Wednesday, November 20, 2019

How to Get Short Term Disability if You Have Surgery

How to Get Short Term Disability if You Have Surgery How to Get Short Term Disability if You Have Surgery Being faced with surgery is no easy prospect. However, if your medical provider has told you that you must undergo surgery to improve your health, it’s important to take the time to find out about any benefits you may have that can cover you financially as you recover post-surgery. Some people pay for their own private disability insurance, while others receive coverage through their employer. You may be eligible for short-term disability insurance  coverage or Short Term Disability Benefits, that will help tide you over financially until youre back on your feet. Defining Short-Term Disability Plans Employer-sponsored short-term disability is a voluntary, cash plan that pays a percentage of your full-time salary for a specific amount of time, following the first week that you are unable to work. The plans Summary of Benefits should provide a great deal of information and answer some of your questions. Private disability plans offer similar benefits. Most employers will expect you to use up any paid time off (PTO) first, then the short-term disability will kick in, providing you with a weekly check that is around 40 to 60 percent of your regular gross earnings. Some plans don’t start until 14 days post-event, so be sure to check with your employer HR department to confirm the coverage rules. Important: Not all employers offer short-term disability insurance, so if you have access to this benefit, make sure you enroll in the plan during the open enrollment period prior to having surgery. The cost of short-term disability insurance is usually very low, but having this peace of mind is priceless. After Confirming Your Coverage Once you have confirmed your short-term disability coverage and have scheduled your surgery with your doctor’s advice, inform your employer as soon as possible. This allows your employer to arrange for staffing coverage during your planned absence. Provide the HR department with a doctor’s note that indicates the estimated length of time you will need for recovery. Work with your manager to make sure your leave has a smooth transition, as well as to arrange for any post-surgery accommodations you may need to help you perform your job duties upon your return. Find out if your employer expects you to perform any tasks at home while in recovery as well. During the surgery, have a close friend or family member keep in touch with your HR department on your status and when requesting any time off (in case there are complications stemming from your surgery). The HR benefits administrator should be able to advise you on when your paid time off terminates and your short-term disability period begins, and find out when the coverage period ends as well. The HR staff may not be able to tell you exactly how much each check will be, but your STD benefit provider will be able to once the first payment is issued. Managing Your Finances During Recovery If at any time you are informed you have to be out for an additional length of time, due to health problems or doctor’s orders, be sure to let your employer know immediately. Your spouse or life partner may be eligible for an FMLA leave to care for you during the recovery period, so explore that option with their employer as well. If you need to rely on savings to cover expenses during this time, you can also inform all creditors and utility companies of your status as they may be able to reduce or suspend monthly payments for a few months. The most important part of this experience is to focus on your health and recovery so that you can return to your job whole and well. The short-term disability payments will end once you resume work, but they can be a good source of income and peace of mind during your recovery time away from work.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Study links certain sleep disorders with accelerated aging

Study links certain sleep disorders with accelerated aging Study links certain sleep disorders with accelerated aging Sleep-disordered breathing is a general term that encompasses several chronic conditions from frequent snoring to obtrusive sleep apnea, which occurs when the airways become blocked during sleep. During OSA fits, sufferers will usually stop breathing for about 10 seconds at a time though it can sometimes be longer. This causes the individual to violently awake.There are certain ailments that fall under the umbrella term of SDB, that don’t cause individuals to stop breathing completely during sleep, like sleep hypopnea for instance, a disorder wherein blood oxygen saturation becomes lower due to continued shallow breathing. However, every case of SBD, results in intermittent sleep, as the deprivation of oxygen, however severe, triggers an inner alarm inside the body.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!At the 33rd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in San Antonio Texas, new insights regarding the long term effects of Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) were presented by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s  Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences  and Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Here were some of the findings.The long term effects of intermittent sleepThe researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s  Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences  and Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital behind the latest study published their findings in the journal Sleep just last week.  By examining the breathing patterns,   oxygen levels in the blood, heart rate, limb movements, and the DNA  methylation of 622 adults (with an average age of 69 years old) via polysomnography,   lead author  Xiaoyu Li, determined that increasing SDB severity and consistently disrupted sleep was associated with age acceleration.   Each standard deviation increase in th e arousal index, (a scientific measure of sleep disruption) was associated with the equivalent of 321 days of age acceleration.Li expounded in a recent statement,  â€œPeople’s biological age might not be the same as their chronological age. Individuals whose biological age is higher than their chronological age exhibit age acceleration or fast aging. In our study, we found that more severe sleep-disordered breathing is associated with epigenetic age acceleration. Our data provide biological evidence supporting adverse physiological and health effects of untreated sleep-disordered breathing.”Fortunately, Li went on to say that the various conditions that fall beneath the massive umbrella defined as Sleep Disordered Breathing, are treatable and the even the effects of epigenetic aging are reversible. If you suffer from chronic snoring, sleep apnea, or sleep hypopnea, Li, suggests  you try automatic positive airway therapy or a    mandibular repositioning device (MRD).  You might a lso enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people

