Yolanda Martin Workforce Solutions
This site, which is not affiliated with any employment agency or other tangible places of business in Memphis, Tennessee or elsewhere, addresses or poses solutions to common issues in the workforce, from recruitment and job search tactics to office politics. It also extends a platform or voice to employers, employees, and job searchers...
Monday, February 2, 2026
Work Behavior Modification Program
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Experiential Training Should be a Component of Education or Readily Provided on the Job
It is unfortunate that so many graduates find difficulty acquiring jobs in their fields of study due to lack of experience, those specifically who had no internship or on-the-job training options or who could not participate in such programs for whatever reasons. I did not have this problem as a business clerical trainee at the Atlanta Job Corps because OJT was offered for my cluster at the center where I trained...
After completing my studies, which included learning to type, data entry, writing business letters, answering business phones, and subsequently graduating from Atlanta Metropolitan College* via Job Corps's Advanced Career Training program, I interned as a receptionist answering the center switchboard for a specified number of weeks. And I had no problem at all getting my first full-time job as a receptionist...
Some form of on-the-job-training was offered for most if not all trades at the AJCC, which facilitated job placement for graduates (*My degree from Atlanta Metropolitan College is an AA in Philosophy, which substantially helped to develop my critical thinking skills and my Microsoft skills via a computer science course).
I am four classes away from graduating with a Bachelors degree in English/Composition and Rhetoric from Georgia State University, which expounds upon my Philosophy degree from a critical thinking standpoint (when and if I can ever complete said classes).
Graded and/or paid internships at real companies provide real experience that real employers can appreciate, and they should be available for all educational/training programs.
...On the job training for certain professions like CDL Class A trucker jobs, including those that require flatbed and/or over the road (OTR) experience should be scheduled around students' employment work schedules to enable them to earn sufficient income during said experiential training. Let's say, for example, that a driving student works for four days and has three days off. Training could be scheduled for 1 to 2 of their off days...
This would additionally give said students the opportunity to see if flatbed and/or OTR or driving significant distances out of state would be something that they would actually enjoy, and it would give them the required experience to acquire employment within the industry after completion of the training without need of any additional experience.
CDL Class A truckers who are interested in local driving jobs could optionally only train locally or they could additionally train for OTR in the event that this would interest them in the future, or if they would be interested in periodically driving OTR (depending upon the location, weather, and/or other circumstances) in a local driving position.
Completed internships or apprenticeships for specific programs should suffice for experience to acquire entry-level jobs and reasonable starting pay in the industry. An internship lasts on average from about three months to a year while trucking apprenticeships would last from six months to two years.
...Another even better option would be for more trucking companies to provide post educational experiential training for local, regional, and OTR jobs. This would help to readily meet the staffing needs of many trucking companies that are "urgently hiring" while providing desired and needed employment to recent graduates in the industry. It is essentially impossible otherwise to acquire experience where no opportunity is provided without it...
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Allow People Who Want to Work to Work
There are many people who are good workers who want to work who are denied the privilege or who face considerable challenges acquiring or keeping a decent job or who are substantially underpaid for unmerited and at times unlawful reasons.
I am confident that a substantial number of people dealing with this are being blackballed, very often simply due to culprits' envy. The culprit may be aware that the victim has purchased a nice car or home and they don't want them to have it and do whatever it takes to make them lose it, which is malicious and legally actionable.
In other instances the culprit may be an intimate partner or ex who is obsessed with controlling the victim. They do not want the victim working and earning an income for fear that they may get away from them, and said victim's employers' or prospects participate in the ordeal by obliging the abuser and denying or limiting opportunities to the victim(s).
...In other scenarios a victim may be targeted by a human trafficker who convinces employers to deny or limit opportunities to the victim to make them vulnerable to this unlawful trade...
Many individuals are denied good jobs that they qualify for simply due to their personal appearance, very often because they are overweight. The unscrupulous employer does not want to give the often brilliant individual the job and/or salary that they've sought; yet, they want to benefit from their skills/talent...
...Sometimes a victim is targeted to compel them to commit criminal activities like murdering an individual who they may be close to or who they have been ordered to gravitate to who is considered a dissident or they are outspoken or may have filed an EEOC complaint and/or lawsuit, very often for merited reasons. At the risk of never being employed and losing everything they have until they carry out the deplorable act, offered incentives become more and more attractive...
