Day: April 23, 2020

What employers need to know about employees microdosing cannabis at work

wayne April 23, 2020

As medical marijuana moves into the mainstream in many states, it puts employers in a tricky situation: How do you handle it when an employee takes small amounts—known as microdoses—of THC throughout the workday to manage a medical condition, whether it’s headaches, anxiety, or pain? 

Is it the same as taking a Tylenol? Is it safer than an opiate? And do employers need to know? 

“This is an unbelievably complicated issue,” said Mary Kay O’Neill, a senior clinical consultant for HR consulting firm Mercer.

In fact, complying with marijuana laws is one of the biggest challenges facing employers in 2020, according to a survey of 700 HR professionals by XpertHR, an online HR resource site. Nearly a quarter said they are extremely challenged by federal, state, and local medical and recreational marijuana laws and managing employee drug use, compared with 5.7% in 2017. Rapidly changing laws, they said, have created complications for employers who want to implement drug-free workplace policies.

It’s almost impossible for national companies to navigate this territory when they’ve got workers scattered across multiple states—including those where marijuana is still illegal. Employers with federal contracts must also be careful to abide by federal Drug Enforcement Administration rules. “It’s just a hodgepodge out …

Bill Gates explains how to beat the coronavirus pandemic

wayne April 23, 2020

Bill Gates has offered his most comprehensive take yet on the coronavirus pandemic—and it’s strikingly optimistic. The 6,000–word “memo,” as the billionaire philanthropist calls it, which was posted on his GatesNotes blog this morning, lays out in plain-spoken language why the pandemic spread so quickly (and differently) around the world, why we didn’t “overreact” in our response, and what we still need to learn in order to lessen the damage.

Gates is candid about the challenges “the first modern pandemic” will continue to bring. “Every week,” he writes, “you will be reading about new treatment ideas that are being tried out, but most of them will fail.” Nonetheless, he is characteristically upbeat about how the world will get through this ordeal—and that’s through a collective can-do spirit. The word “can,” by my count, appears thirty times in his essay: with verb teams like “can work,” “can accelerate,” “can be scaled up,” and “can save trillions” driving his argument forward from the start.

That spirit, in turn, will inevitably drive optimism—just as it did in the last great war the world endured. “During World War II, an amazing amount of innovation including radar, reliable torpedoes, and code-breaking helped end the war …

This Is the Right Way to Build a Lasting Brand

wayne April 23, 2020

Julie Cottineau has helped guide the likes of Richard Branson and Tyra Banks, and here’s her advice for you.


5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.


Developing your brand can be a challenging exercise for even the most experienced entrepreneur, and it’s tempting to rush through or completely outsource. I’ve done both, more than once, and neither led to a result that I felt truly reflected me or my business. 

One of the lessons I’ve learned when it comes to branding is that you cannot — and I repeat, cannot — try to build a website, design logos or choose fonts and colors before you’ve invested the necessary time in your messaging. The reason being is that your visual brand is a direct reflection, or should be a direct reflection, of your messaging. What do you want to communicate? What kind of vibe can your prospects expect if they are to work with you?  We have to get very clear on these answers.

Julie Cottineau, founder of Brand Twist and author of TWIST: How Fresh Perspectives Build Breakthrough Brands, counts Tyra Banks and Richard Branson among her client base. She and

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Target, Eli Lilly, Hershey, Blackstone, Gap & more

wayne April 23, 2020

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Eli Lilly (LLY) – The drugmaker reported quarterly earnings of $1.75 per share, beating the $1.48 a share consensus estimate. Revenue was also above Street forecasts. Lilly’s worldwide revenue was boosted by $250 million due to Covid-19, but the company said the virus could negatively impact results later in the year.

PulteGroup (PHM) – The home builder’s bottom line came in 4 cents a share above estimates at 74 cents per share, with revenue essentially in line with expectations. PulteGroup said consumer traffic and sales slowed in mid-March and it is suspending guidance due to uncertainties related to the pandemic.

Hershey (HSY) – The candy maker missed estimates by 8 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $1.63 per share. Revenue came in slightly below forecasts. Hershey declared its regular quarterly dividend and said it believes it has sufficient liquidity to meet its cash needs.

Blackstone (BX) – The private-equity firm reported distributable earnings per share of 46 cents for the first quarter, 4 cents a share below estimates. It also reported an overall loss due to the write-down of its investment portfolio. It did see a 20%

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Out of work, but not unemployed: how much Europe is paying its idled workers

wayne April 23, 2020

In Germany, they call it “Kurzarbeit.” In France, it’s “Chômage partiel.” The Brits refer to the acronym, CJRS—short for “Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.”

Together, these policy names form the backbone of Europe’s plan to keep unemployment here from spiking à l’américaine.

U.S. employers have already shed roughly 22 million jobs in the past month, with the pending Thursday’s jobless claims numbers suggesting it’s even worse than that. In Europe it’s a bit better—18 million workers across the Continent have been furloughed, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing government statistics.

But there’s a big difference: in Europe, most of them are kept on the payroll, collecting a wage. The government—in essence, the taxpayer—is footing the bill.

Europe is betting the crisis will be of the short, sharp variety and that the wage subsidy will be a lifeline for employees and employers, one that keeps unemployment and levels of social unrest from spiking.

“Because of this subsidy, businesses can more easily hold on to their workers,” Florian Hense, an economist at the German bank Berenberg, wrote in an investor note yesterday. “Workers benefit because they do not get sacked and continue to receive a compensation which, while usually below their regular …

Las Vegas mayor calls for casinos to reopen and residents to be coronavirus ‘control group’

wayne April 23, 2020

Nevada officials condemned comments Wednesday by Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman after she called for casinos and other nonessential businesses to reopen and suggested the city could serve as a test case to measure the impact during the coronavirus pandemic. One local official called her comments “reckless and dangerous” and another described them as an “embarrassment.”

Goodman, during a 25-minute interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN, said she wants everything back open, including casinos, restaurants and small businesses, and a return of conventions.

The politically independent mayor suggested that “viruses for years have been here” and said that she had suggested that the residents of Las Vegas become “a control group” to see how relaxing closures and restrictions would affect the city.

“I offered to be a control group and I was told by our statistician you can’t do that because people from all parts of southern Nevada come in to work in the city,” Goodman said. “We would love to be that placebo side so you have something to measure against.”

Goodman for weeks has spoken out against Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s orders shuttering casinos and nonessential businesses, calling it “total insanity” that’s “killing Las Vegas.”

Sisolak has repeatedly …