Monday, November 18, 2019

17 Counterintuitive Things Successful People Do

17 Counterintuitive Things Successful People Do 17 Counterintuitive Things Successful People Do Ever wonder what makes successful people so- well, successful? There’s no one thing, of course, but Jason Nazar, Co-founder and CEO of Docstoc recently analyzed the most successful people he knows and came up with a list of common themes. And turns out, they might surprise you. Check out this infographic to see what he discovered about the counterintuitive habits of highly successful people. Infographic courtesy of RODA Marketing. Photo of successful woman courtesy of Shutterstock.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

25% of women sexually harassed tell employers. Heres why theyre afraid

25% of women sexually harassed tell employers. Here's why they're afraid 25% of women sexually harassed tell employers. Here's why they're afraid On May 30, a grand jury indicted Harvey Weinstein on charges he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex on him. And new allegations and lawsuits against the movie producer continue to pile up.Since the earliest reports of his abuse came out in October, scores of women in Hollywood have taken to social media and shared their own stories of sexual assault and harassment by Weinstein. And thanks to the #MeToo movement, women in a range of professions have also found their voices heard, helping topple dozens of other once-powerful men in entertainment, media, sports, business, politics and the judiciary.But a question #MeToo has been asking since the beginning is how will this affect the lives of women far from the high-powered worlds of Hollywood and Washington. Is this making it any easier for a low or mid-wage worker in middle America to rid her workplace of a sexual harasser?One important way of doing this is by making an official complaint to the employer. But while w omen will often complain to family or even on social media, most don’t tell their companies of the misconduct. In fact, barely 1 in 4 ever do.How come?Based on experience litigating sexual harassment cases as well as my research, I have determined there are three legal barriers that stand in the way of workers filing complaints â€" a critical step to rooting out harassment and protecting employees.Few formally complainAbout 30 percent of U.S. workers who experience sexual harassment informally talk about it with someone at the company, such as a manager or union representative, while far fewer lodge formal complaints, according to a 2016 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report. In addition, 75 percent of those who do formally complain say they face retaliation.This is one reason for the success of #MeToo. It’s providing the kind of effective sexual harassment complaint forum that employees do not believe they have in their workplace.Besides a fear of reprisal, the EEOC re port cites several other reasons why employees usually don’t come forward, such as concern that they won’t be believed or the company training manual didn’t explain how to properly identify or address sexual harassment.This is a big problem because if employees who have been sexually harassed don’t file formal complaints with their companies â€" without suffering retaliation â€" it is nearly impossible for employers to take action against the harasser or protect the worker. Furthermore, it becomes hard to hold an employer legally responsible if it fails to do either.So while it’s positive that more women are sharing their own stories on social media and elsewhere, it can’t replace the formal employee complaint process.Three barriersOne barrier is that courts have too narrowly defined sexual harassment when it involves a hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It’s only deemed illegal when it involves unwelcome sexual conduct sufficient ly “severe or pervasive” to alter the employee’s employment conditions. Courts have erected three legal hurdles that discourage employees from filing complaints about sexual harassment.Employees often don’t complain because they fear they won’t be believed that the harassment was sufficiently “severe or pervasive” enough to be legally actionable.And who can blame them? One court found that a manager rubbing the shoulders, back and hand of an employee, accusing her of not wanting to be “one of my girls” while physically grabbing her, calling her “baby doll” and telling her she should be in bed with him were not sufficiently “severe or pervasive.”These actions can be harmful and place women as subordinate in the workplace and, unregulated, lead to even more harmful actions. As such, I believe courts need to stop finding such misconduct as “ordinary” or “de minimus” â€" a legal term meaning too trivial or minor to merit consideration.Another hurdle is that employers have been largely shielded from liability when an employee complains of a hostile work environment that fosters sexual harassment. That’s because in 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court gave employers a powerful defense in such cases.Specifically, if a company “exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any sexually harassing