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<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Is
Light Duty A Rip-Off?</font></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Returning
to work after an injury often calls for �light duty� particularly under Worker�s
Compensation (WC). Some of us look at WC and light duty as a nuisance,
while others see it as a blessing. There are so many misconceptions about how
each works that it may be worthwhile to take a closer look at what some companies
see as a pot-of-gold for employees who may fake, exaggerate or prolong injuries
to �cash-in�. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">There
are two issues regarding WC we should focus on to better understand the problems:
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .25in">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Who is WC supposed to help?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .25in">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Is light duty a rip-off?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -.25in; margin-left: .25in"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Who
Is WC Supposed to Help?</font></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">WC was first introduced in the state of Wisconsin in 1911
and by 1949 every state in the nation had a WC plan on the books. WC, which
compensates workers for the costs of injures and lost wages, was designed to
protect the company, the employer. At the time injuries to workers were so
prevalent that court cases were backlogged for years, employees died waiting
years for resolution and companies were sued out of existence. WC was
introduced as a �single remedy�, �no fault� solution. That is to say, that if
an injured employee is accepted by WC, he/she is allowed no other recourse. He
may not also sue the company for those same injuries. The WC is his �single
remedy� to gain compensation for his medical costs and lost wages, while there
is �no fault� (as far as payment is concerned) to either party.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, although some changes have been introduced in the laws
in various states, and employees do gain much from the system, it is clear that
in most cases trying to stop an employee from gaining WC may not be in the
company�s best interests. WC is primarily designed to protect the company. So
cooperating with WC is a good idea.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Is
Light Duty Really a Rip-Off?</font></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">Light duty gives most companies problems. You have to pay
someone full wages to do much less work if any at all. Why don�t they just stay
home until they�re ready to fully work again? If they come back too soon
they�re just going to reinjure themselves and we�ll be starting this all over.
Besides, we just can�t afford to pay so much for so little work. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But light duty is being highly recommended by WC, the
insurance carriers and the medical experts. Some states, such as Ohio, now
offer lower WC premium rates and other advantages to companies who agree to pay
all injured workers on WC for all the lost time they incur from their injuries.
The intention is to lower WC�s payouts and to bring the employee back into light
duty and gradual full performance. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let�s explore some of the myths about light duty.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<blockquote>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><u>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
All or Nothing Myth</font></u></b></h3>
<h4 class="MsoNormal"><b><i>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Employees
must be able to perform 100% of their job duties before returning to work.</font></i></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Not
so. Injured employees regain their ability to work incrementally by doing
one small task at a time and gradually building on that. Rehabilitation
experts say that staying out of work or staying on light duty for long periods
of time often result in the individual never fully rehabilitating. It
can also encourage an employee to remain in the �special victim� mode, continuing
to be non-productive and expecting someone else to be responsible for the outcome.
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><u>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
Re-injury Myth</font></u></b></h3>
<h4 class="MsoNormal"><b><i>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Employees
who return to work in light duty will reinjure themselves and go out on another
WC claim</font></i></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">.
</font></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">There
is some anecdotal evidence that employees have claimed �re-injury� and have
even turned an off-job injury into an extended WC claim. However, statistically
where there is a formal return to work policy in place there is no evidence
that this occurs. In any case, the impact of an injured employee continuing
as a �lost time accident� will cost most companies much more in higher WC premiums
next year. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><u>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Stay
Home and Recuperate Myth</font></u></b></h3>
<h4 class="MsoNormal"><b><i>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">People
who are injured need total rest and removal from everyday life.</font></i></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">As
stated in myth no. 1, people heal from injuries and illness incrementally.
Getting back to normal daily activities, including work, is part of that process.
Recovery progresses more quickly when there is a combination of early mobilization
and expanding steps back to normal life. The plan to regain a fully active
life is a partnership between the company, the supervisor and the physician.
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><u>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">People
are Lazy and Want to Stay That Way Myth</font></u></b></h3>
<h4 class="MsoNormal"><b><i>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Most
employees want to stay out of work as long as possible.</font></i></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">You�d
know I was lying if I told you that this was totally false. Of course
there are employees with very low work motivation who may use an injury to avoid
returning to work. In most cases this is more a result of mismanaging
the process to the point that the employee doesn�t feel welcome back at work
and finds more advantages to staying home. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Most
employees can and do want to return to work. Most actually gain much needed
confidence when they see themselves redeveloping their abilities and skills.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><u>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">FMLA
Doesn�t Allow It</font></u></b></h3>
<h4 class="MsoNormal"><b><i>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) prohibits companies from requiring employees
on FMLA leave to return to work on light duty</font></i><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">.</font></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Companies
with 50 or more employees are required to provide FMLA leave rights to employees.
