You may recall that I hate individualized health plans. It is by far the worst part of being self-employed. You can’t get health insurance like everyone on a group plan. You have to buy one of these crappy plans.

Blue Shield was sued, along with other major insurance companies, by the state of California because they dropped people who purchased policies after they got sick. I mean, you wouldn’t expect them to actually pay for any medical expenses, would you? That would live up to their agreement. The process of dropping insured people when they get sick is called rescission.

However, now Blue Shield will now restore coverage to 700 folks that it dropped, and pay for their medical expenses incurred in the meantime:

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said he hoped the settlement would “make whole” 678 consumers dropped by Blue Shield and “put an end to rescission practices that were hurting consumers.”

“People pay their insurance premiums and expect to be taken care of,” Poizner said. “Canceling someone’s insurance can have devastating medical, emotional and financial impacts. I will continue to take action against those insurers who do not live up to their agreements.”

Thank you.

A caveat up front: this alternative is probably one of those upper middle class/upper class work arrangements for women (and mostly for managerial types). That said, it’s still pretty interesting. 

Some women find bringing their babies to work to be an alternative to traditional maternity leave. There are loads of issues with bringing your baby to work, which the article glosses over at times, but I’ll point out a few (and feel free to add more in the comments):

–babies are known to make noise;

–not all babies are equally well suited to office environments;

–not everyone wants to work near your baby;

–hiring decisions may become weirdly dependent on whether someone will tolerate babies in the workplace (this seems like a potential nightmare in terms of HR issues and potential discrimination lawsuits);

–this policy widens the gap (and some would say unequal treatment) between people who have children and those who don’t;

–some people are less productive with their babies around (perhaps some people are more?).

I’ve also found an online video that shows a workplace with kids in action, and includes comments by a child psychologist and employees who bring their kids to work.

Just last year, after extensive conversations about potential work, I was brushed off via an exceptionally short email. It was unsettling, and left me wondering if I had somehow offended someone.  Seems like this is not a unique experience and I’m not alone:

Four rounds of interviews culminated in concrete discussions about which office I was going to work in — the firm was thinking of having me work stateside for a year, then move overseas to open a new branch office. Then, all of a sudden, a one-paragraph e-mail arrives in my inbox, thanking me for my interest, wishing me luck with my career and encouraging me to keep in touch by a social networking site in the future. This came from the executive who’d been actively recruiting me and arranging dinners with the firm’s top managers.

You can read more about the situation, and related advice here. My sense is that because email is so seemingly painless to send, it may seem like it will automatically be painless to receive. Hence, it seems like a good idea to send an email and avoid a potentially painful conversation. Don’t do that. Have the conversation.

Wow, these four day weekends have really thrown me for a loop. And it’s cold, so I haven’t been going outside much, which means I don’t even know if it’s day or night. And I’ve been dreaming about witches, ice cream, and pet ducks, so it’s obviously affecting me.

Also, I have spent countless hours reading these threads about how badly retail sucks, and thanking the gods that I am no longer involved with those shenanigans. The Walmart stories are particularly enlightening. And here’s some interesting info about booking hotels through Hotwire/Expedia-type sites.

Here are some more holiday-themed stories. Last batch, I promise.

+Hallmark had to recall some 7000 snowglobes because they would act as a magnifying glass and cause fires. Oops.

+Here’s a feel-good story about Santa being saved after having a heart attack–by Long Island Jewish Hospital, at that. And then he went around the hospital passing out toys to the kids. Awwww.

+Two guys dressed as police officers forced their way into a family’s home, tied up the parents, and ransacked the house, stealing all of the holiday presents while the kids slept. It does have a pretty awesome ending. I’m pretty sure no one’s heart grew three sizes that day or anything, though.

+I’ve posted numerous stories about how kindness on the part of employees leads to them getting fired. Here’s one more, about a hotel clerk who allowed a woman whose wallet had been stolen to stay at the hotel for a few hours. She even asked her supervisor for permission, yet she still got fired. And it seems like the victim’s story was on the level.