In more rare circumstances the culprits set out to destroy the victim over something like an intellectual property that he or she and/or someone they are closely related to owns. The culprit, which is very often a previous employer, seeks to financially humiliate and isolate their victim(s) in endeavor to take their intellectual properties without their protest.
Imagine destroying someone's life and the lives of all who depend on them over their talent, appearance, or simply because the culprit does not want the victim to elevate in life or to surpass them or because of legitimate, protected activity that the victim has participated in.
...Even in instances where a victim may have committed an infraction that the culprit feels validates their inappropriate behavior towards the victim, the fact that said victim is not incarcerated is clear indication that he or she is hireable though their access to jobs in the industry of the infraction may be legitimately denied for specific periods of time during which the subject individual should receive certified counseling that would address why the infraction was wrong...
No companies should be participating in railroading any employees or prospects, regardless of the situation. No respectable company would even consider it. Everyone has a right to earn a livable wage and provide for themselves and their families. Anyone interfering with that should be held accountable.
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
My Daughter's MPloy Youth Experience...
Friday, July 4, 2025
Bringing Roberts vs. Texaco to the Big Screen
I read this book, Roberts vs. Texaco, several years ago and I was very impressed with the grit and intelligence of Ms. Bari-Ellen Roberts, a senior financial analyst at Texaco who lead a class action lawsuit against the company that included 1400 other disparately treated African American class plaintiffs.
What I found most amusing about this case is that Texaco was sued by its shareholders. In other words, Texaco sued itself for racial discrimination, an amusing twist considering that typically those who have taken legal action of this sort have encouraged financially boycotting companies that have embraced discriminatory practices...
After reading this book, which vividly describes the kinds of harassment that many if not most African Americans [and other especially minorities] in the workforce are subjected to, I was profoundly persuaded that it should be a movie.
I encourage you to read this book first of all. It is purchasable on Amazon by clicking here.
Though Roberts vs. Texaco was very impactful, it did not come full circle as a success, even in light of the $176 million settlement disbursed to its class action plaintiffs. I say this because Texaco never apologized or vowed to actually correct its mistreatment of its African American workers. In fact, they felt that they did nothing wrong. Roberts's recounting of the retaliation that she experienced ensuing the case, including Texaco terminating her employment (though she was only awarded what was tantamount to roughly a year's salary on her pay scale) further exemplifies this futility and an air of irresolution with this case...
...The purpose of bringing Roberts vs. Texaco to the big screen would not be to harm Texaco or any other companies; it would be to expose an epidemic crisis that is all too often minimized in corporate America. It would depict common workplace behaviors that are hardly acceptable in a civilized society, such behaviors that are all too often bred in and extended from the elementary school yard...
Bari-Ellen Roberts had been an A-1 student since the earliest years of her schooling, where she first encountered racial prejudice and discrimination. Her first encounter with discrimination occurred ironically at the whim of the first African American teacher she'd had, a "haughty" fair skinned woman—Miss Robinson—who resented her dark skin and "nappy hair," while her smarts had earned her special treatment from her previous all White teachers at predominantly minority Burdett Elementary School. She was among the brightest students in Miss Robinson's class, but was not allowed to shine because of her personal appearance. During her enrollment and attendance at the University of Cincinnati (summer) lab school, where she was the only Black child among twenty in her class, she was treated disparately, despite her wits, where especially it concerned White boys. Whereas they were inundated with encouragement and compliments and allowed to pursue independent study projects with no supervision, she was treated as a slow learner concerning work that she too could manage independently.
"When I compared myself with the other kids, I could only see one difference between us. I could read as well as any of the White kids and sometimes knew answers that the other kids didn't. But I was colored. I might get an "A" for my science project, but it wouldn't be quite as wonderful as some White boy's story. No matter how hard I tried, nothing I ever did won the same praise. At the lab school, White boys were at the top of the pecking order, followed by White girls, and then me. It seemed to be the nature of things, but it didn't feel right. My worries were not pronounced enough to keep me from enjoying the lab school and doing quite well. But they kept dogging me as I tried to make sense of the world... My three summers at the lab school had gone a long way toward restoring the self-confidence I had lost after the clash with Miss Robinson, and I felt like there was nothing I couldn't handle. White kids like the ones I met at the lab school might have possessions I could only dream about, but they were no smarter than me, and I had proof. I had beaten some of them to win the city's fifth grade spelling bee the previous year."
