A settlement has been reached in a case involving the discharge of a Connecticut ambulance service employee for posting negative comments about a supervisor on her Facebook page.

The NLRB’s Hartford regional office issued a complaint against a Connecticut company on October 27, 2010, alleging that the discharge violated federal labor law because the employee was engaged in protected activity when she posted the comments about her supervisor, and responded to further comments from her co-workers. Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees may discuss the terms and conditions of their employment with co-workers and others.

The NLRB complaint also alleged that the company maintained overly-broad rules in its employee handbook regarding blogging, Internet posting, and communications between employees, and that it had illegally denied union representation to the employee during an investigatory interview shortly before the employee posted the negative comments on her Facebook page.

Under the terms of the settlement the company agreed to revise its overly-broad rules to ensure that they do not improperly restrict employees from discussing their wages, hours and working conditions with co-workers and others while not at work, and that they would not discipline or discharge employees for engaging in such discussions.

The company also promised that employee requests for union representation will not be denied in the future and that employees will not be threatened with discipline for requesting union representation. The allegations involving the employee’s discharge were resolved through a separate, private agreement between the employee and the company.

The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency vested with the authority to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have a union as their collective bargaining representative, and to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.

“Startup America” is President Obama’s campaign to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. The Startup America Partnership is a coordinated public/private effort that brings together an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders, who work in concert with a wide-range of federal agencies to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of American entrepreneurs.

This mission to promote entrepreneurship is a core component of President Obama’s National Innovation Strategy for achieving sustainable growth and quality jobs. Not only do startups bring a wealth of transformative innovation to market, they also have generated all net job creation over the past three decades.Entrepreneurs who are intent on growing their businesses create the lion’s share of these new jobs in every part of the country and in every industry. Moreover, it is entrepreneurs in clean energy, medicine, advanced manufacturing, information technology, and other fields who will build the new industries of the 21st century and solve some of our toughest global challenges.

The Startup America Partnership is a private, nonprofit entity co-funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Case Foundation. Its core goals are to (1) increase the number of new, high-growth firms that are creating economic growth, innovation, and quality jobs; (2) celebrate and honor entrepreneurship as a core American value and source of competitive advantage; and (3) inspire and empower a an ever-greater diversity of communities and individuals to build great American companies.

While not a grant-making entity, the Startup America Partnership will identify and encourage private-sector partners (such as corporations, foundations, startup funders, CEOs, and others) to commit resources that will help entrepreneurial companies start or grow—either by contributing funds to existing proven models or by developing new programs and efforts to help entrepreneurs.

The White House “Startup America” Program
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/startup-america

Startup America Partnership
http://www.startupamericapartnership.org

Consumers can now sue the companies or manufacturers for misleading claims made by them. This decision resolves a long overdue decision about the rights of consumers vs businesses over the scope of Proposition 64, a 2004 measure targeted to reduce lawsuits against businesses. Consumers who buy a product as a result of believing the misleading claims in advertising can sue the manufacturer even if the product was not defective, the California Supreme Court decided in a 5-2 ruling on Jan 24, 2011. It was a victory for consumers and supporters of Consumer rights said that the favorable decision will force the manufacturers to be honest about their claims and consumers will not be tricked.

The case involved a lawsuit against Orange County-based Kwikset Corp. for placing "Made in U.S.A" labels clearly visible on locksets. A trial judge determined the company was selling numerous products under such labels even though they contained foreign-made parts or were assembled in foreign countries. The company has stopped labeling the locksets the way it was done up until this decision.

Hopefully, this decision will pave the way for advertising that tricks consumers but cannot be labeled as unlawful. For example, some TV ads run the selling section of the ad with vivid imagination, colors, creativity but when it’s time to tell the consumers about disclaimers, disclosures or associated risks, the color and size of font is very small and almost illegible or if it is speech, then the speed is fast and without any intonation so consumers generally are unable to grasp the content or message as a whole. The company is following a law, but is clearly tricking the consumer.

US H1B holders have a new and exciting opportunity to benefit from a new Canadian Permanent Residency Program.

Alberta Canada officially announced, in Jan 2009, that it had approved a Fast Track Program designed for U.S H1B workers to gain Landed Immigrant Status to Canada. The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) allows H1B workers who are currently employed in a H1B position that is listed as an occupation of high pressure can qualify for the Permanent residency with NO job offer or employer requirement.

Qualification Requirements for this program, an H1B worker must meet the following basic criteria:

1. Applicant must demonstrate a clear ability and intention to live permanently in Alberta

2. Applicant must be currently working in the United States and possess a valid visa in one of the following temporary skilled worker visa categories: H1-B, H1-B1, H-1C, E-3 at the time the AINP makes a final decision on the application

3. Applicant must have a minimum of one year of work experience in the United States in one of the qualifying visa categories listed above

4. Applicant must have an occupation on the AINP Occupations Under pressure List. (Download AINP List)

The Application Process consists of two independent applications. Initially, the application for the AINP will be filed with the Province of Alberta. The processing time is currently approx 6 months. Upon approval from Alberta, the application will be filed Federally with an approval of the Landed Immigrant Status currently takes approx 6 months. The entire process form commencement until Permanent Residency under this "Fast Track" program is taking less than one year.

Temporary Business (Long Stay) - Standard Business Sponsorship (Subclass 457) | The Australian Government has announced fast-track processing of "Sub Class 457 Visa Eligible Occupations" applications specifically for reconstruction jobs in flood-affected areas, providing quick access to skilled overseas labour where local supply is insufficient. The subclass 457 visa provides a fast and flexible route for the entry of skilled workers to Australia. Under the program, a wide variety of skilled construction and engineering occupations are available for sponsorship, and employers can sponsor skilled workers for up to four years with no limit on the number of workers they sponsor.

The government is offering personalised assistance with visa applications to employers involved in reconstruction work so that they provide assistance to the reconstruction effort. Processing time by Government for eligible and completed applications by Government is 7 days.The 457 program is available to businesses of any size – in fact, the vast majority of sponsors approved for the 457 program are small to medium enterprises and allows approved applicant to stay upto 4 years without restrictions.