Benefits Manager

Members of California Nurses Association and National Nurses United today are holding a one-day strike at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children's Hospital, California's second largest private hospital and one of its most profitable corporate hospital chains, to dispute patient care protections and corporate hospital demands.

Some say they'll spend less on groceries. Others expect to cut back on travel. For many, there would be fewer meals out.

Sometimes a job candidate can look great on paper. The job candidate may have the right education, skills and experience necessary to perform in the position, but often that is not enough, says Tom Davenport, senior consultant at Towers Watson, a global professional services company in New York City.

With all the staff reductions many employers have done over the recent years, fewer people are left with more responsibilities, and this can lead to performance issues, particularly among managers, says Jason Carney, director of human resources at WorkSmart Systems Inc., a professional employer organization in Indianapolis.

Seeking to break a stalemate that is threatening 160 million workers with Jan. 1 tax increases, President Barack Obama urged the top leaders of Congress Wednesday to first pass a short-term extension while promising to work with lawmakers on a full-year measure.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. released Tuesday advance informational copies of the 2011 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions.

Many states that posted big population gains in the 2010 census are now seeing their decade-long growth fizzle, hurt by a prolonged economic slump that is stretching into larger portions of the South and West.

Financial rating agency Moody's Investors Service is predicting a tough year for Rhode Island's cities and towns as the economic downturn continues to wallop the state.