Josh, a new dad, is suing his employer, Time Warner, for discrimination because they won’t give him the same 10 weeks paid leave that they give new moms and new adoptive parents (dads included). His claim is discrimination. If these other classes of people get that benefit, why not him?

What’s the Law Say?

The Family Medical Leave Act requires an employer to allow 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child. If both parents work at the same company, those 12 weeks can be split any way the parents choose (but they’re still capped at 12 weeks). Employers may also require employees to exhaust paid leave options first before unpaid leave kicks in. Employees can elect to do this anyway if they so desire.

There is no law that says employers must provide paid leave to employees. That makes this case purely about discrimination. Or is it?

Since we launched Blissbook, we’ve done a lot of talking with customers about the content that goes into one. We classify this information into three categories: culture, onboarding / general information, and case-specific. Although no Blissbook is the same, they will all contain one or more of these types of information.

Culture

Bubble Hockey ≠ Culture

Defining company culture is hard. Is it chemistry? Fun things people like to do together? How employees or customers are treated? It could be all of those things, but we agree with Rand Fishkin in that company culture can be boiled down to the following:

• What you believe in and why your company exists (your mission and guiding principles).
• Who you collectively are deep down inside (your core values).
• Whether or not you respect these things (how you hire, reward and release people).

These are not shallow questions and they require deep thought. There should also be collaboration with all employees within a company so that everyone is bought in and the culture reflects everyone’s belief of what the company is, not just leadership’s view of it.

Don’t call it a comeback, at least not for Millennials in the workplace. In many regards, this generation isn’t a rehash of their parents and grandparents. They have a completely different set of values for the workplace, one that uniquely fuses their personal interests. Consider it more of a takeover, if you will—one that’s been catapulted by technology and cultural advances. Not an “Empire of the Ants” kind of takeover, but one based solely on the numbers. If you don’t believe the times have changed, visit a class of college freshmen and ask them to tell you the first thing that enters their mind when you say the word “catfish”. Yep, Millennials are different.

Back in 2008, Gen Y Expert Amy Lynch predicted that by 2014, 36 percent of the U.S. workforce would be comprised of Millennials and by 2020, nearly half (46 percent) of all U.S. workers would be from this generation. By comparison, Gen X only represents 16 percent of the current workforce.

So, the question for CEOs and HR directors is how to attract and engage this generation in the workplace. This is particularly true of small to mid-size companies competing with larger, more established companies for top talent.

When approaching Millenials, remember, this is the generation who, instead of gathering around the water cooler in the morning to discuss current events, is more likely to post a video of their morning visit to the local coffee shop to create their own current event. This is the generation where 23 year-old Jake is likely to dump 22-year old Sara via Facebook while she in turn boldly responds on Twitter: I was dumped for Brittany the Skank #jakewetsthebed #ihatehim.

The Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace opened nationally today (well, it was supposed to), much to the chagrin of many men & women in Congress. No matter how you feel about health care reform, I think we can all agree that this engaging video breaks it down into simple enough terms that even our representatives in Congress would understand. Well… maybe. Watch it and judge for yourself!