Raising the federal minimum wage has long been a topic surrounding politics and economists for years. Since the last federally mandated minimum wage increase in 2009, efforts to continue increases have built. Professor David Neumark is featured in CNN Politics discussing the cause and effect of these efforts.
Neumark, an economics professor at the University of California Irvine, discusses the potential impact of unemployment should a federally mandated minimum wage increase be implemented. Professor Neumark notes that in some low-wage states, more than half of workers make less than the proposed $15 per hour wage. As future minimum wage increases occur, the minimum wage will affect a greater share of workers.
You can find Professor Neumark’s CNN Politics feature here.
Last month, Adela attended a webinar hosted by Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. This webinar was given by Nick Westergaard, a marketing specialist and marketing professor at the University of Iowa. For more information about Nick Westergaard, go to his website at: nickwestergaard.com. This webinar provided tips and strategies to better our communication skills using tools such as Zoom, Skype, and WebEx. Nick used his experience as a virtual conference presenter and online educator to teach the attendees how to better communicate and present ideas and information within our own teams. With COVID-19, our world has only gone more digital. Virtual meetings have become the only option to slow the spread of the virus. Learning how to communicate effectively and efficiently in our digital world will help your business stay on track and succeed.
In this webinar, the key audience takeaways were to master the technical ins and outs of online meetings, project confidence and clarity with vocal delivery, and reinforce key points with the nonverbal cues that matter most in virtual presentations. As an attendee, Adela can gladly say she learned to adapt previously learned in-person presentation skills to better fit virtual presentations and learned new tips that will help our team at EmployStats.
To start, Nick spoke about how public speaking is a key skill many employers want in an employee. This skill is not easily learned and even terrifies people more than death! To help people with this skill, Nick explained the way to better standout and develop our skills.
Three items are of focus when making a presentation.
Creating a story rather than stating fact after fact helps your audience feel more engaged in your idea/information that you are presenting. Being persuasive and using your emotions is key to audience engagement. Stories move people and become engraved into their memory more easily. To help tell a story, Nick provided a template that was called “Story Sketch”. It breaks down into three sections: Context, Contrast, and Call to Action.
Under Context, the questions “Who’s your audience?” and “Why are you in front of them?” should be answered. Under Contrast, the questions “Where are they now?” and “Where do you want them to be?” should be answered. Under Call to Action, the question “What do you want them to do?”. Within the story, you should include supporting stories that are personal, other people’s, or simple analogies. The most important part of your story is the opening and closing. This is when your audience is most engaged, so use it wisely!! This is when you should state and restate important points that you want to leave with your audience. Using this template will help you and your audience stay engaged.
In a presentation, visuals are important. Having a visual provides another way to retain information, so not only are they hearing you, they are seeing the important facts. Pictures provide better recall, better comprehension, and help reinforce learning styles. Pictures are not the only visual you should focus on. When presenting virtually, you have to think about what you look like to your audience. Things to check before your presentation are lighting, the angle of your camera, and visual noise.
To make sure your lighting is good, either present in front of a window that lets in natural light or buy a ring light. Check your camera angle by simply looking at what you look like in the view box. People want to see you, not your ceiling or a portion of your face. It’s super simple, but people tend to forget this part. A tip Nick gave was putting your view box under your camera so you can see what you look like while looking at your camera.
As well, the items behind you can create “visual noise”. If you have an obnoxious painting/art piece, messy table, or animals/children running around in the background, people will start to lose interest in what you are presenting and start to focus on things around you. Another item to be aware of is audio noise. When presenting, it is best practice to use headphones or a microphone to prevent echoes or cause your audience to not hear you. Stay away from loud places like a coffee shop or somewhere near construction sites. When Nick practices his presentations, he records them in a quiet room with natural light, and he puts a sign on his office door saying he is recording. This helps see what the audience is seeing and make any adjustments needed.
Delivery
The last item that will better your presentation is how you deliver your story and visuals. Nick provided a breakdown of what engages the audience. This breakdown includes the words you say, the tone you speak, and the body language you present. Your presentation and visuals can be great, but if you cannot deliver them in a way that will keep your audience listening, you have almost wasted your content. Nick’s breakdown will show you what your audience is most interested in.
At only 7% are the actual words you are saying. When speaking, keep your words relatable to your audience by using language that is familiar. If you are presenting new ideas to a crowd or your team, try adding definitions to a slide or providing a fact sheet before the presentation. Taking short pauses throughout your presentation also allows more understanding and comprehension. Your team will appreciate these short pauses to take notes or think of questions.
