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• 73% of respondents identified whistleblowing and retaliation as an emerging risk area and 96% are either very concerned or moderately concerned about potential whistleblower claims.
• Although a high percentage of respondents (45%) indicated that their company had experienced a whistleblower claim in the last 12-24 months, 67% anticipated whistleblower claims to increase within the next 12-24 months.
• While respondents were undoubtedly concerned about whistleblowing activity and were anticipating an increase in claims, the financial incentives created by Dodd-Frank are relatively new and it is anticipated that the level of concern will rise in the next 12-24 months as companies continue to feel the impact of these changes.
• Respondents also expressed concern that provisions within Dodd-Frank could undermine their compliance programs. Only 12% of respondents indicated this was not a concern, while 51% were concerned and 37% remain unclear on the impact on their current procedures.

Littler surveyed 51 senior legal, compliance and human resources executives at publicly traded or highly regulated companies, the vast majority of which were based in the United States. Of those participating, by Standard and Poor's definitions, 60% were LargeCap companies, 26% were MidCap and 14% were SmallCap.

The survey also found that companies were somewhat confident about their ability to protect against whistleblower claims, but were taking steps to better prepare and train management on compliance with government regulations and proper handling of whistleblower claims:

• The majority of respondents (65%) believed that their companies were only moderately prepared to handle whistleblower claims and 8% were not prepared at all. Furthermore, only 54% were confident that executives in their organizations understand unlawful retaliation concepts and knew not to engage in such conduct, while 32% were not confident and 14% did not know.
• 84% of respondents indicated their companies had taken preventative steps to protect against unlawful retaliation claims. In addition, whistleblower and/or retaliation-related training appeared to be prevalent at the companies surveyed, with 41% conducting training in the next 12 months, 18% planning to do so and 27% considering implementing such training.
• Respondents from LargeCap companies expressed greater concern about whistleblower claims, with 73% anticipating claims will increase within the next 12-24 months (compared to 66% of all respondents). A higher percentage of respondents from LargeCap companies indicated they have taken preventative steps to protect against unlawful retaliation claims (93%) and 59% will be conducting training in the next 12 months.

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Global technology and accounting firms are leading the way to putting the "fun" back into business fundamentals. For example, one company's game challenges employees to increase a virtual city's efficiency, and another incorporates gaming into its Leadership Academy. While no metrics currently exist to gauge the effectiveness of workplace games, a cited study shows employees who used video games while training had better factual learning skills, reached higher skill levels, and were better able to retain information compared to non-interactive learners.

Despite its noted potential in the workplace, at least one communications professor advises that companies should ensure that games do not get out of hand. He reasons that what might be perceived by some employees as healthy competition could create resentment among others.

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A security expert quoted in a related report by Workforce Management noted that, in addition to physical safety concerns, companies must concern themselves with "computer hacking, pre-employment screening and other types of security concerns." He also noted that businesses need crisis preparedness plans addressing all issues, and recommended that companies with sensitive data perform pre-employment background checks. However, employers conducting such checks must ensure they comply with applicable privacy and discrimination laws.

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• Nearly 75% of surveyed human resources practitioners report a negative impact on benefits due to the economy, up from 70% in 2010.
• Ninety-three percent of respondents' employers offer defined contribution pension plans, compared with only 22% that offer defined benefit pension plans.
• Health savings accounts are becoming more prevalent while HMO plans continue to decline in popularity.
• In the past five years, 25% of employers have offered housing and relocation programs (e.g., assistance selling previous home, cost-of-living differential, spouse relocation assistance), a decrease from 42% in 2007.
• Though employers may see a $6 gain on a $1 investment in wellness programs, the number of companies offering such programs has remained flat, at around 59%.

One offering showing a gain in popularity is workplace flexibility benefits: More than 50% of respondents' companies offer flex time (up from 45% in 2010), and 20% offer full-time telecommuting, up from 17 % in 2010.

