Work | featured news

Two million Americans give notice every month. What pushes them to do so -- and what can employers do to staunch the talent drain? Some potent answers from Alan Hall, a veteran entrepreneur, angel investor, venture capitalist and Forbes.com contributor.

With its long vacations, short hours and myriad workers' rights, France has a reputation for being a hard place to do business. Now add this to the mix: A law working its way through parliament would grant amnesty to workers who have ransacked their company's offices or threatened their bosses during a labor dispute.

Most people who have a complaint don’t really push for a solution. They make a quick phone call or send an email, but if they get the brush-off, they’re done. The fact is, if you want to get your problem solved, you need to speak up and stand your ground until the company makes you happy.

Your bosses want you to eat your broccoli, hit the treadmill and pledge you'll never puff on a cigarette. But a new study raises doubts that workplace wellness programs save the company money. In what's being called the most rigorous look yet inside the wellness trend, independent researchers tracked the program at a major St. Louis hospital system for two years. Hospitalizations for employees and family members dropped dramatically, by 41 percent overall for six major conditions. But increased outpatient costs erased those savings.

Margaret Fiester is no shrinking violet, but she says working for her former boss was a nightmare. "One day I didn't do something right and she actually laid her hands on me and got up in my face and started yelling, `Why did you do that?'" said Fiester, who worked as a legal assistant for an attorney.

Lisa Kanarek, a home office expert, author and founder of WorkingNaked.com, suggests you designate a specific place for a home office--and store all work-related files, reference materials and supplies there.

For some hotels, lobbies, business centers and meeting areas have become an untapped source of additional revenue and new customers who live and work nearby.

As Facebook and Twitter become as central to workplace conversation as the company cafeteria, federal regulators are ordering employers to scale back policies that limit what workers can say online. Employers often seek to discourage comments that paint them in a negative light. Don’t discuss company matters publicly, a typical social media policy will say, and don’t disparage managers, co-workers or the company itself. Violations can be a firing offense.

Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

Last week, Iowa’s all-male high court upheld the legality of terminating a female employee because her boss found her too attractive.