Home Prices Continue to Fall

The 20-city S&P/Case-Shiller home price index sets a new record for decline, down 18.2% in November from a year earlier

By Phil Mintz

Real estate prices show no sign of bottoming out. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, a closely watched indicator of home prices, reported on Jan. 27 that prices of existing single-family homes in 20 major metro areas continued their rapid descent in November, down 18.2% year-over-year. The index has declined steadily for 28 consecutive months.

Eleven of the 20 metro areas surveyed in the report showed record rates of annual decline, while 14 reported declines in excess of 10% vs. a year earlier. The 20-city composite index set a new record for price declines, down 18.2% from a year earlier, compared with October's 18.1%. The metros with the biggest year-to-year price declines were Phoenix (-32.9%), Las Vegas (-31.6%), and San Francisco (-30.8%). All 20 metro areas posted their third consecutive monthly decline.

Dallas and Denver Show Smallest Declines

The report came a day after an unexpected jump in the sales of existing homes in December, fueled largely by bargain prices for foreclosed homes in hard-hit areas of the U.S.

"The freefall in residential real estate continued through November 2008," David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a news release. "Since August 2006, the 10-City and 20-City composites have declined every month." (Standard & Poor's is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP), as is BusinessWeek.)

The metros that did best in the most recent report were Dallas and Denver, which showed modest year-over-year declines of 3.3% and 4.3%, respectively.

Goldman Sachs (GS) researchers said that after seasonal adjustment, "it appears the pace of price decline in November was similar to the pace in October: Prices were declining at around a 21% annual rate, a very rapid clip.…The incremental worsening is coincident with the overall downturn in the economy."

Mintz is news editor for BusinessWeek.com in New York.

違反最低工資 華商遭重罰

包括餐飲、製衣業 高科技公司 讓員工「打白工」或苛扣工資 有的罰款數十萬元

聖蓋博谷華資企業違反聯邦公平勞工標準法 (FLSA) 案例層出不窮。在亞凱迪亞多家華資診所涉嫌無保險雇用勞工而被重罰後，阿罕布拉、羅斯密和蒙特利公園市多家大型華資餐館被員工告上勞工局。聯 邦和加州勞工部門指出，華裔社區違法的不乏新創和高科技企業，有些讓上門求職人員「打白工」或苛扣工資。

聯邦勞工局洛杉磯分局調查員劉宗元表示，亞裔社區一些企業主忽視美國法律生態，最終受到法律懲罰。

羅斯密一家知名大型華資餐館，不久前被員工以違反最低工資法告上勞工局，結果被罰數十萬元；月前剛剛結案的另一椿最低工資違規案，則是大陸一家知名火鍋品牌在南加州分店，因拒付勞工加班費被重罰 50 萬元。而阿罕布拉的一家華資麵館，不久前因不堪重罰被迫關門。

劉宗元說，近期違反勞工最低工資法的不僅是餐飲、製衣、洗車、旅館等服務性和現金交易較多行業，一些電腦及高科技公司也被罰款。

勞工局調查發現，洛杉磯及聖蓋博谷、爾灣的一些電腦公司從中國大陸和台灣引進雇員，卻按照大陸及台灣薪資付給員工，嚴重違法。

按照現行的聯邦公平勞工標準法，雇主必須支付員工最低工資，並且在一周工作超過 40 小時後給予超時工資。工作時間應包括員工被要求或准許工作的所有時間，包括在家工作時間、旅行時間、等待時間、訓練及試用期。

聯邦勞工部西岸西柯汶納分部助理主任 Daniel Pasouil 指出，常見老闆以試用和考察為藉口，無報酬使用勞工，一些企業使用期短則一、兩周，長達數月，不給工資，不少人求職心切，敢怒不敢言。 Pasouil 說，法規規定雇主無論最終是否雇用該人，無論其技術水平是否達到雇主要求，都應按最低工資或以上付給報酬，即使是送外賣或洗碗等無需特別技 能的工作，亦不例外。

勞工部專員呂君平表示，目前華資企業最常見的是員工超時工作，付薪違規。比如雇主如果允許員工邊吃飯邊工作、或餐館老闆允許員工為等小費而超時工作卻不支付工錢，都可能成為日後被告起因。

目前，全美 50 州的最低工資規定各不相同，但按規定，最低工資應取聯邦或州的最高水平為標準。例如加州最低時薪為 8 元，高於聯邦時薪的 6.55 元。

加州勞工委員會資深副主席 Diana 陳表示，與聯邦相比，加州勞工法有許多更嚴之處，常被雇主忽略。例如加州規定每天超過 8 小時或每周超過 40 小時之外的 工資，應支付 1.5 倍，但每天超過 12 小時或每周超過 60 小時以上的工資，則應雙倍支付。違者一旦被告，雇主不但要償還員工應得報酬，而且每項違規，每月 罰款可達 200 至 400 元。

阿罕布拉的一家餐館，不久前被員工告上勞工局。原告提供照片顯示，該餐館老闆參與服務生的小費分配。

Diana 陳表示，小費是客人留給員工的酬勞，加州規定管理人員不得瓜分，也不能作為員工最低工資扣除，如果客人使用信用卡支付小費，手續費應為老闆支付，不得從員工所得扣除。

CES attendance down 23% this year

We all knew that attendance would be down for the Consumer Electronics Show. Now the Consumer Electronics Association, which puts on CES, has confirmed just how down it was.

Based on preliminary estimates, the CEA said, more than 110,000 people attended the conference last week in Las Vegas. That's far fewer than the 130,000 the group conservatively predicted for this year and 23 percent off the 141,150 who attended last year. And last year was down from the 143,695 who attended in 2007.

It's not really too much of a surprise given the economy. You could see it around Las Vegas, which seemed less crowded, or hear it from any cabbie, who grumbled that there wasn't enough business to go around. It also felt lighter on the show floor, both in attendees and booths. There were even empty spots on the floor, which suggests companies got out late in the game.

I talked to one entertainment company executive who said his firm cut its normally 100-plus CES contingent by 60 percent in the last month before the show. This was a common tactic among companies.

You knew this was the case when there were still deals on hotels to be had right before the show. Normally, you have to arrange accommodations more than a month in advance.

There were still parties, but they weren't as extravagant.

The final audited numbers will be released in 90 days.

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

CES 2009 Jan 08-11

Approximately 20,000 new consumer technology products launch each year at CES. That generates a lot of buzz, a lot of news and a lot of press. In fact, 4,500 members of the media from 60 countries attend and cover the International CES; more than 1,150 are international. Pengo will be exhibiting and I will be in Las Vegas from the 7th till the 11th... Read more CES News

The truth is ... honesty motivates

September 23, 2008

Excerpted from the Executive Report Motivating Employees: What Every Manager Needs to Know.

The best way to motivate employees - tell the truth.

When telling the truth is the norm, it's easier for people to be motivated to do their work to the best of their ability.

When employees know the boss will be candid with them if their performance is found wanting, they don't worry about interpreting hidden meanings, innuendoes or non-verbal language to decide if the boss is unhappy with them. They can focus on their work and not worry about dark plots.

For managers and supervisors, telling the truth is doubly important. Their credibility is their most important leadership asset. Without trust in the manager's credibility, employees don't feel motivated to perform. And even if they did, they don't expect good performance to be recognized, rewarded or appreciated.

DIGGING DEEPER

Motivated employees are happier and deliver higher productivity and performance. How do you motivate them? For help, check out the Executive Report Motivating Employees: What Every Manager Needs to Know.