how your programs compare to industry rivals, or a lone HR professional serving a small organization, participation in this program will benefit you. In fact, it may be a career-enhancing move! By guiding your company through the application and evaluation process, you are sending a clear message to line executives:

You're proactive. Dedicated to continuous improvement, you're constantly scanning the horizon for anything that will make your HR initiatives more effective.

You're strategic. You're a big-picture thinker who is eager to help your executive team anticipate the people-related implications of every operational decision.

You care about the bottom line. Your dedication to getting results motivates you to hold your programs up for examination by the area's leading HR experts.

Applications now available! Click here to download an application. New this year! Facet Award application: Organizations can now apply for one or more Facet of Excellence Awards without applying for the entire HR Excellence Award. Facet areas include: HR Strategy; HR Management; Employee Education, Training and Development; Measurement of HR Function and HR Organizational Level Performance; and Employee Well-Being and Satisfaction. Upcoming Information Sessions and Criteria Workshops: Click here for a list of upcoming workshops you can attend free of charge to learn more about the award process.

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At NashvilleJobsLink.com, you will find the right person for the job!

With more than 75,000 user sessions per month, qualified candidates can search by employer, career field or view all of the jobs posted each day!

NashvilleJobsLink.com is the only site partnered with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.