Olympia Business Watch

Putting Together a Social Media Policy

Jason Hagey posted this morning about some of the risks and rewards of business embracing social media, with some thoughts and recommendations derived from a seminar earlier this week by attorneys at AWB member law firm Perkins Coie in Seattle.  

Recommendation number one is "develop a social media policy and enforce it."  What should a social media policy say?

Here is one HR professional's take, writing at the social media wesbite Mashable.com: 10 Must Haves For Your Social Media Policy.  It includes as examples social media policies from a couple different companies.

Take a look.

On the Merits of Shop Class

What sort of notion gets a favorable nod from such seemingly distant corners of the universe as the Washington State Labor Council and the National Association of Manufacturers?  Mention of a new book by philosopher and motorcycle repair shop owner Matthew Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. KPLU's Bellamy Pailthorp has an audio blurb on it this morning, described thusly:

Mastery of a blue collar craft can provide a livelihood that not only pays well, but also challenges the intellect. And it's work that can't be outsourced. Yet schools today still try to steer everyone toward college. A new book seeks to restore the honor of the manual trades as a life worth choosing. It's called "Shop Class as Soulcraft" and its author, Matthew B. Crawford, holds a PhD in Philosophy - but has chosen to work most of his days getting his hands dirty.

AWB's Don Brunell has written about this topic in Washington, most recently here and here.  It's very interesting. Your undersigned has a degree in philosophy, and a law degree -- but can barely change the oil or assemble pre-fabricated furniture. I didn't take any shop classes but the older I get the more I wish I had.

Survey finds technology blurring workplace boundaries

It’s no longer enough to take work home.

Apparently people are taking it to bed now.

A survey from London revealed recently that more than a quarter of employees in the United Kingdom are so obsessed with work that they regularly bring a laptop computer or mobile device to bed. Of those, a whopping 57 percent said they do somewhere between two and six hours of work in bed every week.

“The survey confirms that there is a growing population that is no longer restricted by working hours or confined to the office building itself,” said Michael Callahan, vice president of Credant Technology, the company that released the survey. “People are mobile and will work anywhere – even in bed.”

Credant Technologies, which identified itself as an “endpoint data protection specialist,” was disturbed to note that many of these workaholics might be hopping on to the Web via unsecured wireless networks.

It’s a hazard on the road, too, when business travelers connect to a hotel’s wireless network.

The company recommended asking for help from your IT department to encrypt data, using strong passwords and not leaving Bluetooth or WiFi turned on in visible, unsecure locations.

Of course, if you’re doing this much work from bed, you might also consider seeking help from somewhere other than your company’s IT department.

Restroom bill signed into law

Plenty of businesses already have restrooms available for customers.

Those that don't might want to spruce up their facilities a bit.

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill into law this week that will require retail establishments to make their restroom facilities available to customers with qualifying medical conditions, such as Crohn's disease, or to anyone else provided that three or more employees are working and it's considered "reasonably safe" for a customer to access the restroom.

Big Gulp aficionados and parents of toddlers presumably qualify under the second provision.

The law, which takes effect in July, comes with a penalty for violators - a warning letter first followed by a fine of up to $100 - as well as instructions for the Department of Health to come up with an electronic form that will serve as proof of someone's medical condition.

Kris Tefft, AWB general counsel and government affairs director on workplace issues, said the legislation ended up as a good compromise between the groups that pushed for expanded restroom access and small firms whose owners were concerned about security.

He noted that some language was added addressing those concerns, including the requirement that a restroom must be located in an area that is reasonably safe. In addition, business owners are not required to allow access if fewer than three employees are on staff.

"It may still present a burden to some small retail establishments, but the narrow focus of the entitlement coupled with an enforcement scheme focused on education rather than punishment of violators seems to strike a balance," Tefft said.

Good news for Boeing: Plan to split tanker deal declared dead

The News Tribune is reporting today that Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., is dropping his plan to split a $35 billion contract for new Air Force refueling tankers between Boeing and its European rival EADS.

It's considered a positive development for Boeing, though a spokesman told the paper that his company was preparing all along for a winner-take-all competition.

Murtha, the chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, reportedly dropped the plan because Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, asked him to.

Last year, Boeing lost the tanker contract to Northrop, but the company mounted a successful protest that was upheld by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Olympia Business Review - Episode 20: Legislative Session Review (Part Two)

Don Brunell, president of the Association of Washington Business, and Richard Davis, coordinator for the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, review the 2009 legislative session. They discuss the different tax and competitiveness issues the Washington State Legislature faced in the 2009 session. Issues covered: competitiveness, unemployment insurance, taxes, state budget, aerospace industry

Check out part one of our legislative review with Don Brunell and Gary Chandler, vice president of government affairs for AWB. That podcast covers employment and environmental issues.

To subscribe via iTunes, click here. 

To subscribe to the RSS feed, click here.

To download this podcast, click here.

King County library offers help to small business owners

When times are tough, turn to the library.

That’s the pitch from the King County Library System, which is opening its doors an hour early this week to help people who are struggling during the recession.

Small-business owners are among those specifically targeted for assistance, along with folks who have been laid off, are looking for a job and those who are struggling with bills.

During the first two hours of the day, librarians are available to help guide business owners to online and print resources, including books that offer legal advice for starting and running a business, and how-to books for everything from marketing to bookkeeping.

Some of the online resources can be found here. 

Small-business owners are hurting along with nearly everyone else during this recession. In order to survive, some have been forced to cut workers, shift product lines or renegotiate rents.

Still, there are some hopeful signs. The New York Times reported this spring that the owners of a group of small businesses it has been tracking since October were expressing some optimism.  This Business Week article predicts that most small businesses will survive the recession.

And Tom Donahue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says that small businesses - which generate 60 to 80 percent of net new job growth - will pave the road to recovery.

The King County library's “Look to Your Library” events are free and open to the public.

For more information, visit  http://www.kcls.org

 

Olympia Business Review - Episode 20: Legislative Session Review (Part One)

Don Brunell, president of the Association of Washington Business, and Gary Chandler, vice president of government affairs for AWB, review the 2009 legislative session. They discuss the different employment and environmental issues the Washington State Legislature faced in the 2009 session. Issues covered: Worker Privacy Act/card check, workers' compensation, retro programs, unemployment insurance, energy, renewable energies, I-937, climate change and, the Western Climate Initiative

Check out part two of our legislative review  with Don Brunell and Richard Davis, coordinator of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy. That podcast will cover taxes and competitiveness.

To subscribe via iTunes, click here. 

To subscribe to the RSS feed, click here.

To download this podcast, click here.

AWB Week in Review: 2009 Legislative Day

Here's a quick recap of this week in Olympia featuring legislative panels from AWB's Legislative Day.

Feb. 11:

• Health Care Panel: Susan Fagan of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories hosts AWB's Health Care panel with Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), Sen. Cheryl Pflug (R-Issaquah) and Rep. Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale).

From WPC: How to Balance the Budget Without Taxes

The Washington Policy Center has some ideas on how to balance the next state budget without raising taxes.  Several of these items are coincidentally AWB legislative objectives going into 2009, such as adopting the Priorities of Government/Price of Government budgeting methodology and taking the costly paid family leave mandate off the books.