Human resource management (HRM) | The WritePass Journal

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent draw to the management of an organization?s most appreciated assets ? the people working there who individually and collectively put into the getting of the objectives of the business. The terms ?human resource management? and ?human resources? (HR) have mainly replaced the term ?personnel management? as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations. In plain language, HRM means employing people, developing their capacity, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in melody with the job and organizational requirement. Harshly

Human Resource Management can be described as ?The comprehensive set of managerial activities and tasks concerned with developing and maintaining a?qualified workforce ? human resources ? in ways that contribute to?organisational effectiveness.? (DeNisi and Griffin, 2004)

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the role within an organization that focuses on staffing of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization. Human Resource Management can also be performed by procession managers.

The Human Resources Management (HRM) tasks include a range of manners, and key among them is deciding the recruitment needs of a business and whether to use sovereign contractors or employ employees to fill these requirements, recruiting and training the best workers, ensure that they are high performers, dealing with performance issues. Activities also include managing your approach to employee remuneration and reparation, employee accounts and personnel policies. Usually small businesses have to carry out these actions themselves because they can?t yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have?and are aware of?personnel policies, which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manual, which all employees have.

Case Study of British Gas The role of human resource management

To control a successful large business involves acquiring, developing and maintaining a wide range of assets. These capitals include materials, buildings, land, equipment, technology and, people. Any establishment needs good workforce who has the right skills to get the company?s aims and objectives. Human resource management (HRM) is the business function that focuses on the people characteristics of an organisation. It is responsible for ensuring that an organisation has the right people to carry its overall business plan. Centrica, the parent corporation of BGS, has to deliver long-standing productivity. Its shareholders expect the business to show a return on their investment by making profits, now and in future. BGS needs to add to these profits. This means time after time meeting the needs of its customers with comparatively priced products and services that give good returns to the company. BGS?s core customer base is housing consumers across the country. These customers suppose to top-class service at fanatical prices. If BGS does not meet this model, the company may lose business to competitor. To ensure customer liking, BGS engineers must have the technological skills to undertake work to the obligatory standard and the people skills to take away good customer service. Through its engineer enrolment team, the British Gas Academy must therefore ensure that the company attracts and retains the best engineer. This involves several harmonizing tasks. It requires setting up to assess the BGS?s future needs for skilled employees. It requires a recruitment and selection programme to bring new people into the company. It requires a training operation to prepare new recruits and existing employees with the right skills.

Case study of Scottish Power The role of Human Resource Management

People are one of the most important resources used by any organisation. Scottish Power recognises that it is ?powered by people?.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is apprehensive with organising and looking after people in the place of work. On a day-to-day basis this includes recruitment, selection, training and development and assessing staff presentation. An important part of HRM is staff planning. This involves getting the right people in the right position at the right point in time. It also involves identifying the numbers of people required to enable the business to operate at full effectiveness. These people need to have the right skills to do the profession.

Part of labour force planning therefore involves planning growth opportunities. Growth increases the skills of the current workforce. The energy industry is changing quickly which means it is important to recruit and train people with the ability to carry out new jobs. This is particularly essential in the growing renewable energy sector.

Scottish Power aims to offer a positive recruitment and selection experience for every employee and potential employee. Scottish Power is committed to equal opportunities for everyone regardless of factors such as race, sex, age or disability.

The significance of HRM?s historical development

History of Human Resource management

The history of human resources management had startedapproximately end of 19th century when the protecting representatives had come into life form they are all women?s and are only Worried about the defence of rest of the women?s and children effected their harshness of industrial conception had an effected

coupled with pressures arising from the extension of the franchise, the power of trade unions and the labour association, and the disturbance of progressive employers, often Quakers, for what was called ?industrial betterment?. As the role grew; there was some stress between the aim of moral defence of women and children and the needs for higher output.

The First World War accelerates change in the growth of personal management with women being recruited in huge numbers to fill up the gaps absent by men going to battle, which in turn meant reaching agreement with trade unions and accepting unskilful women into craftsmen?s jobs and changing manning levels.

During the 1920s, jobs of ?labour manager? or ?service manager? came into being in the business industry and other industries where there was a large industrial unit, to handle absence, recruitment, dismissal and queries over bonuses and so on. Employers? federations, mostly in engineering and shipbuilding, negotiated general pay rates with the unions, but there were local and regional variations, and it was a lot of scope for disputes.