Next, 38% is the tone of your voice. Your tone of voice is especially crucial when presenting to a crowd and your colleagues because it helps keep them interested. According to Nick, your tone should be a “casual authority” and provide variety during different sections in your presentation. This sounds like you are confident in your ideas and feel comfortable in what you are presenting. Another tip Nick suggests is to pay attention to how your mouth is moving. When reviewing your practice recording, watch how your mouth moves. If your mouth is moving then you should be able to hear your words more clearly.
Lastly, 55% is your body language. The most important thing to do is relax, look at the camera, and smile. Being anxious is normal, but if you prepare and know your content, you will be great!! Not only should you look at the camera, but point your body to the camera by squaring up to it. Nick said to make yourself big. He stands up during his presentation to keep his posture upright and also uses computer stands to help keep everything squared up to him.
Nick provided several tips and suggestions to better your presentation. At EmployStats, we will start using these new tips to further improve our presentation skills in future courses we teach or webinars we attend. We want to stand out virtually and thanks to Nick Westergaard, we have moved closer to that goal!
Want to stay up to date with EmployStats presentations and blogs? Follow our LinkedIn Page for our latest posts!
An article published by Forbes in January 2020, discusses age discrimination in the workplace, specifically during the hiring process. The article written by Patricia Barnes highlights the working paper by Professor David Neumark titled “Age Discrimination in Hiring: Evidence from Age-Bling vs. Non-Age-Blind Hiring Procedures”. Both the article and paper indicate that discrimination begins to occur at the time age becomes apparent to the employer. This can be at different times and are often specific to each employer’s practices and hiring procedures.
One of the key findings of Neumark’s research is that individuals that apply for a job position in-person are substantially less likely to continue on in the hiring process than those individuals that apply for a job position on the Internet. While other indicators of age, such as dates of education and employment, may lead to discrimination through Internet applications, they are less obvious and less accurate indicators of age.
In Neumark’s study and working paper, an individual turning in an application for a restaurant in-person was about 50% more likely to not receive a job offer than someone who did not apply in person, but received an interview. Potential discrimination existed throughout the hiring process depending on the time the employer was made aware of an applicant’s age.
When calculating damages in discrimination lawsuits specifically claiming failure to hire, it is important to understand the timeline and when during hiring potential discrimination might have taken place. It is likely necessary to investigate multiple steps in the hiring process to reveal or refute discriminatory hiring practices, as outlined by Neumark’s paper.
See here for Professor Neumark’s full working paper.
On October 03 there were 212713 job postings open in the state of Texas. On November 03 there were 200951 job postings open in the state of Texas. The state of Texas experienced a -6% percent change in the number of total job postings open. The Houston/Galveston region experienced the highest number of job postings open as of October 03 , and Houston/Galveston region experienced the highest number of job postings open as of November 03 . Lubbock experienced the largest change in job postings over the October 2020 to November 03 time period .
The job postings open in the following Texas regions are outlined below:
Abilene : -9% change in job postings ( From 1787 openings on October 03 to 1620 openings on November 03 )
Amarillo : -6% change in job postings ( From 3610 openings on October 03 to 3381 openings on November 03 )
Austin : -2% change in job postings ( From 10005 openings on October 03 to 9761 openings on November 03 )
Beaumont : -7% change in job postings ( From 1968 openings on October 03 to 1834 openings on November 03 )
Bryan : -7% change in job postings ( From 2295 openings on October 03 to 2124 openings on November 03 )
Corpus Christi : 2% change in job postings ( From 6394 openings on October 03 to 6499 openings on November 03 )
Dallas/Fort Worth : -6% change in job postings ( From 57222 openings on October 03 to 53917 openings on November 03 )
Del Rio/Eagle Pass : -11% change in job postings ( From 433 openings on October 03 to 386 openings on November 03 )
El Paso : 2% change in job postings ( From 7808 openings on October 03 to 8000 openings on November 03 )
Houston/Galveston : -7% change in job postings ( From 61055 openings on October 03 to 56735 openings on November 03 )
Laredo : -1% change in job postings ( From 2405 openings on October 03 to 2380 openings on November 03 )
Lubbock : 4% change in job postings ( From 5579 openings on October 03 to 5815 openings on November 03 )
Lufkin/Nacogdoches : -15% change in job postings ( From 1453 openings on October 03 to 1234 openings on November 03 )
McAllen/Brownsville : 0% change in job postings ( From 2414 openings on October 03 to 2410 openings on November 03 )
Midland/Odessa : -5% change in job postings ( From 3310 openings on October 03 to 3156 openings on November 03 )
San Angelo : -15% change in job postings ( From 588 openings on October 03 to 500 openings on November 03 )
San Antonio : -6% change in job postings ( From 31609 openings on October 03 to 29795 openings on November 03 )
Sherman/Denison : -12% change in job postings ( From 1676 openings on October 03 to 1483 openings on November 03 )
Texarkana : -24% change in job postings ( From 1730 openings on October 03 to 1320 openings on November 03 )
Tyler/Longview : -15% change in job postings ( From 4140 openings on October 03 to 3522 openings on November 03 )
Victoria : -20% change in job postings ( From 723 openings on October 03 to 576 openings on November 03 )
Waco/Temple/Killeen : 1% change in job postings ( From 3591 openings on October 03 to 3620 openings on November 03 )
Wichita Falls : -4% change in job postings ( From 918 openings on October 03 to 883 openings on November 03 )
Adela Botello discusses what she has been up to since starting with EmployStats in September.