...A child's brilliance holds no significance in such an environment unless they are the "right" color and/or unless their hair is the "right" texture and/or style. Roberts vs. Texaco is most inspiring—not because of the 176 million dollar settlement that was won in this case—but because of the faith, courage, and excellence of Ms. Bari-Ellen Roberts. Properly addressing the issue of workplace harassment and discrimination would save billions of dollars in healthcare costs from stress related illnesses, replacing employees who call out due to such illnesses, and lost productivity...
Bari decided to file suit against Texaco while still in their employ when she was denied a promotion she was entitled to and asked to train the less qualified candidate the position was awarded to. She explains how Texaco had been the "Whitest" place she'd been since lab school in Cincinnati, and how, just as back in lab school, she was not permitted to shine, despite her exceptional performance...
The Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a New York church group that was founded in 1973 (the year I was born, ironically) that buys stock in big companies so that they can attend shareholders meetings and contest their unscrupulous practices, connected Bari and her Co-worker, Sil Chambers,* with Washington, DC law firm Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll (*Bari describes Sil Chambers as bearing a striking resemblance to actor Lawrence Fishburne. Perhaps Mr. Fishburne could portray him in the movie); Mike Hausfeld, known as the "Toxic Avenger," would lead the team. Among other cases Hausfeld had previously filed a class action lawsuit for Native Americans after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
The importance of ICCR and the power at large of investing in the stock market is that it does give the stockholder a voice. It further magnifies that big companies like Texaco are not merely White owned; they have many owners and suddenly they are not so big and bad when we realize that they are just as dependent upon others—minorities included—for their success as minorities and others are dependent upon them for employment...
Mike threw the "long ball" to the victory of a $115 million compensation package for Texaco's class plaintiffs, an additional $26.1 million in pay increases for it fourteen hundred Black employees, and the investment of $35 million in the creation of an independent task force that would monitor Texaco's treatment of its minority workers for a five-year period...
These things are great; nonetheless, they had no lasting impact, however. The settlement that the plaintiffs received did not last very long, I'm certain, and, though the fourteen hundred Black employees received raises that would pay out circa $18,643 over a course of time, one could only imagine the hostility that those who stuck around to receive any of it had to endure. And payment of $7 million dollars per year for five years to monitor Texaco's treatment of minorities was absurd...
...A truly meaningful victory would have been a sincere apology and changed behavior/properly treating all of its employees, allowing Bari Ellen Roberts and any other employees who were terminated surrounding their involvement in the case to resign only if they wanted to, adding that $35 million that was paid out to the "independent task force" to the payout of the plaintiffs in the case and having the Department of Labor to monitor Texaco indefinitely for potential impropriety under the banner of its conventional duties...
A movie highlighting this case would exemplify how truly horrible minimization of the epidemic crisis of employment harassment and discrimination really is.
It would further shine a much-deserved spotlight on a lady who is one of my personal heroes.
A short documentary would follow the movie in which real Roberts vs. Texaco class plaintiffs and other employees (including managerial staff) would discuss their experiences preceding, during, and after the case, and, from their perspectives, what was and wasn't accomplished in the outcome of the case. Social psychologists and other professionals could further address workplace harassment and discrimination generally, and how investing in the stock market, as is demonstrated in the Roberts versus Texaco case, can be utilized [and better so] as a vehicle of holding big companies like Texaco and others to ethical standards.
Friday, January 3, 2025
The Government and Employers Have a Duty to Provide Transportation/Solutions to all Workers and Prospects Needing it
I addressed the issue of need for transportation assistance for many workers and those endeavoring to work in a previous post. I'm revisiting this issue due to urgent need for enactment of proposed and other ideas that I herein discuss. No one in this world should be in a situation where they cannot work due to lack of transportation. I cringe to think of the number of people who have lost their jobs, homes, and, in certain instances, everything they've spent much of their lives working for because of car problems, not having ready access to public transportation or not being capable of getting to work on time if a bus or train schedule does not jibe with their work schedule. There are a number of very practical ways to remedy these things.