+And finally, here’s a story about pizza employees being forced to work with no heat, though the owner’s wife, who is also the bookeeper, gets to have a heater in their office. Now, I used to work in a pizza place, and it would get pretty hot in there with the ovens on. Even if the heat does exhaust out, you can open the doors when nothing is cooking. Nonetheless, this owner is a jerk. It’s too bad that the boycott that readers are talking about will also affect the employees.

Okay, I’m off to sit on the couch and read, and pretend I’m going to exercise but really I’m going to eat chocolate. Happy New Year!

I started this post a few weeks ago, GhostGirl contributed some thoughts, and I’ve sat on it a bit before I became convinced I’m channelling a Voice of Doom (or perhaps my sourpuss grandmother) with these predictions. Could I be more negative? Find me at 2 a.m. to see. In any case, I’ll see if I can find a positive spin to any of this with some with a huge mug of coffee and Overcaffeinated Optimism.

Voice of Doom Prediction: Layoffs will continue.
Overcaffeinated Optimism: Being laid off is consistently the kick in the butt folks need to do something else that they really want with their work lives. Granted, some of you were doing that already.

Voice of Doom Prediction: Home foreclosures will continue.
Overcaffeinated Optimism: While this sounds negative (and I take another sip of coffee to find my inner optimism), both of the foreclosed homes on our block have sold recently, prices are really low, and mortgage rates are extremely low. It’s fair to say the market is allowing some folks in who were priced out before. That’s a good thing for some.

Voice of Doom Prediction: Companies will defer salary increases (even if they are doing well).
Overcaffeinated Optimism: You didn’t want that money anyway. Kidding.

Voice of Doom Prediction: Discount retailers such as Walmart will do extremely well.
Overcaffeinated Optimism: You’ll make stuff more often, barter, or go without. Oh, who am I kidding? You’ll go to Walmart.

Voice of Doom Prediction: Alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug sales will rise.
Overcaffeinated Optimism: I don’t actually have much of a moral problem with alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. I can’t come up with anything optimistic to say about increased use though. Ideas? You’ll get that hangover you always wanted?

Voice of Doom Prediction: Lottery ticket sales will skyrocket.
Overcaffeinated Optimism: Lottery tickets — a tax on people who are bad with math. Tell your kids to pay attention in math class. Now that’s optimism (and I used to be a math teacher).

Apparently it can be involuntary!

The most uncomfortable interview I ever had involved an interviewer who insisted on flirting with me. And for the record, I have no flirting skills, and my response was to scream, “Gack!” and run outside to my car to hide.

Here is some creepy research on male interviewers who think female interviewees are attracted to them:

Male interviewers who believe female job applicants are attracted to them may subtly elicit flirtatious behavior from the women—unbeknownst to the women and regardless of whether they are even attracted to the men.

Did you read that? Women may flirt without knowing it! And they’re not even attracted to these folks. Gack!

And, yes, I do understand that this entire research is based around heteronormative assumptions. I know. I’m sorry. It’s not my research.

they dated a colleague. 

Hm. I’m pondering this. I wonder if people would really enjoy work more, or if they think they would.

Along the lines of research to ponder, here is some totally unsourced research about office romances:

What are the pros and cons of office romances?

–33% would like the personal and professional convenience of sharing an office.

–65% feel their coworkers would look down on an office romance.

–90% are most worried about the awkwardness of a breakup.

–17% have had an office romance.

–42% would enjoy work more if they dated a colleague.

–80% are concerned about office gossip.

–47% want someone who understands their work issues.

–15% of office romances end in engagements.

Is this the most responsible group of people surveyed ever? All concerned about awkwardness and gossip and not inclined to date their coworkers.

I ask this sincerely: Where is Generation X?

Why don’t I have any friends in Los Angeles who are remotely close to my age? Why don’t I even know anyone in Generation X who lives locally? Okay, I can name two, but most friends and acquaintances are Baby Boomers. Our neighborhood is composed almost exclusively Baby Boomers. Everywhere I’ve volunteered was staffed with employees and volunteers who were exclusively Baby Boomers.  My workplaces have been Baby Boomer heavy (and Generation Y). My writing groups are almost exclusively Baby Boomers.