Adela with her Course Certificate
“To help improve my skills as an Operations Assistant, I am enrolled in an Introduction to Financial Account Course. In college, I registered for two accounting courses; however, my memory in how to debit and credit different accounts has become very hazy. In college, I would assume everyone had select courses they dreaded or simply wished they did not have to take. For me, accounting was that dreadful course. The first couple weeks of class I had to bribe myself to attend, but after those couple weeks, I began to enjoy the functions of accounting. I think all of the “rules” and the organization of journal entries pulled me in. Accounting was not my passion, but something I became to appreciate.
Since I only had to take two accounting classes for my Economics degree, I have not thought about accounting since. So, when I was offered this position, I decided to pull out my old notes and start refreshing my memory. Not only did I look over my notes, we enrolled me in a Coursera course. The amount of courses available was incredible! It took me a few hours to find a course that met my needs because the possibilities were endless. The specialization I chose was: Introduction to Finance and Accounting Specialization. This specialization has a total of four courses, but you are able to only enroll in what you need. For me, I only needed to take two of the four courses. Both courses are taught by Professor Brian Bushee of University of Pennsylvania, and I really enjoy learning from him.
The first course is about “master(ing) the technical skills needed to analyze financial statements and disclosures for use in financial analysis…”. The items we discuss include: the income statement, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows, and analyzing different types of transactions. The course is broken down into four weeks, and each week ends with “homework”, which is really only a quiz about that week’s content. Professor Bushee has created videos, not longer than 20 minutes, to learn the course. At the end of each video, he offers pdf files of the slides he uses, which has helped me fully understand topics I had issues with while watching the videos.
Coursera has great tools when it comes to note taking and layout of the website. During videos, I am able to take a screenshot and Coursera will note exactly what the professor is saying at the time of the screenshot. So, not only am I able to go look at screenshots of notes I took, I can also read a small subscript of what was being said during the video. It has been very convenient because I can simply go to my “Notes” tab and review for the end of week quizzes a lot faster than having to rewatch several videos.
My experience with Coursera and this particular course has been extremely helpful and a great review of topics I had previously learned. Once I finish the courses, I will receive a certificate of completion and recognition of my new learned skills. The new skills will help me manage the accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll for EmployStats. As well, I will fully understand how invoices are incorporated into different accounts. These courses will prepare me for daily categorization of expenses, auditing of expenses, bank account balancing, and bank account reconciliations. This course will improve my financial analysis skills and help me achieve the task of recognizing underutilized and/or inefficient services and products. I am excited to use these new skills and knowledge towards my work with Employstats!”
Adela Botello has joined the EmployStats team as an Operations Assistant. Learn about Adela below:
“I am a recent Texas State University graduate with a BBA in Economics. In San Marcos, I spent my time hiking the many trails, drinking coffee at local coffee shops, and reading by the river. I grew up in Waco, TX and went to Mclennan Community College before I transferred to Texas State. My time in Waco was spent being around family members, walking trails in Cameron Park, and getting to know my interest. Loving the outdoors has helped me learn to adapt to different surroundings and situations, as well as, enjoy the simplistic way of life.
A quote from The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls explains a lot about me,“If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim”. Being flexible, especially during COVID-19 times, has allowed me to achieve several goals I have set for myself. I have a love for keeping organized and analytical thinking, so naturally, I am driven to be efficient and effective in everything I do.