FMLA does say that you may not require an employee to return to work on light
duty <i>if the physician says that they are not capable of performing the work
you describe. </i>However, by working with the physician in a transitional,
back to work program, an assignment of work that is compatible with that stage
of the employee�s rehabilitation can be designed. If the employee then
refuses to accept the light duty assignment as approved by the physician, FMLA
can be refused.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Using
a formal return-to-work, �light duty� program can save employees careers
and save you a lot of money. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">For
those who would like more information on light duty see the Personnel Notebook
�Light Duty and Return To Work� on the association�s website. For those
who would like to have some assistance in setting up a transitional, light duty
program you can contact the Job Accommodation Network at
<a style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single" target="_blank" href="http://www.jan.wvu.edu">www.jan.wvu.edu</a>. This is a government funded, volunteer service that can
also show you how to earn tax credits for such programs.</font></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<h2 style="margin-left:.75in" align="center">
<font face="Verdana" color="#008000">Have an employment question?</font></h2>
<h3 style="margin-left:.75in" align="center"><font face="Verdana">Send it to
<a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=From HR On The Job">
[email protected]</a></font></h3>
<p style="margin-left:.75in" align="center"><b><font face="Verdana" size="2">
Please include Company Name and Association in your e-mail. Company
identification will be kept confidential.</font></b></p>
<hr>
<h2 align="left"><b><u><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hitchhiking on the Information
Highway</font></u></b></h2>
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font
size="4" color="#FF0000">Dateline: June 2008</font></b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Note. Although we attempt to provide the HRU update on the first
of each month, we are normally delayed awaiting the release of several
monthly government statistical reports. We will hereafter update the information
as each report becomes available without waiting for all of them to be
released.</font></i></p>
<p> </p>
<table border="0" width="100%" height="3030">
<tr valign="top">
<td width="100%" height="3546">
<blockquote>
<div align="center">
<div align="left">
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Want To Be In
Demand?</font></b></h2>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>
Here�s What They�re Demanding</b></font></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>
<span style="font-size:14.0pt"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Manpower,
Inc recently reported on the ten most difficult jobs to fill in
the USA. The company has been conducting the survey for the last
three years. Sales representatives, technicians, accountants/finance
staff and machinists have appeared on the list for all three years.
It is becoming increasingly important for companies to retain those
employees with these skills while developing better methods of attracting
younger workers. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Fewer
young people today want to go into the more technical jobs on the
list. That means companies will be competing with each other
for the available candidates. That also means that the wages
will continue to go up on these jobs. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">10
most difficult jobs to fill:</font></b></h3>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Engineers</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Machinists / Machine operators</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Skilled Trades</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">4.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Technicians</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">5.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Sales Representatives</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">6.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Accounting / Finance staff</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">7.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Mechanics</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">8.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Laborers</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">9.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>IT Staff</font></p>
<p class="ListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -.25in"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">10.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>Production Operators </font>
</div>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table17" cellpadding="2" height="102" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top" height="78">
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid white 1.0pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:solid white 1.0pt;border-right:none;padding:
10.0pt 0in 10.0pt 0in">
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�<b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Big
jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow
smaller ones�</span></i></b></font></h2>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">-Ralph
Waldo Emerson</span></i></b></font></h2>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h1 align="center" style="text-align:center"> </h1>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <span style="font-size:18.0pt"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">City
Students Don�t Do As Well As Suburban or Country Students</font></span></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"> Former
General Collin Powell has founded an organization aimed at addressing
the failure of our American schools. His organization, �America�s
Promise Alliance� Has issued a 2008 report showing that 9<sup>th</sup>
grade students in big city schools have about a 50/50 chance of graduating
four years later. But if they were to cross over into their
own suburbs, their chances improve dramatically. Big city schools
educate about 12.5% of high school students yet they account for 25%
of all the drop-outs. Those are averages, when we look at the
some actual examples the differences really jump out.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">In
Baltimore MD only 34.6% of city students graduate while in the Baltimore
suburbs the figure is 85%. The top five:</font></p>
<div align="left">
<table border="0" width="50%" id="table23">
<tr>
<td>
<table border="0" width="100%" id="table24">
<tr>
<td valign="top"><b></b></td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u>City School Graduates</u></font></b></div>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u>Suburban School Graduates<br>
</u></font></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
Baltimore, MD</font></b></td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
34.6% </font></div>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
81.5%</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
Columbus, Ohio</font></b></td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
40.9%</font></div>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
82.9%</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
Cleveland, Ohio </font></b></td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
42.2%</font></div>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
78.1%</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
New York City</font></b></td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
47.4%</font></div>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
82.9%</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
Denver, Colorado </font></b></td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
46.8%</font></div>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
80.9%</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"> The
U.S. Secretary of Education calls that gap �unacceptable� and pointed
out that the figures may well be much worse as city schools tend to
use their own methods of calculating graduation rates that are inconsistent
with other schools. The teachers union feels that the
answer lies in paying school teachers higher wages and reducing their
class sizes. But that�s been the practicing solution of choice
for over 40 years, back when American education was considered among
the top 2 or 3 countries in the world. We now rank around 30<sup>th</sup>,
somewhere below South Korea. </font></p>
<p>
</div>
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout">
<div align="center">
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table19" height="87" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td height="109" valign="top">
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid white 1.0pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:solid white 1.0pt;border-right:none;padding:
10.0pt 0in 10.0pt 0in">
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�<b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Why
do we fail Sir?�</span></i></b></font></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">�In
order to learn how to pick ourselves up�</span></i></b></font></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">-Alfred</span></i></b></font></h3>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
</span>
<div align="center">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <span style="font-size:18.0pt">New
Jersey Passes Paid FMLA</span></b> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">When
the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed back in 1993, employers
objected to the idea of having to lose employees for up to 12 weeks
(16 to 18 weeks in some states) each year in addition to vacation,
holidays, sick leave and personal days complaining that this puts
an enormous burden on companies. In meeting with the Department
Of Labor (DOL) employers said that they feared that this would eventually
be expanded to paid leave. DOL said that they had no such plans
and that FMLA only applied to companies with 50 or more employees.
