Workplace Buzz: Today’s Headlines

Workplace Buzz on November 9, 2007 7:42 AM

Humor in the Office
Kidding around at work is commonly thought of as perilous, as the hit sitcom "The Office" often explores to wincing extremes. Now intense research finds light humor at work is a good thing. In their study, "The Case for Developing New Research on Humor and Culture in Organizations: Toward a Higher Grade of Manure," researchers analyzed theories on humor, emotion and mood from several hundred studies in the fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and communications. MSNBC.com

One Strong Wom--, er, Person
Can anybody tell me what a gender card is anyway and where you buy one? After last week, I'm beginning to think that none of us is playing with a full deck. Let me review the long, winding, XY-rated aftermath of the Oct. 30 debate in which most candidates focused their, um, attention on the front-runner. The Clinton folks had the gall to put up a video called "The Politics of Pile-On." For revealing the hitherto unknown fact that Clinton's opponents were all men, the campaign was accused of saying that the boys had ganged up on the girl. Cincinnati Post

Pregnancy-Related Discrimination
Despite federal and state laws to ensure fair treatment of pregnant women in the workplace, claims of pregnancy-related employment discrimination are on the rise. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saw pregnancy discrimination claims jump 23 percent from 1997 to 2006. Pregnancy discrimination cases are increasing at the same time that race and gender cases are declining. Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute in Princeton, N.J., has a hunch why. Pennlive.com

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