News

Sound Off: New England Patriots Release Kyle Love

Here are the facts of one of one of New England’s most popularized employment law stories:

• On Wednesday May 15^th the New England Patriots released defensive tackle Kyle Love.
• New England waived him with a non-football-injury designation
• New England reportedly gave Love the option to retire for a year after his medical diagnosis of Type-II diabetes or be released and look for a new home.
• In the 2012 football season Love played in all 16 games and started in 11 of them.
• In the past few weeks Love was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes
• News outlets report Love recently lost about 20 pounds from his listed weight of 310
• Agents Sean Stellato and Richard Kopelman of Klass Sports told the Boston Herald they were informed the transaction was purely based on medical information and that nothing else was at play.  The agents also said that after talking with medical professionals they fully believe Love will be ready for training camp.
• Employment is “at will” meaning that either party can terminate the relationship for any reason that is not discriminatory
• The Americans with Disabilities Act protects against disability-based discrimination—disability is generally defined as anything that "substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities."
• While the act does not require an employee to be retained if they cannot perform their job, the Act does require that the employer make reasonable accommodations so that the disabled person can still perform the essential functions of their job
• The EEOC (governing body for employment law issues) says “Diabetes also is a disability when it causes side effects or complications that substantially limit a major life activity. Even if diabetes is not currently substantially limiting because it is controlled by diet, exercise, oral medication, and/or insulin, and there are no serious side effects, the condition may be a disability because it was substantially limiting in the past (i.e., before it was diagnosed and adequately treated). Finally, diabetes is a disability when it does not significantly affect a person's everyday activities, but the employer treats the individual as if it does. For example, an employer may assume that a person is totally unable to work because he has diabetes.”
• Kyle Love is not planning to sue and has been picked up by the Jaguars.

Where do you stand? Did the Patriot’s merely make a business decision based on the belief that Love could no longer perform or did they fire him due to his diagnosis and a fear that it would complicate things?

[Photo Credit AP/Michael Dwyer]

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2nd Annual Suit Up RI

City Personnel is proud to announce the second annual ‘Suit Up, RI!™’ initiative.

City Personnel, a boutique recruitment firm in Providence, in conjunction with the Clothing Collaborative will be running a professional clothing drive beginning April 1st and running through April 30th. The Suit Up RI initiative will be challenging companies throughout Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts to collect the most articles of professional clothing and accessories.  All of the collected pieces will be donated to the Clothing Collaborative’s closets to help the disadvantaged population of RI to find employment and build self-esteem. It’s widely known that Rhode Island has been battling one of the worst unemployment rates in the country since its peak at 11.9% in January, 2010 (U.S. Department of Labor Statistics).  Presently the unemployment rate in RI is only down to 10.2%. Suit Up RI hopes to slash this number even further. City Personnel has set a personal goal of 5,000 pieces of clothing for this drive, let’s see what this state can do when we join forces and really work together!  For additional information or if you want to get involved please contact either Brittany Bert or Colleen Keable at 401.331.2311 or by e-mail at suitupri@citypersonnel.net.

We Can’t Wait For You to Join the Team; Or Can We?

Unemployment numbers are still soaring in our small state, yet the talent wars are raging stronger than they have in years begging the questions what’s going on with hiring?  According to hiring trends published by Development Dimensions International (DDI) half of the new hires surveyed reported they’re remorseful about accepting their position. While many may chalk this up to unrealistic expectations, their hiring counterparts surveyed had similar sentiments.  DDI is reporting that 1 in 8 new hires turned out to be bad decisions leaving employers to question where they went wrong. (Obviously we are on the side of use an agency!) Despite this of all the companies surveyed DDI reported that 48% of companies felt that their recruiting was “highly effective.” 

When questioned on why so many hires fail, staffing directors cited overreliance on hiring manger evaluations as well as candidates overselling their skills.  In short, staffing directors were admitting that in many cases that are not digging deeply enough to make a well -educated, factually based hiring decision.  On the flip side only 51% of new hires were confident in their decision to accept a new job offer. It appears that they too did not dig deep enough during the interview process as a large reason for this uncertainty is failure to paint a realistic portrait of the job during the interview process.

Thanks to DDI’s research we now know that misinformation a long side lack of information is hurting the hiring process on both ends of the spectrum, now what?  First and foremost, know what you are looking for and check your applicant out. Make sure that none of the pre-requisite background checking, skills testing and so forth slips between the cracks.  Don’t try to glamorize the job during the interview process. As recruiters we all guilty of it when we have that tough fill position and pressure to get it filled, but painting a picture prettier than reality usually leads to applicants quitting in 6-12 months. Most importantly though, don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Whether candidate or employer, if you have hesitations or concerns, voice them before making any commitments.  If this doesn’t help, call an agency.