I know that you Baby Boomers make up a very big group (especially along with Generation Y). And I like most of you as individuals. But I’d like to know more people my own age (whimper).

 I suspect Generation X might be in the same two places that we are:  at work and at home. However, I’m most likely not going to meet you in either place. So let me ask out loud to make sure: Generation X, Where are you?

For a long time, I worked in creative non-fiction as an editor and writer. I attended workshops, and wrote a lot before I realized this: I have no real story. You could say everyone has a story, and I suppose it’s true in some ways. However the memoirs that get published are the memoirs of drug and alcohol addiction, abandonment by parents, and behind the scenes in war. They aren’t the stories of ordinary lives with interesting episodes.

So what happens to some writers who want a memoir published? They exaggerate. They invent. They lie. The fact that it happens over and over again (look at this list of fake memoirs) makes me think that editors must be a bit dull that they don’t fact check the basic facts. And I know that editors say that they don’t have time to fact check or that they rely on the agent to check the truthfulness, but I know that when I worked in-house in publishing, I fact checked because otherwise things got embarrassing. Like this: Publisher Cancels Holocaust Memoir. Duh.

I love this sexual harassment story that ends well (perhaps because so few don’t–I can’t recall any that have):

Rachel Spicuglia, a five-year employee of Chili’s Restaurant (owned by Brinker International), reported to her manager the escalating sexual harassment she was receiving from the cooks, which had culminated in an assault that morning in the walk-in refrigerator, the manager asked Rachel if the offending employee had gotten a “full cup” when he had grabbed her breasts. Shocked that the manager would joke in such way, Rachel protested that it wasn’t funny, but he insisted that it was actually information that he needed to know.

Rachel ended up taking a leave of absence, filing EEOC Charge of Discrimination on August 12, but she continued to work with Chili’s to arrange transfer to another store. The transfer was approved, but Rachel’s calls to the store manager were never returned, and on December 9, Rachel received a letter from her health insurance, saying that her medical benefits were denied, due to the fact that she was terminated from her job. Two weeks before Christmas, without any warning, and still waiting for the EEOC to review her complaint.

The particular combination of firing her in absentia right before Christmas and firing her supposedly because of a sexual harassment complaint is an all time classic. But here’s part of what happened next.

 Chili’s has reinstated Rachel Spicuglia, as a full-time employee, with medical benefits and all, at the location of her choosing. After the Huffington Post piece about Rachel’s case was posted at 12noon, Brinker International quickly backpedaled, commenting less than four hours later and contacting Rachel’s attorney to state that the letter Rachel received was in error, and apologizing for the confusion and emphasizing how seriously the corporation takes sexual harassment.

Now if I could only get that stupid Baby Back Ribs song out of my head….

I must say, I’m very disappointed by the lack of post-Christmas stories today. Then again, it’s early yet. My holiday wasn’t terrible, though the niece and nephews wore me out (and had a few tantrums), we had to deal with the Crazy Aunt, and there were quite a number of cranky people in the house. On the other hand, I ate a lot of prime rib and I got to cuddle my godson (smiliest baby in the world) and my day started with coffee and bagels so who could ask for more?

I have collected a smattering of news to tide you over. You’re probably either experiencing post-holiday hangover, or working, or saying, “Meh, Christmas, I’m Jewish/Hindu/Athiest/a Martian” anyway, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.

Lowe’s has been accused of firing a woman over a religious-themed Christmas pin she was wearing at work. Maybe she simply didn’t have enough pieces of flair?

At the Illinois Health Department Christmas party, more than half the attendees got food poisoning. And it wasn’t even a potluck!

Police in the UK are cracking down on the practice of handing out glasses of mulled wine to shoppers at a traditional late-night shopping event. Why do the police hate Christmas?