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Since
then The state of California and Washington D.C. have mandated that
FMLA be paid leave. Last month the state of New Jersey passed
legislation requiring six weeks paid FMLA leave in each 12 month period.
All companies,<span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"> </span></span>
<u>regardless of size,</u> must provide the paid leave. And
much like Social Security, a state fund will be set up for employers
to pay into. Employees will be paid 66% of their pay up to $524
a week. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Companies
must begin paying into the fund on January 1, 2009. Employees
will be able to start collecting paid FMLA on July 1, 2009.</font></p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table20" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid white 1.0pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:solid white 1.0pt;border-right:none;padding:
10.0pt 0in 10.0pt 0in">
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�It
is by what we ourselves have done, and not by what others
have done for us, that we shall be remembered in after ages.�</font></span></i></b></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">-Francis
Wayland</span></i></b></font></h3>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b> <span style="font-size:18.0pt"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Who
Earns The Minimum Wage?</font></span></b></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">The
current federal minimum wage was set on July 24, 2007 at $5.85 per
hour. It will be raised to $6.55 on July 24, 2008, and will
be raised again to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. How many workers
will those increases affect? Not many.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Of
the 151 million workers in the U.S, those making minimum wage make
up 0.0175 percent of the American workforce. That�s a little
less than 2/10 of one percent of the workforce. In number that�s
267,000 workers. Approximately 70% of all minimum wage workers
advance out of that level of work within one year.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Minimum
wage workers tend to be young (about half are under 25), and minimally
skilled and most are women. According to the Business and Legal
Reports historic numbers, whenever the minimum wage goes up, the number
of jobs paying that wage goes down. It is thought that small
companies with a fixed salary capability must cut the number of workers
to fit that capability.</font></p>
<table border="4" width="50%" id="table22" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid white 1.0pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:solid white 1.0pt;border-right:none;padding:
10.0pt 0in 10.0pt 0in">
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">�<b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Every
moment of one�s existence, one is growing into more or retreating
into less�</span></i></b></font></h3>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt">-Norman
Mailer</span></i></b></font></h3>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<blockquote>
<hr width="75%">
<p></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<table border="0" width="47%">
<tr>
<td width="37%" valign="top">
<div style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1; padding-left: 4; padding-right: 4; padding-top: 1; padding-bottom: 1">
<p align="left"><font size="-1"
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Federal Minimum Wage:</b></font></p>
</div>
</td>
<center>
<td width="61%" valign="top">
<h3 align="left"><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">$5.85/hr. </font></h3>
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>Increases
to $6.55 on 7/24/08</i></font></p>
<p align="left"><i><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Increases
to $7.25 on 7/24/09</font></i>
</td>
</center>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="0" width="99%">
<tr>
<td width="13%" valign="middle" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1"><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Average
Income:</b></font></td>
<td width="67%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1">
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber4" height="76">
<tr>
<td width="100%" height="76">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber5">
<tr>
<td width="50%" align="center"><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Hourly</font></b></td>
<td width="50%" align="center"><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Weekly</font></b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber6" height="50">
<tr>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center"> <u><font size="-1"><b>March</b></font></u><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
2007</u></font></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><br>
$17.29</font>
</td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>March</b></font></u></font></span><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><span style="text-decoration: none"><u>
200</u></span></font></b><u><font size="-1"><b>8</b></font></u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$17.8</font><font size="-1">8</font>
</td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>March</b></font></u><b><u>
2007</u></b><br>
</font>
</span> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
$584.40</font>
</td>
<td width="25%" height="50">
<p align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>March</b></font></u><b><u>
2008</u></b></font></span><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u><br>
</u>$602.56</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
<td width="20%" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<table border="0" width="99%" height="96">
<tr>
<td width="100%" height="40" colspan="2">
<h3 align="center"><span style="text-decoration: none"><font
face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>Federal<br>
Poverty Level:</b></font></span></h3>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="50%" height="48">
<p align="center"><b><u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">One
(1) Person<br>
</font></u></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">$10,400</font></td>
<td width="50%" height="48">
<p align="center"><u><b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Family
of Four</font></b></u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><br>
$21,200</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<hr noshade color="#000000">
</font>
<table border="0" width="100%">
<b></b>
<tr> <b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<td width="37%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>IRS Mileage Allowance :</b></font></p>
</td>
</font></b>
<center>
<b></b>
<td width="63%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1">
<div align="left"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>January
1, 2008, IRS mileage allowance:</u></font></b></div>
<div align="left"> </div>
<div align="left"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
Business Purposes: 50.5 cents per mile<br>
Medical or Moving Purposes: 19 cents per mile<br>
Charitable Purposes: 14 cents per mile</font></b></div>
</td>
</center>
</tr>
</table>
<table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr>
<td width="32%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>Postage:</b></font></p>
</td>
<center>
<td width="34%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1"> </td>
