An 'Impossible' Nursing Model, Cultural Flashpoints: LRI INK

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Subject: An 'Impossible' Nursing Model, Cultural Flashpoints: LRI INK

September 18, 2025

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From Nurses to Manufacturers: Work-Life Balance That Also Saves Money

by Kimberly Ricci

It’s safe to say that the Great RTO Push is here to stay, and what workers want most from the process includes maintaining a work-life balance. So, most would not be thrilled to follow the San Francisco tech crowd’s so-called “996” schedule that’s the talk of LinkedIn these days.

That specific industry trend – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days per week – is very real, according to financial-operation platform Ramp.com’s data crunching involving food delivery times. Beyond that headline-grabbing example of atypical schedules, the opposite trend is also rising: Out-of-the-box work arrangements that improve productivity and cut down on labor costs associated with high turnover.

This creative experimentation is happening where you’d least expect it.

Even at a hospital? Yes, and elsewhere, too:

An “impossible” nursing model: Becker’s Hospital Review detailed how an Ohio-based healthcare system recently switched nurses from an hourly to a salaried pay model. A key result of this experiment was a $40,000 annual labor cost savings, but how did the nurses feel about this shift?

Spoiler alert: They loved it, and they are as surprised as anybody else.

This happened when one administrator, a former nightshift nurse, dreamed up several options, including “a seven-days-on, seven-days-off model,” which allowed for ample recharging. Soon, the turnover rate plummeted for nurses in this healthcare system, and burnout decreased, too.

After six months, the previously “wary” nurses were convinced that this scheduling method worked well. The hospital’s previous need to pay overtime and hire traveling nurses also ceased to exist. Retention rates skyrocketed, labor costs stayed predictable, and money was saved.

A food manufacturing flex: More experimentation happened at Land O’Lakes. The Wall Street Journal called attention to a Minnesota plant that was previously running mandatory 12-hour shifts to operate 24 hours per day, which worked for decades to minimize the chaos associated with frequent shift changes. Yet due to high turnover, the plant tried out a “flex work” program that has since expanded to 60 factories out of 140 sites.

At these facilities, the company is allowing employees to pick their own shift duration and starting hours, and retention is soaring. Additionally, the new structure helped the company fill positions that frequently stayed open.

Many of the dairy giant’s workers are now thrilled to adjust their schedules to start after school drop-off times, and so on. Land O’Lakes is also finding that they have filled vacant positions without pulling “the lever” of increasing labor costs through temp agencies or overtime pay.

Conclusion: Happier workers = greater retention = saved money. This isn’t always the precise equation, but the above examples illustrate how it’s possible, even outside of office settings.

Granted, not every workplace can feasibly pull such gambles off, nor would these work-schedule adjustments be a good idea for all companies, which must prioritize demand to stay sustainable and in business.

Still, the above healthcare example shows that leaning into flexibility goes a long way in workers’ minds. And if this openness also ends up saving money for employers? That’s a win-win.

Blog Post

The New Workplace Risk: Cultural Flashpoints and Employer Response

by Michael VanDervort

Last week’s high-profile events involving gun violence quickly became more than a crime story. In the days that followed, online groups circulated a public spreadsheet calling out individuals who made controversial comments, urging employers to discipline or terminate those employees.

Similar dynamics played out in the Coldplay "kiss-cam" controversy and in the aftermath of mass school shootings, where employees suddenly found themselves at the center of campaigns targeting their personal views. Seyfarth attorneys Dawn Solowey and Sam Schwartz-Fenwick describe these moments as cultural flashpoints — incidents where social, political, and workplace tensions collide in ways that can escalate into litigation and reputational harm

Why it matters: Employers cannot ignore these events. Public blacklists and social media pile-ons are not evidence of misconduct, but they create real risks — from employee safety concerns to hostile work environment claims if inflammatory speech bleeds back into the workplace. The EEOC’s draft harassment guidance, highlighted by Seyfarth, even notes that personal social media activity may contribute to a hostile environment if it impacts workplace culture.

