Randstad News Release (04/26/12)
Randstad Holdings reported earnings for the first quarter of 2012 today. On a pro forma basis, organic revenue was 1% higher than the same period a year ago.
Ben Noteboom, chief executive officer at Randstad, says, “In North America, we continue to see excellent performance across the board.” For the company overall, revenue in the quarter was up 12% to € 4,152.4 million.
Buyers of a business generally expect sellers to be responsible for certain liabilities relating to when the seller owned its business—a concept mergers and acquisitions professionals refer to as indemnification. Indemnification is one of the most heavily negotiated, and potentially most significant, provisions of a purchase agreement, and understanding the terminology common to such agreements is essential when negotiating a deal. Attorney Paul Pincus of Ortoli Rosenstadt LLP explains what sellers are liable for, how a seller’s liability may be limited, and how buyers may seek to fund potential indemnity claims.
TrueBlue News Release (04/25/12)
TrueBlue Inc. has reported net income for the first quarter of $1.5 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared with net income of $0.8 million or $0.02 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011. Revenue for the quarter was $311 million, an increase of 13% compared with revenue of $274 million for the first quarter of 2011.
“We had another quarter of solid execution across the business,” says TrueBlue chief executive officer Steve Cooper. For the second quarter, TrueBlue estimates revenue in the range of $350 million to $360 million and net income per diluted share for the quarter of $0.22 to $0.27.
Wall Street Journal (04/26/12) Eric Morath; Tom Barkley
The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits was virtually unchanged last week at 388,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday, keeping claims near their highest level of 2012. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 389,000 from 386,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires predicted that 376,000 new claims would be filed last week. The four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out week-to-week volatility, increased by 6,250 to 381,750, the highest reading since the first week of the year.
USA Today (04/26/12) Tim Mullaney
The U.S. Federal Reserve has issued a positive economic forecast for this year, but fed chairman Ben Bernanke cautions that there may be an economic downturn in 2013 if Congress fails to take action on expiring tax cuts and planned spending cuts by the end of 2012. The central bank says the economy may grow as fast as 2.9% this year. Unemployment is declining more quickly than the central bank had expected, Bernanke says, and could fall to as low as 7.8%—from 8.2% currently—by the end of the year.
Los Angeles Times (04/25/12) Marc Lifsher
Since California’s economy has shown signs of improvement and its unemployment rate fell to 11% in March, FED-ED, a federal extension of unemployment insurance benefits, will end May 12. This means that nearly 100,000 unemployed residents will lose jobless benefits at that time. Additionally, the maximum time for benefits will fall from 99 weeks currently to 89 weeks on May 13, 79 weeks on May 27, and 73 weeks on Sept. 2.
Save up to $400 when you register by May 18 for Staffing World 2012, Oct. 9–11 in Las Vegas.
Jim Collins, Liz Wiseman, and Simon Mainwaring will be the featured speakers at the ASA annual convention, which offers more than 30 premier workshops, elite networking, and the largest staffing industry expo. No other industry event offers so many effective business strategies and industry best practices.
Plus when you register for a full convention and expo package at full price, you’ll get 10% off each subsequent full convention and expo, and one-day convention and expo packages for additional attendees from your company.
To learn more and to register, visit staffingworld.org.
Wall Street Journal (04/26/12) Jess Bravin
The Obama administration argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday that Arizona exceeded its powers by asking police officers to check the immigration status of people they stop, but the justices seemed skeptical. It remains unclear which components of the state law, such as making it a criminal offense for illegal immigrants to look for a job, will be upheld. Federal law penalizes companies that hire illegal immigrants and people who use fake documents to get a job, but federal law doesn’t penalize illegal immigrants for merely seeking work, which the Arizona law seeks to do. “The state of Arizona, in this case, is imposing some significantly greater sanctions” than Congress did, said chief justice John Roberts.
The Workplace Class Action Blog (04/25/12) Pamela Devata; Frederick Smith
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has published new guidance on the use of arrest and conviction records in the hiring process. Therefore, companies are advised to consider altering their use of criminal history. The guidance is based on the premise that “national data support a finding that criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact.” The guidance also points to studies showing that criminal records are frequently incomplete and inaccurate.
Business Management Daily (04/21/12)
Experts say managers can alter employee time sheets to make corrections like missed vacation days, but doing so without the employee’s knowledge, without a sound business reason, and in a way that alters the employee’s pay could constitute a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employers should discipline employees who allow co-workers to punch them in or consistently forget to punch in, but they must compensate employees for time worked even if they are not punched in. Exempt employees can be required to use time cards or time sheets to ensure they work the minimum amount of hours and to keep track of vacation, sick, and personal time. However, their wages should not be calculated based on the time recorded, and managers should monitor them to be sure they do not put in overtime without prior authorization.
CareerBuilder News Release (04/25/12)
A new study from ASA corporate partner CareerBuilder and CareerRookie.com concludes that the college graduating class of 2012 is heading into a better job market than alumni of the previous three years. More than half of employers (54%) reported they plan to hire recent college graduates in 2012, up from 46% in 2011, 44% in 2010, and 43% in 2009.
“This is the first time since the recession that we’re seeing a majority of employers planning to add recent college graduates to their employee roster,” says Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. “Companies across industries are placing a strong emphasis on recruiting fresh talent for technology-related roles and positions designed to drive revenue—and they’re willing to pay more for high-skill, educated labor.”
Of those employers that plan to hire recent college graduates, 29% expect to offer higher starting salaries than they did in 2011. While employers were most likely to report that they would pay between $30,000 and $40,000, a significant portion (28%) will extend offers exceeding $50,000.
Wanted Analytics (04/25/12) Abby Lombardi
Concerns about cyber security are prompting an increase in hiring demand for computer security specialists. More than 5,500 job ads for the occupation were posted online in March, a 32% increase in hiring demand compared with a year ago, and an all-time high. Washington, DC, New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Baltimore posted the highest volume of job ads for the occupation. Companies in the Washington, DC, area are having some of the greatest difficulties recruiting applicants with the needed skills.
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