During the 1930s, with the economy started to pick up big corporations in these newer sectors saw the value in improving employee benefits as a way of recruiting, retaining and motivating employees. However, older industries such as textile shipbuilding, etc. which were hit by the worldwide recession did not adopt new techniques, seeing no need to do so because they had no difficulty in recruiting labour.

The 2nd World War brought about interests and staff work on a permanent basis at all establishment manufacturing war materials because an extended Ministry of Labour and National Service insisted on it, just as the Government had insisted on voluntary workers in weapon factories in the previous clash. The government saw the specialist personal management as part of the drive for greater efficiency and the number of people in the personnel function grew significantly; there were around 5,300 in 1943.

By 1945, employment supervision and voluntary work had become included under the broad term ?personal management?. Experience of the war had shown that output and productivity could be influenced by employment strategy. The role of the Human function in war time had been mainly that of implementing the rules demanded by large-scale, state-governed production, and thus the image of an emerging profession was very much a bureaucratic one.

Following the development of poor industrial relations during the 1960s a Royal Commission under Lord Donovan was set up. Reporting in 19681, it was critical of both employers and unions; personnel managers were criticised for lacking negotiation skills and failing to plan industrial relations strategies. At least in part, Donovan suggested, these deficiencies were a consequence of management?s failure to give personnel management sufficiently high priority.

During 1960s and 1970s employment started to develop considerably. At the same time personnel techniques developed started using theories from the social sciences about recruitment and selection, motivation and organisational behaviour etc. Selection testing became extra broadly used, and management of training long-drawn-out. During the 1970s, speciality fields started to develop, with reward and benefits.

Around the mid-80s, the term ?human resource management? arrived from the USA. The term ?human resources? was an interesting one: it seemed to propose that employees were an asset or resource-like machinery, but at the same time HR also lead to highlight employee commitment and motivation.

Today?s HR profession encompasses a number of specialist disciplines, including diversity, reward (including compensation, benefits, pensions), resourcing, employee relations, organisation development and design, and learning and development. Most recently, in developing the new CIPD HR Profession Map, the CIPD has defined ten ?professional areas? covered by the HR profession.

Human Resource Management

The Human Resources Management (HRM) now a day?s functions include a variety of manners, and key between them is deciding what staffing needs you have whether to use independent contractor or hire employees to fill those needs, recruiting and training best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various set of laws. Activities also include managing your move towards to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. The organisation should always ensure that employees have ? and are aware of ? personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have

Human resources management comprises several processes like ?

  1. Recruitment
  2. Orientation and Induction
  3. Training and development
  4. Performance appraisal
  5. Retention

Recruitment:

Recruitment refers to the method of screening and selecting people for a job or post within an organization. Staffing is the process of attracting qualified individuals for a specific job. The assignment of recruiting new staff is a vital but time-consuming process, so companies often prefer to hire an expert agency to source suitable candidates. The objective of a recruitment consultant is to build relationships with clients, source job vacancies, and find suitable candidates for each role.

Now there are various types of methods where a company can recuruit employees

  • Traditional recruitment agency
  • Online recruitment websites
  • Head-hunters
  • In-house recruitment

Traditional recruitment agency

Recruitment agencies in the past have a physical location. A candidate visits a local branch for a short interview and an appraisal before being taken onto the agency?s books. Recruitment Consultants then try to match their pool of candidate to their clients? open positions. fitting candidates are with potential employers.

Online recruitment websites

Online recruitment websites have two main features: job boards and a r?sum?/Curriculum Vitae (CV) database. Job boards allow member companies to place job vacancies. on the other hand, candidates can upload a r?sum? to be included in searches by member companies. Fees are charged for job postings and access to search resumes.

In recent times the recruitment website has evolved to encompass end to end recruitment. Key players in this sector provide e-recruitment software and services to organisations of all sizes and within numerous industry sectors, who want to e-enable entirely or partly their recruitment process in order to improve business feat.

Head-hunters

Head-hunters are third-party recruiters often taken when usual recruitment efforts have failed.

Head-hunters are usually more belligerent than in-house recruiters. They may use higher sales techniques, such as firstly posing as clients to gather employee contacts, as well as visiting applicant offices. They may also purchase expensive lists of names and job titles, but more a lot will generate their own lists. They may arrange a candidate for the interview, help negotiate the salary, and conduct conclusion to the search.