Public Transport Times Should Jibe with Those of Major Employers
First and foremost, bus and train start and end times should hinge around the start and end times of companies with significant staff who rely on public transportation.
Company and Public Transport Shuttles for Employees
For workers and prospects lacking transportation who reside in areas beyond the reach of traditional city buses, local public transportation systems (i.e. MATA in Memphis) and/or employers should provide pick-up shuttle services for employees residing within a 20 mile radius of the employer; the distance could be more extensive at the discretion of the public transportation system or employer, which should receive tax and other incentives for providing this service...
Memphis's MATA Plus program offers shuttle services to disabled individuals who are not physically capable of riding traditional city buses; there should be a distinct program and shuttle for workers who reside beyond the reach of city buses and need transportation...
...Each employee would pay a very conservative fee to ride their public transport or company shuttle, i.e. $5.00 to and $5.00 from ($50.00 per week for each full-time employee/$40.00 per week if the employee works a 4-day full-time week. In some instances, the cost of a single one way Uber or Lyft trip may be or even exceed either of these amounts. This would, nonetheless, generate significant city income that would be merited for retrieving patrons from and returning them to their homes. To the greatest possible extent, employee city shuttles would be designated to specific areas, i.e. North, South, East, and West shuttles to prevent any given stated shuttle from going out of the way...
Company Ride Share Programs
Companies could alternatively implement their own employee ride share programs in which employees with vehicles would transport co-workers who, ideally, live near them and work their shifts for $5.00 to and $5.00 from daily for each passenger.
Depending upon the size of an employee's vehicle and the number of employees they transport, they could accrue substantial surplus income participating in stated initiative. The average car lawfully seats about four passengers, meaning that, to capacity, a participating driver could earn an extra $200.00 per week. Add an employer incentive, and this amount could be even more substantial...
Existent Rideshare Programs
There are already existent rideshare programs that need more press or advertisement. Information about these programs should always be available at Department of Labor Job Centers. One of those programs is the Memphis Area Rideshare Program. Click here to learn more about it. Others include Groove on Demand and Enterprise Employee Vanpool program...
Employer-Supported Uber, Lyft, and/or Similar Ride Share Programs
Uber, Lyft, and/or similar ride programs (including traditional taxis) could additionally implement ride share programs via which employees who live within reasonable vicinity of one another and work the same shifts could routinely share rides and costs by weekly reservation and, preferably, with the same driver transporting specific employees to and from work each day.
Employers, the government, Uber, Lyft, etc., employer-based and/or independent drivers could establish partnerships with one another to keep fare reasonable for all passengers and other funders.
Employers could wholly fund and waive fees in certain instances, i.e. the employee is new and does not have money to pay anything for their commute to and from work.
Why Generous Employer Incentives for Drivers Would not be Far-fetched
Generous employer incentives for drivers would not be far-fetched, considering that the stated driving employees would help to staff or provide coverage to the company and, in many instances, literally save those who they transport.
Self-employed or Independent Driver Participation
Self-employed or independent drivers could also participate in the stated program; they, like all participating drivers in stated initiative, must be reliable and get employees to and from work on time. Likewise, participating employees must be ready upon arrival of their shuttle, unless there are extenuating circumstances that would prevent this; drivers would return to retrieve such passengers after retrieving other passengers if it would not cause the other passengers to be late and afterwards if it would make them late...
HR or DOL Counseling and/or Medical Treatment for Tardiness
In instances where an employee is routinely late for pick-up, he or she would be required to participate in counseling and/or acquire medical treatment to address underlying causes for their tardiness. This counseling could be conducted via employers' human resources departments and/or via the Department of Labor's Workforce Development programs, which would also conduct other types of employment-related counseling and have definitive solutions to any and all challenges that workers and those endeavoring to work face, i.e. the best solution to one's transportation issues based upon their specific circumstances...