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• 2011: The United States placed highest in 2011, and is projected to remain atop the rankings in 2015. However, other countries are becoming increasingly competitive, due to their greater spending on education and more open labor laws.
• 2015 Projections: China will boast the largest score improvement due to its openness to foreign labor, while Canada will experience the most dramatic rankings rise (from 14th to 8th) because of a boom in the gas and oil industries.
• Education is Key: Australia's high rankings - 6th (2011) and 7th (2015) - are attributed in large part to high-quality universities. India, which is ranked 35th in 2011 and 2015, is impressive on some indicators, but progress is impeded by its "poor standard of mainstream education."

Of the more than 400 executives surveyed, one in three are not satisfied with the quality of hires over the last two years. Compared to two years ago, executives are expending more time and resources in order to bring employees up to speed. Additionally, 41% said that management-level hires struggle to overcome challenges, a problem attributed to limited creativity. In Asia, over half of the executives believe employees' creative shortcomings prevent them from adapting to changing circumstances.

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• economic factors (pdf) such as disposable income, housing quality, and ability to hire domestic help;
• experience factors (pdf) such as quality of life, work/life balance, and ease of integrating into the local culture; and
• offspring factors (pdf) such as quality of childcare, education, and safety.

The best overall score went to Singapore, followed by Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, and Spain.

The top five "economic" locations were Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bermuda and Singapore.

Expats can select from a diverse range of countries rated high for best "experience." Thailand ranked first, followed by Canada, Bahrain, Spain, and South Africa.

Finally, European destinations ranked high for those with concerns about their family's welfare. With the exception of Hong Kong, the top five "offspring" countries were located in Europe. Belgium ranked first, followed by Spain, France, Hong Kong, and Germany.

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As part of this project, a series of surveys conducted in 129 countries concluded that, in 2009 and 2010, 40% of the global workforce were employed full time for an employer and 19% were underemployed. Gallup concluded that its Employed Full Time for an Employer Index has a strong positive correlation with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, i.e., those countries with high full-time employment rates also had higher GDP per capita. Countries scoring high on Gallup's Underemployment Index tend to have lower GDP per capita. By contrast, when examined across countries, Gallup research has found "no relationship" between unemployment rates and GDP per capita.

Highlights of the surveys' findings by region include:

• Full-time employment rates ranged from 19% (Sub-Saharan Africa) to 59% (former Soviet Union).
• Underemployment rates ranged from 15% (former Soviet Union) to 31% (Sub-Saharan Africa).
• Unemployment rates ranged from 5% (Asia) to 10% (Middle East / North Africa and the Americas).

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The number of charges increased in each individual category (race, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, retaliation, Equal Pay Act). Retaliation and race discrimination were the most prevalent charges, accounting for 36.3 and 35.9% of charges filed, respectively.

Other highlights from FY 2010 include:

• Two hundred and one charges were filed relating to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which took effect in November 2009.
• Of the 30,989 charges alleging harassment, only 11,717 alleged sexual harassment, with the remainder alleging some other form of harassment, such as race harassment, national origin harassment, or religious harassment.
• The EEOC resolved 285 lawsuits for a total monetary recovery of $85 million and filed 250 new lawsuits.

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Although the slow economy is primarily responsible for the uptick in temporary worker employment, businesses offer additional justifications:

• Project Management: Many business projects are short- to medium-term and can be completed by temporary workers overseen by a full-time supervisor.
• Flexibility: Hiring and terminating temporary workers is less legally burdensome.
• Benefits: Health and retirement benefits are costly, but not required for temporary workers.

Although a surplus worker pool currently exists, when the economy picks up, many believe the environment will change, requiring businesses to make permanent offers, including benefits, to secure talent. This would be welcome news to some: a recent survey found that 68% of temporary workers are seeking permanent positions.

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Presentations at the workshop focused on programs used in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany:

• Belgium: The "Career Break and Time Credit" scheme allows employees to take up to one year's leave from work, or significantly reduce working hours, without breaking an employment contract or endangering social security rights. The leave may be used in order to look after a child or a disabled relative, to study, or to travel.
• Netherlands: Introduced in 2006, the "life-course savings scheme" allows workers to save, untaxed, 10% of their annual income (with total savings capped at 210% of annual income) to finance a period of unpaid leave in the future, e.g., parental leave, educational leave, sabbaticals, or leave preceding retirement.
• Germany: A corporate participant discussed its programs allowing teleworking, reduced hours, or adjustment of work schedule to an employee's needs. Other initiatives at this company include offering on-site childcare services and encouraging fathers to take parental leave.