In my spare time, I spend a lot of time with my 8 month old puppy, Jyn, who is a chocolate lab mix. She is extremely friendly and loving to everyone. As well, I am a huge Star Wars fan. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” by Yoda is my favorite quote. My dog is even named after a Star Wars character. When I am not with my dog or outside hiking, I like to visit different coffee shops, restaurants, and retail stores around Austin.”
On September 06 there were 191135 job postings open in the state of Texas. On October 06 there were 212208 job postings open in the state of Texas. The state of Texas experienced a 11% percent change in the number of total job postings open. The Houston/Galveston region experienced the highest number of job postings open as of September 06 , and Houston/Galveston region experienced the highest number of job postings open as of October 06 . McAllen/Brownsville experienced the largest change in job postings over the September 2020 to October 06 time period .
The job postings open in the following Texas regions are outlined below:
Abilene : -16% change in job postings ( From 2103 openings on September 06 to 1760 openings on October 06 )
Amarillo : 17% change in job postings ( From 3100 openings on September 06 to 3615 openings on October 06 )
Austin : 17% change in job postings ( From 8656 openings on September 06 to 10105 openings on October 06 )
Beaumont : -14% change in job postings ( From 2177 openings on September 06 to 1876 openings on October 06 )
Bryan : -6% change in job postings ( From 2434 openings on September 06 to 2291 openings on October 06 )
Corpus Christi : -4% change in job postings ( From 6669 openings on September 06 to 6425 openings on October 06 )
Dallas/Fort Worth : 13% change in job postings ( From 50331 openings on September 06 to 57072 openings on October 06 )
Del Rio/Eagle Pass : 4% change in job postings ( From 406 openings on September 06 to 424 openings on October 06 )
El Paso : 0% change in job postings ( From 7804 openings on September 06 to 7794 openings on October 06 )
Houston/Galveston : 17% change in job postings ( From 52026 openings on September 06 to 60900 openings on October 06 )
Laredo : -8% change in job postings ( From 2604 openings on September 06 to 2408 openings on October 06 )
Lubbock : -6% change in job postings ( From 5830 openings on September 06 to 5493 openings on October 06 )
Lufkin/Nacogdoches : 14% change in job postings ( From 1283 openings on September 06 to 1467 openings on October 06 )
McAllen/Brownsville : 28% change in job postings ( From 1904 openings on September 06 to 2436 openings on October 06 )
Midland/Odessa : -4% change in job postings ( From 3474 openings on September 06 to 3338 openings on October 06 )
San Angelo : -6% change in job postings ( From 606 openings on September 06 to 567 openings on October 06 )
San Antonio : 18% change in job postings ( From 26974 openings on September 06 to 31812 openings on October 06 )
Sherman/Denison : 14% change in job postings ( From 1409 openings on September 06 to 1602 openings on October 06 )
Texarkana : -12% change in job postings ( From 1880 openings on September 06 to 1648 openings on October 06 )
Tyler/Longview : -9% change in job postings ( From 4390 openings on September 06 to 3983 openings on October 06 )
Victoria : -14% change in job postings ( From 854 openings on September 06 to 736 openings on October 06 )
Waco/Temple/Killeen : 12% change in job postings ( From 3216 openings on September 06 to 3588 openings on October 06 )
Wichita Falls : -14% change in job postings ( From 1005 openings on September 06 to 868 openings on October 06 )
David Neumark of the University of California, Irvine, and EmployStats academic affiliate, has been featured in the finance and economics section of The Economist’s 2020 edition. The article focuses on the topic of wage floors and the cause and effect of increasing minimum wage requirements. A minimum wage policy raises wages for workers, but the money required to support higher minimum wages has a potential to hit poorer bosses’ harder.
Professor Neumark’s paper, co-authored by Lev Drucker and Katya Mazirov, referenced in The Economist article, examines the potential effect increasing the minimum wage may have on businesses. The author’s paper titled “Who Pays for and Who Benefits from Minimum Wage Increases? Evidence from Israeli Tax Data on Business Owners and Workers” offers insight into potential unintended consequences of increased wage floors.
Unpaid travel time claims are prevalent in wage and hour litigation matters. Attorney’s typically will turn to economic consultants to calculate the travel distance and travel time in such cases. Unpaid travel time can result in unpaid straight time pay and unpaid overtime premium pay if the addition of travel time to time worked exceeds the overtime threshold. It is important for attorneys to understand the process consultants use in order to effectively and knowledgeably communicate the analysis their client needs.
