Those employers wishing to pay for such volunteer efforts by their employees but also avoid any associated liability may want to consider offering all employees an extra PTO day or extra days, with the communication that in light of the historic nature of the flood, the employer is awarding all of its employees the extra paid time, understanding that many are taking time off to either deal with personal circumstances or assist others in need.

While I would like to join on "the recovery is here bandwagon", I remain very cautious. The GDP growth that seemed to signal early signs of recovery is sputtering.

“We find that companies may consider employee outside training programs for a variety of reasons: when they need to implement changes, motivate people, increase productivity or decrease turnover [...] To determine the best training opportunity, you need to assess what the company needs and select the training program that provides the best solutions.”

Plans to add to inventories were unchanged at a negative 7 percent of all firms (seasonally adjusted) – still more owners planning to reduce stocks than planning new orders. Only a pick-up in sales will turn this around. Seasonally unadjusted, 13 percent plan to add to stocks while 15 percent will reduce them.

A preliminary report by the task force calls for phasing out longstanding funding agreements to established Southern Baptist state conventions in order to spend the money in places where there are fewer churches. "If we are going to reach a major city like New York City, we need an explosion in church planting to occur," says the report. ... "I am all for getting as many resources as you can to the un-reached but you can't forget about the base and the foundation," says Bill Mackey, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.