And, saving the best for last: my favoritest story of the season.  Lance, Inc. purchased a closed-down Archway cookie factory at a bankruptcy auction. They then proceeded to hand out prepaid $1500 gift cards to all 300 former workers, rehired 60 of them at full pay, seniority, and benefits (from Day One, unheard of), and have promised to hire back ALL of the laid-off workers when they start getting enough orders. Here’s their web site. Don’t you want some cookies now?

Have a great weekend. Happy Boxing Day, Hanukkah, St Stephen’s Day, first day of Kwanzaa, and a very Happy Birthday to Phil Spector. Hmmmm.

I’m up early trying to get a file finished and sent. I’ve always worked right up until Christmas. I haven’t really figured out why because I do enjoy time off. It probably reflects the fact that I don’t manage to plan ahead and announce that I won’t be around for Christmas. Oh well. Zenta Claus understands.

I should also prepare for the upcoming storm by picking up any dog poop in the yard. If you have a dog, I trust you’ll understand why.

Any last minute Christmas preparations you’d like to share? Or other preparations?

We’ve lived in our neighborhood for almost a decade, and know some of our neighbors quite well. We exchange gift baskets of goodies with them, some of them quite elaborate in cookie variety and size. But here’s one thing I can’t figure out. Neither Jim nor I actually enjoy going over to the neighbors to literally give them the basket. We have to force ourselves to do it. I can’t quite figure out why. We enjoy making the basket. We enjoy eating items from their basket. And we like the neighbors. Something about the actual act of gift giving of this nature repels us. (Do we think we’re forcing it on them? Are we insecure about the goodness of our goodies? Are we reminded of going door-to-door with girl/boy scouts or some sort childhood memory? Do we know that the neighbors don’t like people intruding on them?) I like giving gifts to friends and family, but there is something about this neighborly practice that makes me really squeamish.

Thoughts? Comparisons? Sharing of similar (or different experiences)?

I’ve been forwarding GhostGirl some of the more heinous electronic “holiday” greeting cards for businesses that I’ve received, and she has coined the phrase “crad” to describe these crappy cards. I’m sure there’s a circle of hell reserved for us for this most ungenerous practice, but I prefer to think it’s because GhostGirl and I are both interested in marketing and how images are presented. A sampling of said cards included:

–a greeting card in which the identically dressed staff wore clothing prominently displaying an unrelated label (e.g., LL Bean, Gap, etc.);

–a greeting card that directed me to play a holiday game (the game did not work, and required intellectual work on my part—not interesting to me at this moment in time);

–the world’s most depressing view of a certain college campus, which almost prompted me to burst into tears ; and

–anything with crappy electronic music.

It’s the thought that counts. (Repeat three times). And, yes, that’s a hamster-powered shredder. The only redeemingly quality these cards seem to have is that they’re electronic and didn’t kill a tree.

My parents came over for an early Christmas yesterday, and my mom managed to leave her purse hanging in our foyer. Because I’m not willing to drive 100 miles in the rain to return the purse, I need to ship the critical parts of her purse to her, and they need to arrive by tomorrow morning before she leaves to visit my brother. I’m seeking shipping advice. I get a lot of work-related packages via FedEx or UPS next day, but if anyone has any suggestions on which is better (or US express mail?), I’m open to your ideas as long as they don’t involve a sling-shot.

I admire the storage possibilities in this desk, but I would end up bruised by the corners, and I always wonder about the chemical adhesive used with anything made of pressed wood.

Via Treehugger

Due to New York’s “Use it or Lose it is Totally Cool by Us–Sucks to be You!” laws, I have several vacation days to burn through before the end of the year… and I’m glad that I took one of them to coincide with 4-6 inches of snow. Our first big snowfall of the season. Also we got our Wii last night so that’s convenient. I have plenty of potato chips and computer games so I’m set.

So I thought I’d pump this out early for a change. This being the week before Christmas (gah!!) I’ve been collecting lots of Christmas-related news. So here’s the Pre-Christmas Edition of WWN. By next week, I’ll start posting the holiday fallout.