</center>
<td width="34%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1">
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>May
12. 2008</b></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">1 oz.</font></td>
<td width="34%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">.41</font></td>
<td width="34%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">.42</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Each additional ounce</font></td>
<td width="34%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">.17</font></td>
<td width="34%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2
oz. .27</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><i>Postcards</i></font></td>
<td width="34%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">.26</font></td>
<td width="34%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">.27</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<b>
<p>
<table border="0" width="38%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
</table>
<table border="0" width="98%">
<tr>
<td width="34%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b><u>Population:</u></b></font></p>
</td>
<center>
<td width="82%" style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1"> </td>
</center>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="34%" style="border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>World</b></font></td>
<td width="82%">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">6.5 Billion</font>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="34%" valign="top"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1"><b>U.S.</b></font></td>
<td width="82%" valign="top">
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">300
Million</font>
<p align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>One
birth every 8 seconds<br>
One death every 13 seconds<br>
One new immigrant every 30 seconds<br>
Net gain = 1 person every second</i></font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</b>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<table border="1" width="99%" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr> <b>
<td width="48%" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1">
<p align="left"><b> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">U.S.
Workforce</font></b></p>
</td>
</b>
<center>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>March</b></font></u></font></span><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><u><font size="-1">
2007</font></u></b></font></td>
<b>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<span style="text-decoration: none"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
<u><font size="-1"><b>March</b></font></u></font></span><u><span style="font-weight:700"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">
</font></span> </u><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><u>
<b> 2008</b></u></font></td>
</b>
</center>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">U.S. Civilian Workforce</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">152,542,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">153,957,000</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font size="-1">Number Employed</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">145,713,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
145,331,000</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Number Unemployed</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1">6,829,000</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <font size="-1">7</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">,626,000</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><span style="text-decoration: none"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Persons Who Currently Want A Job</font></span></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4,542,000</font></span></td>
<td width="12%" align="center"> <span style="text-decoration: none">
<font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4,755,000</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="48%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
size="-1">Unemployment Rate</font></td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<p><font size="-1">4.5</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">%</font></p>
</td>
<td width="12%" align="center">
<p><font size="-1">5.0</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<hr noshade color="#000000">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber3" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr>
<td width="100%">
<h4><b><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">PRODUCTIVITY
OF THE AMERICAN WORKFORCE</font></b><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
(The amount of goods produced, divided by the number of work hours
it took to produce it)</font></h4>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber2" bgcolor="#C0C0C0">
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1992</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">3.7%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1993</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">0.5%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1994</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">1.3%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1995</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">0.9%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1996</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.5%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1997</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.0%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1998</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.6%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>1999</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.4%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2000</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">2.9%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2001</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">1.1%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2002</b></font></p>
</td>
<td width="68%">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">4.7%</font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><b>2003</b></font></td>
<td width="68%"><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">4.5%</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"><font size="-1"><b>2004</b></font></td>
<td width="68%"><font size="-1">4.0%</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"> <span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>2005</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%"> <span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">2.6%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"> <span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>2006</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%"> <span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">3.0%</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="32%"> <span style="text-decoration: none"> <font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>2007</b></font></span></td>
<td width="68%"> <font size="-1">1.9%</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</font></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="100%" height="21"> </td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><font face="Verdana" size="2">� William J. Cook</font></p>
</body>
</html>