What we use:
We utilize Google Maps API to calculate travel time and travel distance. In order to calculate travel, it is important to first organize the data to most efficiently calculate travel. Google allows 2,000 origin to destination requests per day per user. Travel only needs to be calculated for unique destinations that can then be applied to the data and potentially duplicate to and from destinations. Google Maps API can calculate the expected travel time between two locations at a specific time of day or the average amount of time taken to travel that distance. This can be useful if traffic plays a significant role between locations and if workers are located in heavily trafficked areas.
How we use it:
The types of travel performed by non-exempt workers vary case by case. In some instances, the travel time between the employee’s normal work location and their job site location may be compensable. For example, an employee may need to drive from their home to their work location or employers office before driving to their job site location to begin their day. We have calculated travel time in this manor for technicians, painters and pest control, and construction workers. These are just a few examples of workers that may experience this type of unpaid travel.
Additionally, we have calculated travel time in cases of home health caregivers. These home caregivers were only paid for time spent with patients and were not paid for time spent traveling between patients homes. After organizing the data, we were able to determine the order of patients each caregiver visited and calculate the travel time between their first patient and their second patient of the day, and so on. This type of travel time calculation may be helpful in travel time matters where employees travel to and from different locations throughout their work day.
The frequency of trips is dependent on the types of employees and the circumstances of the case. One common factor that is required in all wage and hour matters involving travel time is complete and detailed data.
On August 01 there were 159543 job postings open in the state of Texas. On September 01 there were 188553 job postings open in the state of Texas. The state of Texas experienced a 18% percent change in the number of total job postings open. The Dallas/Fort Worth region experienced the highest number of job postings open as of August 01 , and Houston/Galveston region experienced the highest number of job postings open as of September 01 . Sherman/Denison experienced the largest change in job postings over the August 2020 to September 01 time period .
The job postings open in the following Texas regions are outlined below:
Abilene : 24% change in job postings ( From 1681 openings on August 01 to 2089 openings on September 01 )
Amarillo : 31% change in job postings ( From 2195 openings on August 01 to 2877 openings on September 01 )
Austin : 29% change in job postings ( From 6432 openings on August 01 to 8276 openings on September 01 )
Beaumont : 6% change in job postings ( From 1996 openings on August 01 to 2110 openings on September 01 )
Bryan : 13% change in job postings ( From 2183 openings on August 01 to 2459 openings on September 01 )
Corpus Christi : 6% change in job postings ( From 6406 openings on August 01 to 6762 openings on September 01 )
Dallas/Fort Worth : 15% change in job postings ( From 43501 openings on August 01 to 50180 openings on September 01 )
Del Rio/Eagle Pass : 26% change in job postings ( From 369 openings on August 01 to 465 openings on September 01 )
El Paso : 5% change in job postings ( From 7791 openings on August 01 to 8174 openings on September 01 )
Houston/Galveston : 24% change in job postings ( From 40783 openings on August 01 to 50434 openings on September 01 )
Laredo : 19% change in job postings ( From 2272 openings on August 01 to 2714 openings on September 01 )
Lubbock : 10% change in job postings ( From 5510 openings on August 01 to 6073 openings on September 01 )
Lufkin/Nacogdoches : 14% change in job postings ( From 1112 openings on August 01 to 1272 openings on September 01 )
McAllen/Brownsville : 29% change in job postings ( From 1446 openings on August 01 to 1870 openings on September 01 )
Midland/Odessa : 26% change in job postings ( From 2646 openings on August 01 to 3341 openings on September 01 )
San Angelo : 40% change in job postings ( From 455 openings on August 01 to 637 openings on September 01 )
San Antonio : 14% change in job postings ( From 23107 openings on August 01 to 26425 openings on September 01 )
Sherman/Denison : 59% change in job postings ( From 819 openings on August 01 to 1303 openings on September 01 )
Texarkana : 56% change in job postings ( From 1110 openings on August 01 to 1731 openings on September 01 )
Tyler/Longview : 29% change in job postings ( From 3321 openings on August 01 to 4286 openings on September 01 )
Victoria : 20% change in job postings ( From 678 openings on August 01 to 814 openings on September 01 )
Waco/Temple/Killeen : 11% change in job postings ( From 2928 openings on August 01 to 3252 openings on September 01 )
Wichita Falls : 26% change in job postings ( From 802 openings on August 01 to 1009 openings on September 01 )