In-house recruitment

Larger employers tend to take their own internal recruitment, using their Human Resources department. In addition to coordinate with the agencies stated above, in-house recruiters may advertise job opportunity on their own websites, coordinate employee referral schemes, and/or focus on campus graduate recruitment.). Otherwise a large employer may choose to outsource all or some of their recruitment process.

Orientation and Induction

New employee orientation is the process you use for salutation a new employee into your organization. New employee orientation, often spearheaded by a meeting with the Human Resources department, generally contains information about security, the work environment, the new job account, benefits and eligibility, company culture, company history, the organization chart and anything else relevant to working in the new company.

Traning and Development

In the field of?human resource management,?training and development?is the field anxiety with organizational action aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in?organizational settings. It has been known by several names, including?employee development,?human resource development, and?learning and development.

In simple terms, training and development refers to the instruct of unambiguous skills, capacity and information to an employee. A formal definition of training & development is? it is any attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an employee?s ability to perform through?knowledge, usually by changing the employee?s attitude or increasing his or her skills and knowledge. The need for training & development is determined by the employee?s performance shortage.

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http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/history-hr-cipd.aspx#link_0

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-Strategic-Human-Resource-Management?&id=549585

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Tags: free essay, Human Resource

Category: Free Essays, Human Resources

Source: http://writepass.co.uk/journal/2012/12/human-resource-management-hrm/

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Galaxy trades Buddle to Rapids

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:59 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2012

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) - The LA Galaxy traded forward Edson Buddle to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a first-round supplemental draft pick in 2013 and allocation money.

Buddle is a World Cup veteran with 93 career goals in Major League Soccer. He appeared in two matches for the U.S. at the FIFA World Cup in 2010, when he was the runner-up for the MLS Golden Boot

Buddle started his MLS career in 2001 in Columbus, where he played for five seasons. He also played for the New York Red Bulls in 2006, Toronto FC in 2007 and with the Galaxy from 2007-10 and in 2012. In 2011, he played for FC Ingolstadt of the German second division.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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United, City both win in Premier League

LONDON (AP) -Manchester United stayed in control of the English Premier League by beating Sunderland 3-1 on Saturday, keeping Manchester City at arm's length following the champions' impressive win at Newcastle by the same scoreline.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50204400/ns/sports-soccer/

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Cross-Platform Drag-And-Drop App Maker Tiggzi Launches Windows 8 Support

Tiggzi_logoTiggzi, a DIY mobile app maker, just announced that it has added support for Windows 8 to its cross-platform drag-and-drop development suite. The services, which already offered support for Windows Phone, Android and iOS, will now allow users to create Metro-style apps with support for all the standard Windows 8 features like Live Tiles, Snap views and the Share and Search charms.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Rk29z6y6U_c/

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'Who Will Be the Next President?': A guide to how America decides

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 13-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Alexander Brown
alexander.brown@springer.com
212-620-8063
Springer Science+Business Media

A new book explores the current process for selecting a president and how it should change

On November 6, a majority of voters favored Barack Obama as President for another four years. On December 17, the Electoral College is expected to confirm the people's choice. However, only on January 7, 2013, when Congress is to count the electoral votes cast, will the 2012 election result become official. As with each election, this process leaves many asking, "Is the Electoral College really the best system for choosing a President?" In a new book, Who Will Be the Next President? (Springer, 2013), author A.S. Belenky addresses the peculiarities of the current presidential election system, while proposing a new way of choosing who sits in the Oval Office.

Belenky argues that any rules for electing a President that might replace the current process should provide a fair representation of both the states, as equal members of the Union, and the nation as a whole. The current election system gives the states two attempts to decide the outcomevia the Electoral College and, if unsuccessful, in Congressand generally ignores the will of the nation as a whole. Further, replacing this system with a direct popular election which ignores the will of the states would hardly be acceptable to a sizable part of the electorate, and to three-fourths of the states.

Belenky analyzes the National Popular Vote plan and submits that it may violate the Supreme Court decisions on the equality of votes cast in statewide popular elections to choose state electors. This may in fact violate the Equal Protection Clause from the Fourteenth Amendment. Who Will Be the Next President? addresses the "Achilles' Heel" of this popular vote plan, showing that states which oppose it can undermine the plan's legitimacy by choosing a method for awarding their electoral votes other than "winner-take-all.''