Employment and Shift Priority for Employees who Share a Vehicle
An employee with a vehicle that they share with other working family or household members should be given employment and shift priority. If the family or household members are employed for the same company, they should be assigned the same shift if possible; if not, they should be assigned shifts and reporting times that would enable both or all employees sharing transportation to work, i.e. one employee would work first shift and deliver their shared vehicle home to the other employee to work second or third shift. This should also be applicable if the employees sharing a vehicle work for different companies. If the family or household members are not employed for the same company, the employed or unemployed relative or household member should receive initial consideration for job openings at the company for which the individual they share a vehicle with works.
Implementing Simultaneous Reporting and Departing Times for Ridesharers Working Varied Shifts
If one or more employees are dropped off and picked up by the same driver, the employee being dropped off should be given a reporting time that is at the same time that the other employee gets off, or there should be a thirty minute difference in their reporting and departing times to allow for timely transition.
The stated should be allowable and enforced by an act of congress, considering that average costs of living require two or more household incomes. The average worker (and their families) can hardly eat after paying bills and often do not qualify for SNAP benefits due to income limitations.
Requiring Carjackers to Pay to Replace or Repair Stolen and/or Damaged Vehicles
Laws should additionally be enacted to better address the issue of carjacking and car theft/damage. Many people are lacking transportation to work because their cars have been stolen and/or damaged, often by shiftless individuals who have no desire to work and/or who get a rush of dopamine from joy riding in their victims' cars while they are left without means of transportation to do the very serious things (like working) that they need to do. To remedy this, carjackers or thieves/vandals who steal and/or damage cars should be required to literally pay full costs of replacing or repairing cars that they've stolen or damaged. Correctional systems should enact work requirements in all prisons and juvenile detention facilities. Every correctional facility should incorporate manufacturing facilities into their premises to deliver work to all capable detainees, who should be paid at least minimum wage; participating companies should be given substantial discounts on manufacturing costs for allowing detainees to create their products and learn the value of working to literally pay their debts to society and to acquire their own needs and wants.
It Should be Unlawful to Repossess a Vehicle That is Nearly Paid for
A law should additionally be enacted that would make it unlawful to repossess a vehicle should the owner experience a temporary loss or reduction in income if the vehicle is nearly paid for, especially if the principal cost of said vehicle has been fully paid. In such instances, the debt should be treated like any other debt that would be collectable by agency or garnishment (once the owner becomes employed again and/or is capable of resuming payments).
It Should be Unlawful to Remove a Renting Tenant's Inoperable Vehicle That They Plan to Keep/Use
Yet another law should be enacted that would make it unlawful to tow the vehicle of someone residing in an apartment complex or rented property in instances where said vehicles are in need of repair(s) that the owner cannot readily fix or in instances where the owner is not readily capable of renewing their tag. If the owner plans to repair, keep, and use the vehicle, they should be given reasonable time to make repairs and/or acquire their tags...
Other Solutions for Those Experiencing Challenges Reporting to a Traditional Job
Purchasing Vehicles to Drive for Uber, Lyft, Doordash, etc. via their Partnerships with Car Dealerships
It is possible to lease and/or purchase vehicles via Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Amazon Flex, and Instacart car buying programs or via partnerships that these companies have with specific car dealerships. This is a way to instantly acquire a vehicle for the purpose of driving for either of stated ride/drive programs.
Distribution of Public Transportation Passes to Anyone Needing Assistance to/from Work
TANF, Job Corps, and programs that service homeless individuals distribute public transportation passes to their clients for employment and educational purposes. One should not necessarily have to be enrolled in either of these programs to acquire this assistance, however. Anyone needing assistance getting to and from work should be privileged to it in whatever manner works best for them.
Proliferation of Free or Discounted Vehicle Repair Services and Car Insurance for Low Income Persons
TANF offers free vehicle repair services and discounted car insurance* for clients in some states (*I have read in other instances that EBT recipients are privy to discounted car insurance). There are a number of programs that refurbish donated cars to give to economically disadvantaged families. Programs of these sorts could also be proliferated.
Facilitating Work from Home Opportunities
...Another way to address the lack of transportation for workers crisis is through work-from-home opportunities. In instances where a qualified individual is interested in working from home and may lack the synonymous equipment, it should be fronted on a lease to own basis by their local Department of Labor or DOL could partner with retailers like Best Buy in such an initiative to finance stated equipment via incremental deductions from clients' pay until all costs are satisfied. DOL should additionally connect clients with remote employers that provide all essential equipment...
