U.S. Workers Worried Most About Finding Another Job if Unemployed
KANSAS CITY (PRNewswire), September 22, 2008 - More than half of American workers are worried about finding a new job if they become unemployed, followed closely by concerns over their ability to pay for healthcare insurance, according to the latest "America At Work" national poll conducted by the Employment Law Alliance, the world's largest network of employment attorneys.
The ELA poll also shows Barack Obama as the preferred candidate for tackling U.S. workplace issues.
In the in-depth survey of 1,159 workers, conducted last week after the Democratic and Republican tickets were announced, and just before the U.S. Labor Department reported national unemployment at a five-year high of 6.1%, workers were asked their views regarding a wide range of workplace-related issues, national economic issues, and their preferences between the presidential candidates regarding those challenges.
Stephen J. Hirschfeld, Esq., CEO of ELA, said the poll could not be more timely. "Our poll results clearly show that after fear of finding another job if displaced, related pocketbook issues -- led by the affordability of healthcare insurance -- have American workers on edge. These highly personal issues -- much more than the prospect of tackling immigration and making it easier for unions to organize -- are trending as the paramount hot-button election issues. Perhaps the real battleground in this election is every American workplace."
Workers, a mix of full (83%) and part-time (17%) employees all over age 18, ranked their top issues among a group of eight workplace challenges presented in the poll, conducted for ELA by the market research firm Reed Group, of Philadelphia. The margin of error based on the sample size is +/- 2.9% at a 95% confidence level. The poll results reveal:
- 51% are worried about finding a new job if they lose their current one;
- 45% are troubled by the increasing cost to workers of employer-sponsored healthcare plans;
- 37% fear losing a job due to poor economic conditions; and
- 28% are concerned about fewer job opportunities due to outsourcing.
Besides ranking workplace-related issues, the respondents evaluated presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama regarding their ability to promote policies to address these workplace issues. In the four areas (noted above) causing workers the greatest concern, Sen. Obama was seen as more likely to satisfactorily address those challenges by margins of:
- 51% to McCain's 20% regarding tackling the lack of affordable healthcare
- 32% to McCain's 21% regarding the ability to find a new job
- 40% to McCain's 25% in terms of controlling increasing healthcare insurance costs
- 40% to McCain's 25% with respect to dealing with the possibility of job loss due to national economic woes.
McCain fares significantly more favorably in the poll (60% vs. 13%) when workers were asked which candidate will more likely be able to control illegal immigration. Obama leads by wide margins when it comes to making it harder for US companies to outsource jobs overseas (51% vs. 15%) and dealing with the lack of renewable energy sources (44% vs. 30%)
Dr. Ted Reed, ELA's Survey Director, noted that ELA conducted a similar survey prior to the Pennsylvania primary in April. "Comparing the two polls, we see that workers continue to rate job security and healthcare cost issues as their top workplace priorities for the upcoming election." He noted that unlike the April poll, this latest ELA poll represents the first time workers were asked to express their candidate preference for tackling troublesome workplace issues.
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Employers Screen Employees' Use 0f Social Networking Websites
KANSAS CITY (PRNewswire), September 22, 2008 - Jackson Lewis LLP, one of the country's largest and fastest growing workplace law firms, recently conducted a survey of more than 100 employers in New York's metropolitan commuter areas to determine how on-line social networking sites have affected the employer - employee relationship.
The survey found that many employers are monitoring employees' use of the internet during work time and will terminate employees who violate workplace control and screening policies. Employers are also actively using social networking sites to screen new employees before hiring.
Fifty-six percent (56%) of employers responding to the survey admit to monitoring employees' internet use to determine whether they are accessing on-line social networking sites, among other potentially inappropriate things. Thirty-eight percent (38%) block employees from accessing such websites.
Other findings from the survey include:>
- 16% of survey respondents admit to checking on-line social networking
sites to see what current and former employees might be saying about
them on-line
- Six percent of employers that responded have even terminated employees
for utilizing on-line social networking sites during work time
- Less than one-third of employers responding to the survey indicated
that they have adopted policies limiting or prohibiting use of such
sites during work time
- 12% of the employers surveyed use on-line social networking sites to
recruit new employees and an equal percentage admit to using on-line
social networking sites to assess applicants before extending a job
offer
"Barring a policy to the contrary, it is the employers' prerogative to examine its employees' use of the internet during work time and to ensure that employees' are working when they are being paid to do so," says Paul Siegel, a partner in the Long Island office of Jackson Lewis. "On the contrary, taking adverse employment action against employees on the basis of their protected recreational activities outside of the workplace is unlawful."
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Nearly Half of Workers Living Paycheck to Paycheck
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