Also, Who Will Be the Next President? discusses what the Founding Fathers might have overlooked, and addresses a logical mistake embedded in the text of the Constitution. Belenky separates the Electoral College problems from those of the "winner-take-all" method, and analyzes what may happen if both the Electoral College and Congress fail to elect a President and a Vice President by Inauguration Day.

Finally, Belenky describes a "double-majority" plan to improve the current election system, under which no state loses its Electoral College benefits and every voter gains. The proposed plan would accomplish three things that make it a viable alternative to the current system. It would a) elect President a candidate who is the choice of both the nation as a whole and of the states as equal members of the Union, b) let the current system elect a President only if no such candidate exists, and c) encourage the candidates to campaign nationwide. In addition, it proposes an approach to change the manner of appointing state electors that can turn almost every "safe" state into a "battleground."

###

Who Will Be the Next President? can be found at www.springer.com/law/book/978-3-642-32635-6. For additional information on Belenky's other book, Understanding the Fundamentals of the U.S. Presidential Election System, visit www.springer.com/law/international/book/978-3-642-23818-5.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 13-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Alexander Brown
alexander.brown@springer.com
212-620-8063
Springer Science+Business Media

A new book explores the current process for selecting a president and how it should change

On November 6, a majority of voters favored Barack Obama as President for another four years. On December 17, the Electoral College is expected to confirm the people's choice. However, only on January 7, 2013, when Congress is to count the electoral votes cast, will the 2012 election result become official. As with each election, this process leaves many asking, "Is the Electoral College really the best system for choosing a President?" In a new book, Who Will Be the Next President? (Springer, 2013), author A.S. Belenky addresses the peculiarities of the current presidential election system, while proposing a new way of choosing who sits in the Oval Office.

Belenky argues that any rules for electing a President that might replace the current process should provide a fair representation of both the states, as equal members of the Union, and the nation as a whole. The current election system gives the states two attempts to decide the outcomevia the Electoral College and, if unsuccessful, in Congressand generally ignores the will of the nation as a whole. Further, replacing this system with a direct popular election which ignores the will of the states would hardly be acceptable to a sizable part of the electorate, and to three-fourths of the states.

Belenky analyzes the National Popular Vote plan and submits that it may violate the Supreme Court decisions on the equality of votes cast in statewide popular elections to choose state electors. This may in fact violate the Equal Protection Clause from the Fourteenth Amendment. Who Will Be the Next President? addresses the "Achilles' Heel" of this popular vote plan, showing that states which oppose it can undermine the plan's legitimacy by choosing a method for awarding their electoral votes other than "winner-take-all.''

Also, Who Will Be the Next President? discusses what the Founding Fathers might have overlooked, and addresses a logical mistake embedded in the text of the Constitution. Belenky separates the Electoral College problems from those of the "winner-take-all" method, and analyzes what may happen if both the Electoral College and Congress fail to elect a President and a Vice President by Inauguration Day.

Finally, Belenky describes a "double-majority" plan to improve the current election system, under which no state loses its Electoral College benefits and every voter gains. The proposed plan would accomplish three things that make it a viable alternative to the current system. It would a) elect President a candidate who is the choice of both the nation as a whole and of the states as equal members of the Union, b) let the current system elect a President only if no such candidate exists, and c) encourage the candidates to campaign nationwide. In addition, it proposes an approach to change the manner of appointing state electors that can turn almost every "safe" state into a "battleground."

###

Who Will Be the Next President? can be found at www.springer.com/law/book/978-3-642-32635-6. For additional information on Belenky's other book, Understanding the Fundamentals of the U.S. Presidential Election System, visit www.springer.com/law/international/book/978-3-642-23818-5.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/ssm-wwb121312.php

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Mali gets new prime minister after military ouster

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? The troubled nation of Mali swore in a new interim prime minister on Thursday, just days after soldiers behind this year's military coup arrested his predecessor and forced his resignation.

Diango Cissoko officially took office in the Malian capital of Bamako, where he said the former prime minister would be available as needed during the political transition.

Earlier this week, Cheikh Modibo Diarra announced his resignation as prime minister on state television at 4 a.m. hours after soldiers stormed his house.

"I am moved and pleased that the prime minister Diarra said he will be close by to assist me as needed," Cissoko said.

The African Union on Thursday welcomed Cissoko's appointment despite the circumstances under which Diarra left office.