Seyfarth and other workplace law experts recommend a structured approach:

Do not let outside pressure dictate outcomes. A spreadsheet or viral post is not proof. Anchor decisions in your company’s policies
Separate conduct from fallout. If an employee violates policy--threats, harassment, misrepresentation of the company--investigate and act accordingly. If not, your role is to shield them from harassment, not punish them for holding unpopular opinions.
Treat blacklists as harassment. Doxxing and targeted online campaigns are safety issues requiring involvement from legal, security, and, in some cases, law enforcement.
Control the corporate response. Use consistent, values-based language: "We review all concerns under our policies, but we do not discuss individual employment matters."
Prepare before the next incident. Update social media and workplace conduct policies, train managers, and create an "online outrage" response kit. Preparation reduces both litigation exposure and reputational harm.

The bottom line: Cultural flashpoints are now a predictable part of the workplace landscape. Whether tied to politics, entertainment, or tragedy, they put employers in the spotlight. The sequence for response should be clear: protect employees first, enforce policies second, and manage reputation last. As Seyfarth notes, the test is not whether employees express controversial views but whether employers respond consistently, reasonably, and lawfully.

Blog Post

Yes, AI Is Changing Work: Reflections On Job-Proofing And Retaining 'Human' Value While Embracing The Future

by Kimberly Ricci

Like many of you, we’ve been keeping an eye on AI’s ongoing evolution in the workplace. From the healthcare realm to the legal field, it’s safe to say that most industries will see significant transformations through this tech. Even unions are using AI tools for organizing purposes, which gives employers another reason to sharpen their skills. As for workers, they are understandably tense about keeping their jobs through the rising wave.

We’ve addressed why these fears are a tale as old as time, and a historical lens remains necessary to put AI into perspective. After all, the printing press clearly didn’t eliminate writing jobs although it did transform the work that writers do. That’s one point made by Harvard economist David Deming during a recent Solutions podcast episode, “How To AI-Proof Your Job.”

Since professionals everywhere are dabbling with LLMs including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, it’s important to view the current tech wave through a historical lens, too. Deming has done the work of digging into past tech revolutions and their impact on the U.S. labor market, and guess what? He’s not too concerned about predictions of an “jobs apocalypse.”

His reasoning about AI-proofing one’s livelihood is worth listening to:

Yes, this has happened before: Deming acknowledges that AI will be “tremendously disruptive,” but he points towards other major shifts in the employment market wrought by electricity, steam power, and personal computers, each of which led to new careers ultimately being created.

The big one: Deming name-checked the most significant tech shift, from subsistence farming to large-scale farming, in U.S. history. This ended the necessity of every family doing their own farming and, in time, led to job diversification and a much more prosperous U.S. society.

What are the real risks of AI in the workplace? The AI hype should not be discounted, but Deming also calls this a time of “experimentation.” As a result, workers who are worried about future-proofing their jobs should learn how to use AI better than the competition.

In other words, don’t let the AI use you. Be the human using the AI:

Use AI to take care of time-consuming, rote tasks and free up time for strategizing, innovation, and other creativity-fueled activities.
Know that job expectations will change. Overall productivity can and will increase for workers using AI. Deming believes that the AI “winners” will find more to do with their extra time.
Human connection will still matter most. Even if AI changes what the economy values, those who have formed important relationships will be able to draw upon them while also upskilling.
Remember that AI is a convincing generalist but not an expert: On this point, Deming advises workers to use AI to shore up weak areas of knowledge but not to rely on it for their field of expertise.

Our own Phil Wilson has written on LinkedIn about using AI tools, which not only save time but “actually deliver meaningful value,” on a day-to-day basis at LRI Consulting Services. Indeed, AI can be an invaluable “assistant” who can kickstart research and drafts, thereby freeing up creative energy for more detailed parts of a project.

To each their own, but those who don’t embrace and learn the ways of AI, including LLMs, run the risk of being left behind as workplaces transform.

Blog Post

The Friday Five: Grocer Drama, A Historic AI Deal, And A Shawn Fain Update

by Kimberly Ricci

It’s Friday, and we have five labor-related stories that you might not have heard yet:

🍿🛒 Keep Your Eyes On This Grocery Drama:

One of this week’s most enduring LinkedIn trends promised “family drama” that swallowed “cult grocer” Market Basket. That promise delivered. The New England mainstay is in chaos after CEO Arthur Demoulas’ three sisters ousted him in what his spokesperson is calling a “coup.” The company’s board of directors and Demoulas’ sisters pushed back and characterized him as a “dictator.”