Company Housing
Yet another solution is company housing; click here to read an article/proposal... that I wrote discussing this.
In Summation and Conclusion
It should be unlawful to terminate an employee for lack of transportation where he or she demonstrates a valid interest in working and resides within reasonable distance of their employer that would enable said employer to transport or sponsor transportation for him or her to and from work for affordable cost or that which would be shared amongst the employee, other participating employees, the company, and/or the government...
The prescribed initiative would enable vast sects of individuals who are typically unemployed due to lack of transportation to work and pay their fair share to Uncle Sam. It would substantially remedy homelessness and alleviate burden on public programs that service underprivileged individuals.
Monday, October 21, 2024
When Employers Should Update Employees' Work ID Photos
Employers should update employees' work identification ever so often or at least when there are significant changes in an employee's appearance. This should be done for security purposes, to ascertain that the individual on an employee's ID badge is in fact the same person reporting to work.
This would proactively address potential instances of identity theft or any unauthorized individual accessing a company premises and posing detriment to its staff and/or property.
Employees' physical appearances often change after working especially laborious jobs after certain lengths of time, i.e. extreme weight loss. Whether extreme weight loss, gain, or other changes in an employee's physical appearance, a company should always be capable of readily matching a reporting individual with the person on their work identification badge.
Companies should also update employees' work ID photos upon employee request if they dislike their photo, i.e. their hair was unkempt from wearing the hoodie on their jacket or coat and they did not have a comb, pick, or brush to groom their hair, or maybe a male did not have time or the resources to get a hair cut.
Companies that utilize unflattering photographs (work I.D.s) of employees as fuel to gaslight and/or physically abuse or discriminate them, i.e. making disparaging statements about the employee's personal appearance that are irrelevant to the company's dress code and grooming policies and/or giving a subject employee an unreasonable work load in endeavor to compel them to lose weight or quit, should be severely punished, especially if the abuse causes a life-threatening injury (physical and/or psychological) to the employee that would impede their ability to work and sustain housing and other essential resources for themselves and their immediate family members or those for whom they provide care.
Other examples of abuse are failing to honor a deserving employee and/or withholding rewards due to them for substantial contributions to the company and/or forthwith firing an employee and participating in concerted efforts to keep him or her unemployed and/or homeless until they lose weight or date or marry someone they are not interested in because the firing company may have paid acquaintances or family members for damages to the employee, and even though the paid individuals do absolutely nothing for the damaged employee or those for whom they are responsible and the subject employee suffers loss of property, relationships, etc.
Companies should be required to pay damages to employees who they maliciously damage because of their personal appearance. Stated damages should include compensation for any physical and/or emotional harm, i.e. severe depression or loss of enjoyment of life, caused to the employees' immediate family members and/or those for whom they are responsible.
Companies with legit concerns for their employees' weight and health should implement programs to healthily motivate them to lose weight, i.e. incorporating walking paths and/or fitness rooms into their company premises for group exercise that could be lead by managers during one of employees specified breaks and paying employees a dollar per minute for 10 minutes of exercising in the fat-burning zone, if they participate for at least three days per week, and significantly paying employees who reach significant weight-loss milestones or goals, i.e. $700.00 for 70 pounds (1000%), noting that the significant weight-loss bonus would be a one-time payment for each synonymous employee...
Other things that employers could do to improve their employees is removing unhealthy snacks and beverages from their vending machines or at least increasing healthy options, having healthy cooking demonstrations and distributing printed recipes of favorite sampled dishes of attending employees, distributing gift cards for healthy groceries and/or wardrobe refurbishment (after significant weigh-loss) and/or for hair care (grooming and/or styling to best suit one's facial features and persona) and/or for cosmetic dentistry or other sensible procedures that would help employees to look and feel their best.
In summation and conclusion, employees' work identification photographs should be updated to reflect any significant changes in their appearance. They should be allowed to take the best possible photo for their work ID, considering especially that they'll daily wear it at work. This would improve the employee's image, confidence, self esteem, and work performance, and, ultimately, the company's morale...