"As much as we strongly condemn the conditions under which the prime minister was compelled to resign, we also believe that we need to be forward looking and support the new prime minister and assist him and the authority of the interim president ... in precisely establishing and ensuring absolute civilian oversight over the military," El Ghassim Wane, a senior official of the AU peace and security council, told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mali's interim government was intended to return the West African nation to civilian rule following the March military coup.

However, the coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo has maintained his hold on the country and the political instability has raised concerns about a proposed military intervention to retake Mali's north from radical Islamists.

The former prime minister, Diarra, was initially seen as being in-step with Sanogo. Critics lambasted him for frequently driving to the Kati barracks to see the coup leader, long after Sanogo was supposed to have handed power to civilians. In recent weeks though, Diarra had taken stances that sometimes conflicted with Sanogo.

The new prime minister, Cissoko, won favor with Sanogo by giving him equal standing with the interim president and prime minister during mediation efforts to resolve Mali's political crisis.

The military's meddling in state affairs has concerned the international community. Many worry that supporting the operation will simply further arm and embolden the very officers responsible for Mali's current state.

Radical Islamists were able to gain hold of northern Mali during the power vacuum that followed the March coup. Over the past eight months, they have implemented their strict version of Islamic law known as Shariah, carrying out public executions, amputations and whippings. Many worry that, under the Islamists' rule, northern Mali will become a base from where al-Qaida will be able to launch terror attacks on other countries, including into Europe.

A proposed military intervention to oust the Islamist rebels that would include Malian forces is still pending final approval from the United Nations.

___

Associated Press writer Kirubel Tadesse in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mali-gets-prime-minister-military-ouster-135233176.html

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HBT: Rangers don't get chance to match Hamilton offer

Josh Hamilton is leaving the Rangers to sign a five-year, $125 million deal with the Angels and it?s interesting to hear how Texas got the news.

First of all, Hamilton?s agent called Rangers general manager Jon Daniels during this afternoon?s media luncheon to tell him the former MVP was going to their AL West rivals.

According to Daniels the Rangers were not given an opportunity to match the offer and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram characterizes the GM as ?not pleased with how negotiations ended.?

On the other hand it apparently doesn?t come as a total shock to Daniels, who admitted that Hamilton hinted last week he perhaps wanted a new start somewhere else.

And of course it?s not even clear if the Rangers were interested in topping the Angels? offer, which is pretty damn huge for a soon-to-be 32-year-old with plenty of question marks attached on and off the field.

Hamilton?s departure obviously leaves a big hole in the Rangers? lineup, which was already righty dominant with Hamilton. It?ll be interesting to see if they make a run at switch-hitting Nick Swisher, who seems like the most natural fit to replace Hamilton among the unsigned free agents.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/13/josh-hamilton-leaves-texas-without-giving-rangers-chance-to-match-angels-offer/related/

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Instant View: Retail sales up, PPI down, jobless claims fall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retail sales rose in November in a sign that steady job creation is adding momentum to consumer spending in the fourth quarter.

Sales rose 0.3 percent, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an increase of 0.5 percent.

U.S. producer prices fell more than expected in November as the cost of energy tumbled the most in over three years, according to a government report on Thursday that showed little inflation pressures in the economy.

The Labor Department said its seasonally adjusted producer price index slipped 0.8 percent last month, the second straight decline.

November's drop in wholesale prices was the sharpest since May.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell for a fourth straight week last week, pointing to steady healing in the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's figure was revised to show 2,000 more applications than previously reported.

COMMENTS:

DAVID SLOAN, ECONOMIST, 4CAST LTD, NEW YORK:

"The main surprise is the fall in initial claims, which suggests the labor market might be improving a bit quicker than expected and that would mean the unemployment rate might new target a bit quicker than some people think. You have to cautious on one week's data. The seasonal adjustments are big this time of year and it seems like seasonal adjustments are a little more generous this year than they were ago. But we do have this hint that maybe November payrolls might have been a bit stronger than we saw without hurricane Sandy."

ROBBERT VAN BATENBURG, HEAD OF GLOBAL RESEARCH, LOUIS CAPITAL MARKETS, NEW YORK

"The PPI was mostly affected by food and energy. Initial claims were still affected by the recoil from Sandy, but the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will be watching them with renewed interest after his press conference. With retail sales, we were expected decent numbers after what we know of Black Friday. The public is really now responding to the fiscal cliff."

PETER JANKOVSKIS, CO-CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT OAKBROOK INVESTMENTS LLC IN LISLE, ILLINOIS.