There’s plenty of history here, including a 2014 saga that saw Demoulas lose company control to his cousin before a six-week boycott, spearheaded by employees, resulted in his reinstatement. At that time, labor leaders were shocked to see Market Basket workers pull together and act without a union running the show. In response, a supervisor declared that the workers were “far stronger” than any union.

If you’re wondering whether Big Labor will take renewed interest, given the chaos, the UFCW is already circling.

⚖️🏙️🍎 New York Vs. The NLRB:

The NLRB’s lack of quorum continues with no word on when the Senate will move forward with Trump’s nominees. Additionally, Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen made clear that he’s not impressed with states pushing for jurisdiction over some labor disputes. Cowen has insisted that the Board’s backlog will be swiftly cleared once the Senate does its thing.

This week, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill claiming to expand the authority of the NY State Public Employment Relations Board to oversee private-sector union elections. Almost immediately, Cowen declared his intent to sue New York for violating the Board’s “core jurisdiction.”

🚘🏛️👁️ Shawn Fain Can Breathe Easier... For Now:

The blustery UAW president received an unexpected reprieve from several locals’ attempts to oust him. This curious update came directly from watchdog Neil Barofsky, and most recently, Barofsky’s twelfth status report painted an unflattering portrait of Fain’s foul-mouthed outbursts, toxic leadership style, and retaliatory firings. The monitor’s investigation will continue with another status report due by December.

As of August, enough UAW locals had signed on to bring charges against Fain that an administrative trial threshold was met. Yet Barofsky declined to approve those charges while finding that the locals must restart the process due to a procedural error that one local team leader called “nitpicky.”

Meanwhile, the UAW’s compliance director, Marni Schroeder, resigned with no reason given after she appeared throughout the twelfth status report.

💰📱A Deep-Pocketed Union Joins The Boycott Club:

Last week, we touched upon Big Labor officially backing the ongoing boycott against Target. This week, the Communication Workers of America launched a coordinated effort against T-Mobile with the goal of convincing 10,000+ subscribers to drop their cell agreements by Nov. 1.

CWA’s motivation is complicated but self-serving. The union takes issue with T-Mobile partnering with Starlink to increase coverage areas. Starlink is owned by SpaceX, which shares a CEO, Elon Musk, with Tesla. And CWA appears to be irritated over SpaceX’s successful challenge to the NLRB’s structure and Tesla’s ability to remain union-free.

🧠☁️🤖 A historic deal and the biggest AI story of the week:

Speaking of Elon Musk, he might want to closely guard his title of World’s Richest Man. This week, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison saw his value soar over the $100 billion mark, as opposed to Musk’s nearly $400 billion value, due to Oracle’s share price surging after news of a $300 billion deal with OpenAI involving data-center power.

Previously, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that ChatGPT is losing money on its $200 pro plan like there’s no tomorrow, but Altman expects to run a profit by 2029. This massive cloud contract is a sign that, despite rumors of an AI bubble, both companies are willing to gamble.

Blog Post

Stories You May Have Missed:

Starbucks Workers Sue Over Dress Code's Cost To Them

Link

Volkswagen Breaks Off Talks With UAW After Making 'Final' Offer In Tennessee

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Californians Still Don't Know Impact Of Fast-Food Wage Increases

Link

1900 Kaiser Permanente Hospital Workers In Hawaii Voting On Strike

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Threatened Long Island Rail Road Strike Is Averted

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About Labor Relations INK

Labor Relations INK is published weekly and is edited by LRI Consulting Services, Inc. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up by visiting here.

If you use content from this newsletter, please attribute it to LRI Consulting Services, Inc. and include our website: http://www.LRIonline.com

Contributing editors for this issue: Greg Kittinger, Michael VanDervort, and Kimberly Ricci.

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About LRI Consulting Services, Inc.

LRI Consulting Services, Inc. exists to help our clients thrive and become extraordinary workplaces. We improve the lives of working people by strengthening relationships with their leaders and each other. For over 40 years, LRI Consulting Services, Inc. has led the labor and employee relations industry, driven by our core values and our proven process, the LRI Way.

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Subject: An 'Impossible' Nursing Model, Cultural Flashpoints: LRI INK