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WEST MICHIGAN — It’s the kind of message you won’t likely see in a job posting: “Unemployed need not apply.”

Even so, a growing number of employers quietly admit they are hesitant to hire people who have been collecting unemployment for an extended period of time.

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MICHIGAN — Ask Michigan business leaders about the benefits of workers’ compensation reform that’s winding its way through the state legislature, and you’ll likely get a laundry list: lower insurance costs, attracting new business, increased hiring, and fairness and clarity for employers and employees.

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WEST MICHIGAN — An employee with a good record commits a crime against a co-worker. A supervisor with past complaints of inappropriate sexual comments assaults an employee. A supervisor uses his authority and intimidates and harasses a subordinate.

These are the kinds of cases affected by a recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling in the case of Hamed v. Wayne County, a decision that reversed a decades-old ruling holding companies liable for criminal acts by supervisors. The ruling overturns the court’s Champion v. Nation Wide Security decision in 1996.

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WEST MICHIGAN — When traveling on an airplane, a 20-something watches a movie, peruses Facebook and plays a computer game at the same time.

A worker over 60 is willing to do the same repetitive job for decades for the same company.

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GRAND RAPIDS — The best option for business owners looking to sell or transition their business may be an Employer Stock Ownership Plan because of the tax advantages for owners and retirement benefits to employees.

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For year I have been providing coaching for professionals who are learning how to find the right data about existing processes to support chartering projects to leverage Operational Excellence (OpEx), Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) initiatives. One of the absolutely critical elements of that must be achieved is a very clear picture of the current state of operations in the organization before we begin mucking around changing things. This must include a careful assessment of what works, what doesn’t and why. At the same time we have to figure out the right process metrics and accompanying improvement objectives.

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WEST MICHIGAN — Immigration is quickly becoming a hot topic among West Michigan employers with increased enforcement of I9s and more employers targeted by the federal government for criminal investigation.

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My last article, “Collaboration — Raise the bar” (July 11, 2011) suggested that collaboration is currently all the buzz. Right along with creativity and innovation, everybody’s talking and writing about it. Well, not to be outdone, the Harvard Business Review dedicated their July/August edition to just this with the title “Collaborate — Build a culture of trust and innovation.”

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WEST MICHIGAN — HR professionals need to keep abreast of laws affecting pension and investment benefits, an often daunting task.

Heidi Lyon, partner with Warner Norcross & Judd spoke on “Tackling Administration Challenges” at a human resources seminar the firm held earlier this year in Grand Rapids. Lyon specializes in employee benefits and mainly in retirement plans and executive compensation. She covered topics that human resources leaders deal with on a day-to-day basis, including electronic disclosure and rules governing depositing contributions.

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WEST MICHIGAN — It’s a time of new regulations under some federal laws, as a result of agencies reviewing existing rules and considering updates, and because of more vigorous enforcement by the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.