behavior” and the employee “unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities,” the employer would not be liable even though the worker was, in fact, sexually harassed.Under this defense, courts have found that if an employer has an anti-sexual harassment policy, and the employee doesn’t complain, the employer generally won’t be found liable. This sounds reasonable, right?Unfortunately, some employer policies meet the bare legal requirements while doing little to eradicate sexual harassment or encourage complaints by workers. And without effective training about sexual harassment and how to co mplain about it, employers’ policies stating “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment are meaningless.Finally, I believe the laws punishing retaliation are not strong enough.Taking sexual harassment seriously means employers should not fire, demote or ostracize a worker who complains about sexual harassment as they often do. And while the law on the books purportedly protects complainants, courts have told workers that the protection is only for those who reasonably believe they were illegally sexually harassed.This puts women back in the gray area of determining what is “severe or pervasive.” As I noted above, a manager rubbed an employee’s body, called her “baby doll” and expressed a desire to have sex with her. If that’s not deemed to be sexual harassment, how can employees complain with confidence that they will be protected?It’s time to toughen lawsWhat can be done about this?The good news is that Congress is already considering changes to sexual harassment la w.For example, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Lindsey Graham have introduced a bill to permit sexually harassed workers to litigate their cases in open court rather than be bound by private arbitration. The laudatory bill would prevent employers from keeping harassment or harassers secret from other workers.But I believe lawmakers should go further by amending Title VII to expand and clarify what sexual harassment really is beyond “severe or pervasive,” strengthen worker protections against retaliation and require employers to create more effective policies and training.The EEOC and other researchers have identified innovative methods to address sexual harassment, such as a reward system for increased complaints, promoting more women, bystander intervention and civility training. Congress should pay attention and encourage these methods while also toughening existing law.Inspired by #MeToo, Congress could help eradicate sexual harassment.Margaret E. Johnson, Professor of Law and C o-Director, Center on Applied Feminism, University of BaltimoreThis article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Three Steps to Help Prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Three Steps to Help Prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Three Steps to Help Prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Three Steps to Help Prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Berkowitz, Esq. When it comes to controlling sexual harassment in the workplace, small businesses with fewer than 15 employees businesses that are therefore not subject to Title VII shouldnt get complacent. Remember sexual harassment is not acceptable, whatever the size of the business, just as with any type of workplace discrimination. I advise all my clients to undergo sexual harassment prevention training as a best practice, notes Garland. The next hire could put them over Title VIIor their states threshold and they need to be prepared. For a small business with limited resources, the following best practices are a good start to avoiding sexual harassment in the workplace: Training. It cant be said enough make sure that all of your employees, from managers down to the newest hourly worker know what sexual harassment is and that it is not tolerated. Regular training sessions are best, but at the least every business should have a carefully drafted policy that every employee and new hire must read and understand. Sample sexual harassment are all over the Internet; look at a few and adapt them to your business. Respond to complaints appropriately. Have a process in place by which employees can express their concerns confidentially, without having to involve the alleged harasser in the chain of reporting. Treat every concern seriously and dont brush off rumors without giving them the attention they deserve. In some cases, complaints can be resolved with a staff meeting to go over the rules of workplace etiquette. Other problems may require more formal investigation, assistance of outside counsel, and discipline. Avoid or manage harassment situations that could get out of hand. Of course, the best way to handle complaints about harassment in the workplace is to not have any because your work force knows how to behave. Be sure all employees are given guidelines on workplace ethics. Keep an eye out for actions that just brush the line between okay and not okay and put a stop to them before they escalate. Find out more: Be Aware of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Customize this Outstanding Administrative Assistant Resume 4

