WIRTW #524 (the “total disaster” edition)

Any week Rhett Miller releases new music into the world is a week worth celebrating. Earlier this week Rhett released "Total Disaster," the first song of his upcoming album, The Messenger, due out November 9.


It's a brilliantly sad song about the mess one can make of one's life and how it impacts those around you. In fact, the entire album promises to be a bit on the darker side. A few months ago, on Chris Shiflett's "Walking the Floor" podcast, Rhett talked about some of the album's themes:

[The album's title] comes from a bridge in a song called "Human Condition." There were some of these songs where I kind of went back to my 14-year-old self. When I was 14, I had a real serous suicide attempt, and that's when I started addressing my issues of depression and mental health. It's not something I've talked about until recently, but now that I've got kids around that age, I was like, "Oh shit, I've gotta talk about this, because it's become over-stigmatized." I started thinking abut the 14 year-old that was in that space, and I started thinking, "If I was to go back and write a letter to myself…" I wish I could go back to my 14-year-old self and be like, "Dude, chill out. It’s going to be ok."

As if this isn't news enough, one week later, on November 16, Old 97's will release their very first Christmas album, Love the Holidays—nine original holiday tunes plus a cover of "Auld Lang Syne."


You can read all about these projects at Old97s.com, and both albums are available for pre-order from ATO Records. 

Here's what I else I read this week:

Discrimination

• Del Taco and McDonald’s Face Sexual Harassment Claims–Is Fast Food a Haven for Harassers? — via Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
• McDonald's employees set to strike to protest workplace sexual harassment — via HR Dive  
• Arnow-Richman on the Executive Contracts of Sexual Harassors — via Workplace Prof Blog
• #MeToo Hits Fast Food: Why McDonald’s Workers Are Out on a Historic Strike Today — via Workplace Fairness 
• What Might Ashley Judd’s Case Against Harvey Weinstein Mean for You? — via The Emplawyerologist
• The time has come to revisit obesity – and fat shaming — via FisherBroyles
• The OFCCP’s Been Busy — 9 New Directives This Year, Largely Pro-Business — via Hunton Employment & Labor Law Perspectives™

 

Technology

• #WhyIGotFired is way better than “an ugly mix of sexism, racism, and xenophobia” — via Eric Meyer's The Employer Handbook Blog
• Protecting Company Culture Means Having Rules for Email — via Harvard Business Review
• Is a New Federal Data Privacy Law on the Horizon? The Tech Industry Sure Hopes So — via Data Privacy Monitor
• California may ban terrible default passwords on connected devices — via Engadget 

HR & Employee Relations

• Episode 45 – I Hate Them and I Hope They All Burn — via Marc Alifanz's and Dennis Westlind's Hostile Work Environment Podcast
• More Employers Try Continuous Background Screening — via SHRM
• Do Longer Maternity Leaves Hurt Women’s Careers? — via Harvard Business Review
• When Taking Care of Dad Affects Job Performance — via Next Blog
• Workplace Trends: Sugar Shaming Your Employees — via Workplace Diva

Wage & Hour

• Not covered by the FLSA, but still liable for FLSA retaliation? — via Robin Shea's Employment & Labor Insider
• If My Office Is Closed Due to Hurricane Florence, Do I Get Paid? — via Donna Ballman's Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home 
• Dep’t of Labor May Redefine Joint Employment with New Rule, Hints Sec’y of Labor — via Who Is My Employee? 
• Employers, Why Don't You Require That Employees Call Two Phone Numbers to Request FMLA Leave? — via Jeff Nowak's FMLA Insights
• What Small Businesses Need to Know About FMLA — via Workology
• Could Federal Paid Family Leave Become a Reality — via EntertainHR

Labor

• Union Threatens Strike over Marriott’s Green Initiative — via The Employment Brief
• Waiting For Godot, Or, In This Case, The NLRB — via Mondaq

OSHA & Safety

• Workplace Hazards and Pregnancy – What’s an Employer to Do? — via Workplace Safety and Environmental Law Alert Blog
• How to Approach an Employee Who Might Be Dealing with Addiction — via EntertainHR
• OIG to OSHA “Improve Guidance for Fatality and Severe Injury Reporting” — via OSHA Law Blog