College and economic security

The Georgetown Public Policy Institute for has released a report detailing how much better off college graduates fared in the economic downturn. Key points:

• unemployment rate for 4 year college graduates never exceeded 6.3% during the recession, compared with a peak unemployment rate of 13.4% in February 2010.
• unemployment rate for new high school graduates peaked at 30% in January 2010, and remained at 24% in May of 2012.
• during the recession (Dec. 2007-Jan 2010) there was modest job growth (187,000) for those with a bachelor's degree or better.
• During the recovery (January 2010-Feb. 2012) job losses for high school graduates or less education continued to decline (230,000) while job growth for those with some college (2,012,000) and Bachelor's degree or better (3,374,000) improved dramatically.
• Nearly 4 out of every 5 jobs lost in the recession were held by workers with a high school diploma or less.

There is a wealth of additional information.

Employer burden to justify ban on employees discussing ongoing investigation

In Banner Health Systems, 28 CA 023438, 348 NLRB No. 93, [Download here] the NLRB continues its aggressive expansion of protection for employee concerted discussions of workplace issues. In Banner, the employer had a blanket prohibition against discussion of its investigation of workers complaints. The Board rejected this approach as overbroad and required an individualized showing by the employer of its business justification for interfering with Section 7 rights. Money quote:

it was the Respondent’s burden “to first determine whether in any give[n] investigation witnesses need[ed] protection, evidence [was] in danger of being destroyed, testimony [was] in danger of being fabricated,or there [was] a need to prevent a cover up.” Id. The Respondent’s blanket approach clearly failed to meet those requirements.

This result is unremarkable given the text of Section 7, yet the practical effect upon, and burden on employers during an ongoing investigation are potentially huge.