WIRTW #442 (the “Good with God” edition)

Any week my favorite band—the Old 97’s—release new music is a week to be celebrated. (I know, Old 97’s music two Fridays in row. Deal with it or read something else today).

I’ll let Rolling Stone do the heavy lifting:

“I’m good with God. I wonder how she feels about me?” 

So ends the chorus of the Old 97’s’ “Good With God,” the lead single from the band’s 11th album, Graveyard Whistling. Due February 24th, the album offers up another boozy blast of Texas twang, train-beat percussion and guitar grit from Rhett Miller and company, who recorded its 11 songs in the same border-town studio that spawned the group’s major-label debut, Too Far to Care, two decades earlier. 

With their original four-piece lineup still intact, the Old 97’s welcome a new face into the fold with “Good With God,” whose titular omniscient character is played by Brandi Carlile. The two trade vocal duties throughout, with Carlile’s voice bathed in plenty of godly reverb. The result is an ominous, off-kilter duet between Miller and his maker, driven forward at highway speed by bandmates Philip Peeples, Murry Hammond, and Ken Bethea.

You can pre-order the new album, Graveyard Whistling, here (CD, digital, or four different colors of vinyl). Why wait for it’s official release on February 24? They are good musicians and better people that deserve for their music to be purchased, not streamed. And, look for the band to roll though your town in the Spring and Summer. They are a live act not to be missed.


Here’s what I read this week.

Discrimination

• EEOC Heightens Focus on Mental Health and the Workplace with New Employee Q&A — via Matrix Radar
• A U.S. Supreme Court ADA Showdown Is A-Brewin’: Eleventh Circuit Contradicts Seventh Circuit Regarding Non-Competitive Mandatory Reassignments — via Currents: Hot Topics in Employment Law
• National Origin Discrimination Remains on the EEOC’s Radar Screen–Make Sure It’s On Yours, Too. — via The Emplawyerologist
• Retaliation and Opposition—A Major Headache for Employers — via FisherBroyles
• Time to prepare for new EEO-1 reporting requirements — via HR Hero Line

Social Media & Tech

• Brady Brunch’s Susan Olsen Fired For Facebook Private Messages — via Shear on Social Media Law
• The hacker (in the office) next door — via Technology for HR
• My Yahoo Account Was Hacked! Now What? — via Krebs on Security

HR & Employee Relations

• Employers, here’s why good documentation is da bomb and 11 traits of good employer documentation — via Robin Shea’s Employment & Labor Insider
• Worker: employer shouldn’t have let me drive off under influence — via Walter Olson’s Overlawyered
• There’s Good (and Still Bad) News About Work/Life Balance — via TLNT
• An End-of-Year Checklist for Motivating Employees — via Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas

Wage & Hour

• Trump’s new DOL pick has zero damns to give about the new overtime rules — via Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
• Puzder Nomination Likely Signals New Frontier for Employers — via The Employment Brief
• Popular NBA 2k17 YouTuber Accused Of Paying Crappy Wages To Editors — via Deadspin
• The Weather Outside it Frightful…Is Docking Pay From No-Shows Rightful? — via Minnesota Employment Law Report
• Should Employers Make Paid Parental Leave a Basic Employee Benefit? Considerations for Drafting a Parental Leave Policy — via Jeff Nowak’s FMLA Insights

Labor

• Joint Employer Controversy … Trumped? — via The Franchise Contrarian
• National Labor Relations Board Issues Yet Another Decision Finding An Employer’s Work Rules Overly Broad — via Labor Employment Law Blog
• NLRB Uses Hyper-Technical Rule to Overturn Employer’s Landslide Election Victory — via Management Memo

OSHA & Safety

• The New OSHA rule effective January 1, 2017 hits big companies first — via Mike Haberman’s Omega HR Solutions
• OSHA Requests Information on Prevention of Workplace Violence in Healthcare and Social Assistance — via OSHA Law Blog