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For the first time since the recession ended in 2009, Las Vegas casino and resort properties are planning on across the board pay raises for both exempt and non-exempt employees. WageWatch surveyed 49 Las Vegas casinos and resorts encompassing over 42,000 employees on and off the Strip last December and early January 2013 to determine the planned hourly and salary pay increases for this year.

Las Vegas casinos on the Strip reported planned wage increases for hourly and non-exempt salaried employees averaging 2.2% and 2.5% for exempt salaried employees.  The median was 2.25% for both exempt and non-exempt jobs.

(WageWatch) Read the complete article

Top Stories: Lodging & Gaming
Obamacare driving tough choices for hoteliers
With the 1 January 2014 implementation deadline for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act-better known as Obamacare-looming ever closer, the overarching issues continue to be ongoing confusion and uncertainty. "No business owner likes uncertainty," said Kevin Maher, senior VP for governmental affairs at the American Hotel & Lodging Association. "They want to know what the law requires and what they need to do. And with this law, you can't really tell them that at this point."
(Hotel News Now)  Read the complete article
 'Hyatt Hurts' Boycott Inflicts Pain on the Hotel Giant (Updated)
Hyatt Corp received an implicit vote of 'no confidence' from the Baltimore City Council late last week when the Labor Committee advanced a resolution to halt the hotel giant's union suppression efforts.  
(In These Times)  Read the complete article
The Darwinian Theory of... Hospitality?
We have come a long way since the earliest inns for weary travelers sparsely, very sparsely, dotted what would become the American landscape.
(ehotelier.com)  Read the complete article
Federal labor judge rules Casino San Pablo engaged in unfair labor practices
A federal labor judge has found that a San Pablo Indian casino engaged in a variety of unfair labor practices during a long and bitter battle with employees and their union over wages, benefits and working conditions.
(Mercury News)  Read the complete article
Hyatt says union missed deadline to nominate member to board
Hyatt Hotels said Tuesday that a housekeeper pegged as a director candidate by the Unite Here union won't be considered for election this year because she hasn't filled out the appropriate paperwork.
(Chicago Tribune) Read the complete article
Top Stories: Healthcare
Health IT Talent Shortage Worsens, PWC Says
Healthcare companies are scrambling to cope with a shortage of health IT professionals so that they can meet government requirements, consumer expectations and their own strategic goals, according to a new PwC report. Some organizations are even poaching IT talent from non-healthcare fields, the researchers found.
(Information Week Health Care) Read the complete article
What Physician Specialties are Hospitals Planning to Acquire in 2013?
More than half of the nation's hospitals plan to acquire physician practices this year, according to a survey conducted by Jackson Healthcare.
In a survey of 118 hospital participants, 52% have acquisitions planned for this year, up from the 44% that acquired physician practices in 2012.
(Becker's Hospital Review)  Read the complete article
29 States Get F On Disclosure Laws For Health Care Prices
Wonder why you can't get a straight answer on how much a treatment or test will cost you? One big reason: State laws that allow hospitals and other providers of health care to keep costs hidden until they send you the bill.
(NPR)  Read the complete article
Top Stories: Human Resources
 Payroll Audits Put Small Employers on Edge
Internal Revenue Service auditors showed up with little warning at Brian Robinson's staffing firm in Atlanta a year ago, seeking to verify that a dozen outside contractors he had hired to handle his information-technology services weren't, in fact, full-time staffers. The audit was part of a government crackdown on employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying payroll taxes, and other employment-related expenses.   
(The Wall Street Journal)  Read the complete article
Companies Open Up to Outsiders
In a depressed economy, employers play it safe. A new survey shows that nearly 42% of 185,450 open positions at 37 large firms were filled with internal hires last year.
(The Wall Street Journal)  Read the complete article
Counter-Offers Are a Sucker's Play
Retention is important for organizations. Paying substantially more for the talent that's currently sitting in your office is a total sucker's play. Don't confuse the two. Let's break this down a little bit. You found that diamond in the rough. You hired them, nurtured them and grew them to the point where they're relevant in your industry, their profession, etc. Or maybe you just bought them from someone else at a price you considered at the time to be fair, right?
(Fist Full of Talent)  Read the complete article
House Republicans Unanimously Vote Down Minimum Wage Increase
A proposal by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over the next two years and increase the wage for tipped employees to 70 percent of the minimum wage was defeated, with every House Republican voting against the motion.
(Huffington Post)  Read the complete article
With Private Exchanges, Workers Dump Old Health-care Choices
Data released today by Aon Hewitt suggests that when companies join a private health-insurance exchange that gives employees more health-plan options from which to choose, they will overwhelmingly choose something different from what they selected previously.   
(CFO)  Read the complete article

Job Descriptions are Extinct

JDs are chronically out-of-date. Even if up-to-date people rarely use them. Managers don't use them. Recruiters absolutely hate them as they provide nothing about what the candidate has to be able to do. A candidate can have all of the education and skills required but not be able to do the job. Ever heard the expression, "He's had 1 year's experience 10 times"? Other than Compensation, no one seems to use them.
(Compensation Cafe)   Read the complete article
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