Been a long week, the weather in Connecticut is turning icy, and well, there’s just enough time for some short updates today.  Fortunately, the Super Bowl is coming and my New York Giants are still playing (no predictions here on a winner, however.)  And Groundhog day is tomorrow; an article below suggests that it may hold more meaning, if you’ve ever seen the Bill Murray movie.

Here’s some things you might have missed this week that are worth taking a look at.

  • Robert Fitzpatrick, who publishes the (somewhat wordy title of) Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland Employment and Labor Law Blog, has an interesting post about company blogging policies.  It’s a good continuing of a post I wrote last fall on a similar subject.   In that same post, he also notes that there is some additional whistleblower protection to certain defense contractors built into the large defense spending bill signed earlier this week.
  • Michael Fox has a thoughtful post continuing a blogosphere discussion on the unintended consequences of various employment laws. Something to think about as Congress debates various new employment provisions.
  • The Strategic HR Lawyer has a fun post about "Super Bowl flu" — which afflicts an estimated 1.5 million Americans each year.  (The remedy, I’ve been told, is a day of fasting to make up for all the pizza being eaten on Super Bowl Sunday.)
  • From an HR perspective, Business Week has a good article this week about the "Groundhog Day Effect". Yes, someone has taken that classic Bill Murray movie and made a book out of it — with workplace lessons for us all. (Reliving the same day over and over again is not required.)
  • The Evil Hr Lady, and the HR Capitalist have a series of posts about IBM’s recent decision to reclassify workers as non-exempt (and therefore eligible for overtime). As a result, IBM has also reduced these employees’ base pay.  While it may make for a difficult human resources explanation, it is a workable solution to a difficult issue.
  • The WSJ Law Blog has a good post warning litigants not to use their work e-mail to discuss their cases with their lawyers. For companies, it’s a good reminder that monitoring employees’ e-mails may lead to some interesting discoveries.

And finally, on a purely frivolous Friday note, if you’re interested in tracking the goings on of a famous Groundhog, you can view the "official" club site here

Happy Groundhog Day and go Giants!