Other issues addressed at the workshop include:

• The reluctance of some EU companies and workers to utilize flexible work arrangements during an economic downturn.
• Whether flexible work programs can be sustained purely on employer and employee contributions, or if greater social protections are needed to support them.
• Regarding teleworking, the importance of ensuring that this does not become "a trap where the workers - mainly women - would be working at home while having at the same time to look after the children and care for the household."

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Kellogg's is no stranger to seasonal flexible scheduling arrangements. In past summers it has allowed workers to leave at 1 p.m. on Fridays if they had completed a full week's hours. Seventy percent of employees took advantage of the offer in 2007, and 80% of those workers reported improved job satisfaction.

Photo credit: Christian Gidlof

Other key findings include:

• One-quarter of businesses reported trouble with employee recruitment generally.
• Sixty-one percent of the companies stated that their cost-saving measures - redundancies, hiring and salary freezes - had increased their employees' workloads, and 53% said such measures had impaired employees' ability to manage work-related stress.

In response to these challenges, the surveyed employers are proactively attempting to remedy deficiencies by, for example, focusing on development of internal talent, and ensuring employees are prepared for critical roles.

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Although employers' concerns are not unfounded, for some businesses the benefits of using social media tools outweigh the risks. Employers can guard against the risks by developing and implementing effective social media policies. However, a Manpower survey found that 75% of employers had no policy on the use of social media in the workplace.

A main goal of 2008's Labor Contract Law was to ensure that full-time employees have written contracts and severance pay entitlements. However, some workers allege that their hours are being underreported to avoid overtime liability, and that offered severances are insufficient.

Regarding dispute resolution, in the two years since the Law of Mediation and Arbitration for Labor Disputes took effect, authorities have struggled to keep up with the flood of cases, with some parties waiting up to one year to have grievances heard.  In 2008, 700,000 grievances were submitted to arbitration (almost double the number submitted in 2007) and 280,000 arbitration rulings were appealed to civil courts (a 94% increase from 2007).

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that in 2008 workplace suicides jumped 28% to 251 cases, up from 196 the previous year. Although the number is relatively small compared to the overall national level (33,000 in 2006), workplace-related suicides have garnered international media attention lately, as seven workers at one Chinese manufacturing plant have killed themselves this year, with another two having attempted the same.

In the United States there has been an uptick in calls to mental-wellness hotlines. Employment assistance programs and mental health experts encourage individuals to seek help to cope with the stresses of their work and personal lives. At the Chinese factory, trained counselors have been retained, and monks have been invited, to provide emotional support for the workers.

The Roadmap calls on governments to: 

• assess the impact of relevant policies on the worst forms of child labor;
• enact preventive and time-bound measures; and
• devote adequate financial resources to combating the worst forms of child labor.

Additionally, the Roadmap calls on non-governmental entities to actively play a role in prohibiting and eliminating the worst forms of child labor through policy and program development.

The Roadmap is significant because, although progress has been made in reducing child labor globally, a recent ILO Global Report concluded that efforts were slowing and, as a result, the 2016 goal would be difficult to reach.

At the national level, several European countries previously considered or currently are contemplating various bans. Belgium's House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, recently voted 134-0 in favor of a ban of clothing that masks an individual's identity in public places. Furthermore, a bill is expected to be introduced to the French parliament soon.  According to The Daily Telegraph, this proposed law would impose a €150 fine on a woman who wears a burqa or niqab in violation of the ban, and a man who forces a woman to wear a burqa would be subject to a €15,000 fine, and possibly one year in prison. However, the French Counsel of State has opined that such a ban would violate the French Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

More information on the various types of religious garments worn by Muslim women and the treatment thereof in Europe is available from the BBC.

Image credit: Cedric Puisney