Customize this Outstanding Administrative Assistant Resume 4 Customize this Outstanding Administrative Assistant Resume 4 Sample Administrative Assistant Resume 2Create Resume EXPERIENCEMay 2000 â€" Present Sauv © Riegel Commercial Real Estate Pasadena, CA Administrative Assistant / Marketing Assistant § Assist President and Vice President. § Create Listing Contracts, Proposals, and Lease Contracts. § Prepare Invoices for Payment § Marketing of Listings. § Maintain Website. § Maintain E-Mail System. § All general office duties.May 1999 â€" March 2000 C Square International, Inc. West Covina, CA Administrative Assistant / Marketing Assistant § Assist Vice President, Controller, programmers, and marketing department. § Make travel arrangements. § Test software. § All general office duties.April 1998 â€" May 1999 Phoenix Home Life Pasadena, CA Administrative Assistant / Marketing Assistant § Assistant to Chief Financial Officer, Office Manager, agents and marketing department. § Business correspondence, office maintenance, ordering supplies, mail, marketing mailings, e-mail, faxing, switchboard, word proc essing, and customer service.March 1996 â€" July 1997 Colourgraphix Walnut, CA Sales § Met with clients and prospective clients. § Negotiated pricing with suppliers and printing sites. § Assisted graphic designer.July 1995 â€" January 1996 Burns Security Services Santa Fe Springs, CA Security Officer § Supervised ten employees. § Controlled inbound and outbound traffic. § Assisted in will call area. § Assisted in emergency situations.October 1994 â€" June 1995 48th District Agricultural Association Walnut, CA Receptionist § Answered and directed phone calls. § Assisted teachers and students with questions and concerns pertaining to the curriculum provided for the Fair entries. § Assisted in organizing the yearly Fair.EDUCATION § Currently attending DeVry Institute, Pomona § Diploma received 1995, Nogales High School, La Puente, CAQUALIFICATIONS § Windows 2000. § Microsoft Office: Access, Excel, FrontPage, Image Composer, Outlook, Photo Editor PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word § Lotus SmartSuite: Lotus 1-2-3 and Lotus Word Pro § Visio 2000 Professional § Adobe Acrobat 5.0 § Effective interaction with customers, clients and all levels of management. § Task oriented, self-starter, and pleasant manner.LANGUAGES § SpanishREFERENCES § Available upon request.Customize Resume

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Working at small companies will make you more successful

Working at small companies will make you more successful Working at small companies will make you more successful Financial blogger David worked as a staff scientist for a large defense contract corporation - over 70,000 employees - for four years before leaving it to join a small startup of eight employees. He had several reasons for making the shift, including salary and difficulty securing a promotion. David believes the latter was largely due to a lack of performance recognition - a common tale in larger corporations.“Even though I was consistently exceeding my expectations and performing more effectively than people with 10 more years of experience than me, I was ultimately not recognized for my accomplishments,” David writes in an email.As such, he decided to seek out employment elsewhere and landed upon a small startup firm in Washington D.C. that was only a year old. While he interviewed for a technical consultant position, he ended up being offered a job with way more responsibility as well as a 25% boost in salary over his current corporate job. Today he has the freedom to shape his career how he wants, because the startup he works for is anything but a rigid corporate system.A smaller pond makes it easier to learn to swimDavid’s experience is just one example of a trend that’s starting to emerge in business. According to a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, smaller startups are offering prospective employees more and better career opportunities than their large, corporate forefathers.The study was led by John Haltiwanger, an economist at the University of Maryland. He came to the conclusion that newer startup firms tend to be the ones to poach employees from other companies, often using more money and a higher ranking position as bait. The study’s data showed small startups are more than twice as likely to attract job jumpers than their larger, corporate counterparts.While it may not be the only reason for the attraction, pay seems to play a major factor.  The pay bump from big to small company comes to a one percent salary i ncrease per quarter on average.That, however, is far from the only pivotal reason people in steady, corporate vessels are jumping to smaller ships. Many employees cite freedom to expand the size and scope of their career as priority number one. For David Attard, Co-founder of Dart Creations, the move was about nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit. “With people like myself, the startup’s pace and growth are our motivation,” Attard explains. “Our ability to be in the driver’s seat and take quick decisions will always take us back to the startup.”Many times the hours spent working at a startup are longer than they would be at more established companies, but, for the most part, everyone seems happy to put in the time. Feeling like they’re part of something important makes the effort worthwhile. That’s why Kat Quinzel, who left her job at Callcredit for a small company called Vintage Cash Cow, was converted to the startup life 10 months ago.“Life in a startup is insanel y different to life at a corporation,” Quinzel writes in an email. “It’s more stressful, the hours are longer and the job role is totally undefined, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I actually feel like I’m part of something, I’m building something that I can and will be proud of. I don’t feel like I ‘have to go to work’ every day. I feel more like I’m part of a huge project with a bunch of people who are all striving to build something amazing.”Ready to close your eyes and take the leap into a startup? If you’re currently stuck in a larger, more traditional company, you’ll of course, want to wait until you know the startups you’re interested in working for are actually looking for new employees. However, another thing that will affect the success of your move is the state of the economy. According to a recent CNBC survey, Americans are feeling pretty confident about the overall health of economy right now, so this might be your moment. It may feel a little scary, but that’s how all the most exciting, life-changing adventures begin.