Employers

As chairman of the Pennsylvania Governor's Advisory Commission on Asian-American Affairs, Korean-born Michael Choi of Huntingdon Valley was a well-connected lawyer. His Cheltenham practice grabbed headlines for class-action lawsuits about Agent Orange, the "No Gun Ri" massacre of the Korean War, and slave labor in Japan. He was a frequent guest on TV newsmagazines. But to federal prosecutors in Philadelphia, Choi, 58, was the disgraced mastermind of a conspiracy that fraudulently obtained green cards for immigrant clients.

After losing the right to use the familiar TransitChek name for its commuter-benefits program, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday unveiled a renamed program for Philadelphia-area commuters and employers. The program, which allows workers to deduct pretax dollars from their paychecks to purchase transit fares, will now be called RideECO. "The name is changing, but nothing administratively will change," said Stacy Bartels, manager of marketing and commuter services for DVRPC.

Industrial engineers might fantasize about building an ever more efficient assembly line. And advertising copywriters dream of coining a catchy slogan. People such as Pamela Shadzik, a corporate workforce development specialist, yearn to create the perfect training program - teaching the exact skills needed on the job while advancing the capabilities of employees. These days, when Shadzik has that kind of need, "I just call Cheryl," she said. Cheryl is Cheryl Feldman, executive director of the District 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund, an educational program jointly funded by the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees and employers such as the Temple University Health System, where Shadzik works as director of leadership and organizational development.

The U.S. Department of Labor's weaker-than-expected jobs report Friday fed fears the economy was slowing. The gain of just 88,000 jobs for March, down by more than half from January and February, sent stock prices lower, with the Standard & Poor's 500 big-company stock index ending down 0.43 percent for the day. But the weak jobs report shouldn't have surprised investors, because the economy had already been facing higher labor costs, weak durable-goods...

Fifteen years ago, Capreece Lackey, 42, had steady work that she never put on her resumé. In fact, it landed her in jail, when she was arrested for prostitution next to a rusty railroad bridge in North Philadelphia. "I had no soul," said Lackey, who was convicted on the prostitution charge, as well as a lesser charge of obstruction of traffic. "I didn't care what I did. I was addicted to crack cocaine. " Lackey has been sober since 1999, but because of her criminal record, she's still paying the price in unemployment and poverty.

When Dave Clarke wants to fill a position at AuthenticMatters in Old City, he sifts through the stack of resumes and looks up candidates on Google. He expects a presence online, he says, especially considering the company's work — digital strategy and communications consultancy. "That's your online resume," AuthenticMatters' founder says of tweets, blogs, and status updates. "It's not what you attach to an e-mail. "We're not digging for dirt or hunting for drunken photos or anything," he continues.

DID YOU hear the footsteps last week? Are they coming for you next? The gargantuan CVS drugstore chain has ordered its nearly 200,000 employees to disclose personal health information - weight, height, body fat, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar - or they will have a $600 penalty added to their annual health-insurance bill. CVS public-relations director Michael DeAngelis sees it differently, telling me that employees who take the survey will pay $600 less for health coverage.

Yearly pay raises that workers at small businesses used to count on have become a casualty of the weak economy. They are increasingly based on performance - not just an employee's performance, but the entire company's. Raises at many businesses are also smaller than they were before the recession began five years ago. And some employers are using rewards other than annual raises to compensate workers. "The days of the traditional merit increases and cost-of-living increases seem, at least for now, to be behind us," said Carrie Cherveny, vice president of employment practices for AlphaStaff, a Fort Lauderdale-based firm that provides human-resources services such as payroll, benefits administration, and hiring assistance.

More than 25 employers will be on hand for a job fair on Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the William H. Gray Youth Center, 12th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Employers include Temple University, Kensington Hospital, the Philadelphia Police Department, SEPTA, UPS, Einstein Healthcare Network, Wells Fargo and LIFT-Philadelphia. "The statistics on unemployed and underemployed residents in Philadelphia continue to be at a record high," said state Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, sponsor of the annual job fair.

Richard Graham is director of insurance and risk control for the Crozer-Keystone Health System. It's not the kind of job that one aims for in college, but it is where you might end up after a string of increasingly responsible positions, Graham said in an interview this week. To formalize connections in his field and to help smooth that path for others, Graham helped form the Greater Philadelphia Executive Claims Council, an organization that is employer-based, as opposed to one driven by insurers.