Here’s a brief (possibly cut off?) article about a man sentenced for stealing 4000 pounds of Pepperidge Farms stuffing (this may be Thanksgiving leftovers.) It was stolen from a warehouse so I’m going to say that’s workplace-related. Authorities stated he was apprehended while robbing the Two-Ton Turkey Farm.

Possibly one of the most entrepreneurial things I’ve seen in a long time: this guy has a giftwrapping business which offers to wrap gifts really badly–thus making it look like you took the time and energy to wrap the gifts yourself. The business is geared towards men, but I have to say I could easily find a job there, myself.

Here’s a cool story about a jewelry store leaving free gifts around town. Surprisingly, there is no followup story yet about the bomb squad being called in to shut down the town.

A Missouri lawmaker is trying to pass a bill to officially declare December 25th to be “Christmas.” Dude… wait.. what?

We’ve talked about holiday parties ad nauseam in this blog. Well, there are some things you need to watch out for that generally don’t make the lists. For instance, disgruntled employees, who might just make the party more festive by murdering their former boss right in front of the Christmas punch.

Not weird, but just to round out the holiday party theme here’s an article about how being jobless increases the dread of holiday parties. I know my husband has certainly been through that.

Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate (or don’t.) I know for a fact that MY holiday will be pretty farcical this year. Hope yours is every bit as entertaining.

In high school, a giant water heater blew up on a Sunday and the school was closed. At the time, I figured it was the closest I would ever get to a snow day in Southern California.

And then yesterday here came the snow. I was supposed to get some fillings replaced this morning, but the roads to town are closed due to snow. I could actually drive on the roads, as they’re always open to local traffic (and no one in rural LA County seems to follow rules), and we could use groceries, and my dentist appointment was really hard to get, but I’m taking the easy way out. Snow day! Snow day!

I offer this: Scientists debunk holiday myths (it turns out pointsettias are not so poisonous, most heat isn’t lost through your head, and suicides don’t spike during the holidays—who’d a thunk).

It’s snowing here, just outside of Santa Clarita, which is fairly unusual. I had set aside a block of time this morning to go to the Social Security office to straighten something out, but I’m thinking that the roads will be slick, and, to make a huge generalization, Southern Californians (I’m including myself here) are terrible drivers in the rain, so God forbid there is actual snow because that makes us THE WORST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD. I guess I’ll stay home. 

I can offer this  12 things to throw at Bush

Five Signs You’ll Never Love Your Work from Psychology Today:

–It embarrasses you to tell people what you do. If it makes you cringe, then you hoped for better. Or at least different. Take that seriously.

–You’ve been at the job for over a year and you still feel like a total fraud. If the job isn’t new, and you still feel like you are faking it nearly all the time, well then, maybe you are.

–You connect with no one. Assuming that you have demonstrated a capacity to form friendships, if you have made no pleasant social connections in the workplace in what you consider to be a reasonable period of time, then you are probably with the wrong group of people.

–You are overwhelmed with rage or anxiety on a daily basis. Daily outbursts or inner explosions are a sign that something is wrong—maybe the job itself?

–The pay is lousy and you need the money. Though you need a wage to live, this is not the job for you.

I frequently hear these sorts of thoughts from folks who are complaining about their jobs (and I’ve certainly experienced some of these myself, though I’m partial to anxiety and lousy pay). Anything you would add to the list?

David Robinson of the Haas School of Business answers questions on business meal etiquette (apparently we are on somewhat of a food theme here at Surviving the Workday). In short:

-At a business lunch when someone else is paying (or when you’re paying, for that matter), avoid both the cheapest and most expensive items on the menu. Focus on what is easy to eat. I advise avoiding salads, which I love, but are unpredictable.

-At a fancy smchmancy business lunch at a restaurant, some people may expect you to eat french fries with a fork. I would suggest that these people are silly, but I’ve seen lots of folks cut up pizza with a knife and fork. If you’re seeking to impress someone, you could always follow her lead.

-At a business lunch, you may have to bring up business more gingerly than you might expect. Some folks would rather talk baseball.