The SHRM Foundation is holding its  first Online Auction to raise funds to support its ongoing efforts to advance  the HR profession through research and education. The SHRM Foundation  Online Auction is open for bidding Monday,  June 16 through Sunday, June 29, and features more than 60 great  items, including:

• Travel  packages (Westin Kierland  Resort & Spa, Caesar’s Pocono Resorts, Hilton Head, Chicago, Sonoma Valley, and many  more)
• Electronics  (Kodak digital camera, iPod, GPS  navigators)
• Home  furnishings and personal accessories (Cuisinart  wine refrigerator, Kosta Boda vase, Coach handbag, Movado  watches)
• Gift  Cards (REI, Lowe’s,  Cheesecake Factory, Cabela’s)
• Experiences  (Hot air balloon ride, Disney  Institute seminar, admission to Six Flags Great America, golf at Maderas Golf  Club)

… And much  more!

The SHRM Foundation Online  Auction has something for everyone, in a variety of categories and  prices.  The Online Auction is open to everyone, from SHRM members to  your friends and family.  So spread the word and help the SHRM Foundation  continue to achieve great things on behalf of the HR profession.

HRA-NCA was proud to sponsor the second annual Helios Apollo Awards. The winners were announced at a breakfast event on June 6 at the Fairview Marriott in Falls Church, VA. In partnership with a few of the greater Washington SHRM chapters and SmartCEO magazine, Helios HR recognized the winners of the 2008 Helios Apollo Awards™. The Apollo Awards™ recognize organizations that invest in an intentional culture of continuous learning. This includes creating development opportunities for employees, as well as providing the resources for managers and employees to participate in a robust performance management program.

HRA-NCA volunteer leaders were present to represent the chapter at the sponsors table. They included: Lori Golino, Carolyn Cuppernull, RaShaun Clark and Shira Harrington.

2008 Helios HR Award Winners were:

Up & Coming Company: JustinBradley
Small Company: Kadix Systems
Mid-Size Company (two winners):
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Bowman Consulting
Large Company: Grant Thornton

The SHRM Foundation is committed to supporting the professional development of HR professionals and the scholarship program is a tangible example of this commitment. Exciting News! The SHRM Foundation now awards a total of $100,000 to SHRM members, chapters and state councils, up from $50,000 awarded in 2006. The 2008 program is being generously underwritten by the J. J. Keller Foundation.

Scholarships will be awarded to national SHRM members pursuing an HR-related college degree, or SPHR, GPHR, PHR or California certification. The following will be awarded in 2008: 60 Certification Scholarships of $750 each and 40 Academic Scholarships of $1375 each. Application deadline is July 15, 2008. The scholarships are allocated evenly among the SHRM regions. This guarantees that there will be winners in every part of the country. For application information, visit www.shrm.org.

On June 10, several HRA DC-SHRM Chapter members spent a couple of hours at SHRM headquarters learning how to be lobbyists, and then we were off to Capital Hill to put our training to work. Participation in SHRM's Day OnThe Hill was very educational and enjoyable. We learned about current legislative and regulatory proposals for the ADA, FMLA, and employment verification, as well as obtaining tips from SHRM's government affairs staff as to how to deal with Congressional staff. And SHRM's personnel should know, since they were formally Congressional staffers themselves. We met with the legislative assistants for Congresswoman Norton, Congressman Moran, Congressman Wolf and Senator Warner, and it was very interesting to see how the Congressional staff interacted with us.

The legislative assistants seemed eager to hear our concerns and learn of our views on these issues, and they both were surprisingly willing to share their boss' thoughts and discuss their own concerns as to these proposals. The SHRM staff provided us with fact sheets/position statements to give the legislative staff, and the staff was also interested to hear of real world issues and concerns.

The SHRM staff could not have been more helpful in educating us. On the employee verification issue, they informed us about the E-verify system, and its limitations. We also learned that an Executive Order was signed the day before our Congressional visit, requiring government contractors to use E- verify for not only new hires, but also existing employees who work on government contracts. We also learned that the Executive Order is likely to be subject to a litigation challenge, since there is an argument existing immigration law prohibits the use of E-verify for existing employees. SHRM is in favor of a bill, H. R. 5515, which uses EEVS (Electronic Employment Verification System), a system which employers currently use to report new hires to the Social Security Administration (it was designed to go after dead beat dads who owe child support). We also had an interesting discussion of the practical issue of proving who you are to a verification system, of developing a verification system which will target identity theft, and how to deal with amnesty or another realistic solution for the millions of illegal immigrants who are currently in America.

With respect to the ADA, there is a legislative ground swell to reverse three United States Supreme Court decisions which have limited the ADA - two decisions holding that in determining whether a person is a disabled person, you consider them after corrective measures. Thus, a person with glasses is not a person with a disability, just because they can not see well without their glasses, and a diabetic is not a person with a disability if they are fine as long as they take insulin. The third decision held that an impairment is only a disability if it "substantially" limits a major life function. Proposed legislation would put all of us under the ADA - it would provide protection to all persons with any physical or mental condition, no matter how slight. SHRM is supporting alternative legislation, which would keep the substantially limits requirement in the definition of a disability, and keep the burden of proof on the employee.

Finally, for the FMLA, SHRM advocates letting the Department of Labor finalize its recently proposed and commented on new regulations, before Congress tries to change the FMLA in any manner. I noted to the Congressional staff that the most frequent questions clients have, by far, is over the implementation of the FMLA.

If you have any questions on these matters, you can contact Mr. Postol, Vice President For Legislative Affairs, at Lpostol@ seyfarth.com, or call him at 202-828- 5385.

Please note that there will be only one HRA-NCA E- Newsletter in July and August while the new Board works out the details of the 2008-2009 program year that starts with events in September.

You may look up these and other members' information in the HRA-NCA online membership directory, using various search categories. Log in through the "Member Login" on the HRA-NCA website home page. Keep your membership record up-to-date so we don't lose touch!

HRA-NCA Welcomes these New Members

HRA-NCA invites organizations to sponsor our newsletter - or any of the following: monthly speaker presentations, our website, special events, etc. Interested? Contact Chris Cramer, HRA-NCA's PR & Sponsorship Chair, or access our information on the website. For this issue, sincere thanks to the following sponsor.

Attend the American Strategic Management Institute’s Audio Conference: HR Measures, Metrics and Analytics

The audio conference HR Measures, Metrics, and Analytics will take place May 13, 2008 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EST.  This 90 minute session will discuss why HR Professionals can show bottom-line results to the organization by using metrics.  Chris DeVany, Founder of Pinnacle Performance Improvement Worldwide will discuss benchmarking your organization’s human capital approach in addition to how you can enhance the effectiveness of your HR strategies.

For more information on this audio conference call Laura Holzman at 703-894- 0481 or go to: http://www.asmiweb.com/webcast/f476.ht ml

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