Work

Court: Fidelity investment advisers not covered by federal whistleblower law

adamg — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:56:32 +0000

A federal appeals court today tossed a lawsuit by two people working for a Fidelity subscontractor who alleged they were fired for bringing up possible accounting irregularities, because a federal law intended to protect the public from securities fraud is limited to employees of companies that are publicly traded.

Editors are so passe

adamg — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:00:20 +0000

Some educational publishing startup in the South Station area is looking for people who can hire and supervise writers and take charge of the company's content in their subject areas. You know, content leaders. Also, among the job requirements:

Incredible work output, like a force of nature, or like The Beast from X-Men.

Harvard libraries steal page from BPL: Announce transformational change and, oh, yeah, layoffs

adamg — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:29:48 +0000

Librarians at the world's second largest private library system learned today they're now playing musical chairs. At a "town hall" meeting on the U's plans to build the 21st century library, workers learned some of them will no longer be needed, although which ones were not announced, according to the chatter on #hlth on Twitter and a report by Library Journal.

Some may recall that BPL officials made similar statements about entering the 21st century even as they proposed cutting branches and services.

Keystone XL was not an American jobs bonanza

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:09:06 +0000

Read more here from author Brad Johnson, a Boston native, who writes about climate and public policy for ThinkProgress.

East Boston clammers ready suit against Massport, fuel company over clam-killing oil spill at Logan

adamg — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:04:17 +0000

The East Boston Times-Free Press reports on efforts by clammers for compensation for lost wages caused when a large spill at the airport last year that caused the death of clams in beds around the airport.

State unemployment rate holds steady, remains well below national average

adamg — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:15:32 +0000

The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development reports preliminary October numbers show a statewide unemployment rate of 7.3%, compared to the national average of 9%.

Massachusetts employers reported adding a total of 10,800 jobs last month, the state says. The reason this is not reflected in the unemployment rate is because the state uses two different surveys for each - it samples households to determine the unemployment rate and surveys business owners to determine the total number of jobs.

State Street tower evacuated due to water leak

adamg — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:25:48 +0000

The Boston Fire Department reports firefighters had to evacuate all 38 stories of 60 State St. when a second-floor leak sent water flowing into the building's electrical system in the basement.

The building normally has 2,300 or so workers on a weekday, the department says, adding the evacuation went smoothly.

At least they're not asking for urine samples

adamg — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:28:24 +0000

Brookline considers requiring people who operate ice-cream trucks to supply fingerprints, Wicked Local Brookline reports.

For second day in a row, news comes out of cutbacks by major local employer

adamg — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:10:09 +0000

Yesterday it was State Street. Today it's Fidelity.

Kids with disabilities could get caught in contract dispute between city, bus drivers

adamg — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:22:54 +0000

The Herald reports Boston school-bus drivers could strike as soon as school gets out tomorrow, which could leave kids in year-round programs for students with disabilities could be left on the sidewalk.

The article doesn't explain why members of Local 8751 might want to strike. For that, you need to look at the union Web site.

Upper Crust agrees to pay more back wages after feds conclude it violated overtime laws again

adamg — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:27:50 +0000

The federal Department of Labor announced yesterday the Upper Crust Pizzeria chain will pay $81,000 in back wages and penalties to 11 kitchen workers it had improperly classified as exempt from federal overtime regulations.

"The Labor Department will not allow employers like The Upper Crust Pizzeria to violate the law and deprive vulnerable, low-wage restaurant workers of their rightful wages," said Carlos Matos, assistant director of the Wage and Hour Division's Boston District Office, which investigated the case.

In 2009, another Labor Department investigation showed the company owed $342,000 in back wages and penalties to 121 workers who were also either improperly deemed exempt or who were not paid enough for their extra hours.

As if unemployed people don't have enough to worry about

adamg — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:22:46 +0000

The state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reports a cyberbreach may have let somebody collect personal data on people receiving Massachusetts unemployment benefits:

EOLWD learned yesterday that the computer virus (W32.QAKBOT) was not remediated as originally believed and that the persistence of the virus resulted in a data breach. Once it was discovered, the system was shut down and the breach is no longer active. W32.QAKBOT may have impacted as many as 1500 computers housed in DUA and DCS including the computers at the One-Stop Career Centers.

There is a possibility that as a result of the infection, the virus collected confidential claimant or employer information. This information may include names, Social Security Numbers, Employer Identification Numbers, email addresses and residential or business addresses.

Anybody who filed a claim between April 19 and May 13 that required manual help from a state worker could be at risk, the office says.

Symantec says W32.QAKBOT is actually a worm, and is designed to steal data from infected computers:

It downloads additional files, steals information, and opens a back door on the compromised computer. The worm also contains rootkit functionality to allow it to hide its presence.

#rubyriot: Boston Innovators Unite Tonight

AdamPieniazek — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:12:27 +0000

Boston's startup scene constantly gets compared, negatively, to San Francisco & NYC. A group of Bostonians had enough and decided to show everyone that we might not be the biggest or most famous innovation center but we are the loudest and nothing can stop us when we work together.

Bostonians from all over are uniting tonight to show that not only is our startup scene huge, vibrant and growing but we're also willing to help each other and others purely for the sake of helping. Need a job, a lead, or just someone to bounce ideas off of? Ruby Riot is calling your name.

Tufts Medical Center nurses set one-day strike for May 6

adamg — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:36:06 +0000

WBUR reports.

Breaking in to meet with the CEO

adamg — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:16:25 +0000

Steve Nadis reports on his unusual path for a scheduled meeting on the North Shore earlier this week.