"(The data) looked pretty strong to me, particularly the retail sales. Obviously people still have their eyes on the fiscal cliff negotiations, that is really the only thing I can point to as putting a damper. It seems no matter what we do during the day. We end up near zero at the end. That is kind of it - it's just a wait-and-see mode. But it does suggest to me, that if they actually do reach a deal, hopefully people will look back and see the predominance of good news and maybe we will get a nice pop out of it."

JOSEPH TREVISANI, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, WORLDWIDE MARKETS, WOODCLIFF LAKE, NEW JERSEY

"Consumers have recovered somewhat after October's drop in sales but the trend has been declining since last June. When the results are adjusted for inflation, these are not numbers that will bring the Fed's employment goals any closer."

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: U.S. stock index futures slightly rose DOLLAR: The dollar rose recovering from earlier falls BONDS: U.S. treasuries slightly extend price losses

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/instant-view-retail-sales-ppi-down-jobless-claims-140019027--business.html

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Custody trial to begin for 'Modern Family' star

By Anthony McCartney, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- A trial that will determine who raises "Modern Family" star Ariel Winter was scheduled to begin Wednesday, with her mother and adult sister involved in an increasingly bitter struggle for custody of the teenage actress.

Richard Shotwell / AP file

The actress' mother has been accused of physically and emotionally abusing the 14-year-old, which prompted a judge to temporarily strip her of custody in early October. An initial report by child protective services found evidence of emotional abuse but claims of physical abuse were deemed inconclusive, Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas said last month.

Chrisoula "Chrystal" Workman denies she has ever abused the actress. She claims her other daughter, Shanelle Gray, is not a fit guardian. She contends Ariel is a rebellious teen and should be returned to her home.

Levanas will hear testimony and consider multiple factors during the trial, which is expected to last several days and won't be fully resolved before the new year.

Ariel turns 15 in January, and Levanas will likely consider her views during the trial. She has not yet appeared in open court, although she was rushed to a Los Angeles courthouse from the "Modern Family" set in early October when Gray filed for an emergency guardianship.

Since then, she has been living with Gray, an actress who has appeared on "The Bold and the Beautiful" and operates acting studios with her husband. Gray's attorney has said she was subjected to similar abuse by her mother and that state authorities removed her from Workman's home when she was a teenager.

Ariel, who has been acting since age 7, plays Alex Dunphy on the ABC series, which is both popular and critically acclaimed.

Guardianship cases in California are public record. Gray's attorneys requested the case and its proceedings be sealed, but a judge refused. The case was filed under Ariel's birth name, Ariel Workman, in part to avoid attention.

Although The Associated Press does not generally name underage victims of abuse, Ariel's name is being used because it is included in the public guardianship case.

Workman has said she would undergo counseling and take other steps to regain custody of her daughter. Her attorneys have been given some details about Gray's finances to try to bolster their argument that she cannot adequately support Ariel.

Workman has claimed Gray wants to use Winter to foster her own acting career, but Gray's attorney Michael Kretzmer denies that.

"Shanelle is successful and has done very well in her own rights," Kretzmer said in an interview last month. "This is a tragedy for her, too."

Workman has filed more than two dozen declarations from friends, neighbors, stylists and others who say they have never seen her abuse her daughter in any way.

Kretzmer told a judge in October that people on the "Modern Family" set have expressed concerns about Workman's behavior and her daughter's wellbeing.

"A controlling mother does not mean she's unfit," her attorney, Anita Gumm, said at a hearing last month.

Another of Workman's attorneys, Nick Pacheco, filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against an actor who teaches at Gray's studio for allegedly calling his client "an abusive monster" in an online post.

Levanas will not handle that case, but will have to consider a proposal by Ariel's father to care for her.

Glenn Workman is estranged from his wife but states he would be willing to care for his daughter if Levanas approves. The judge initially rejected his request, citing inconsistent statements Glenn Workman made in court filings and to child protective services investigators.

Ariel's money isn't an issue in the case yet. Levanas has not granted Gray any control over the actress' earnings, a portion of which are automatically deposited into a special account meant to protect child actors.

She has several projects in the works and already has a lengthy resume of appearances on TV series such as "ER" and "Phineas and Ferb" and movies such as "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and "ParaNorman."

More in TODAY Entertainment:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/12/12/15867092-modern-family-star-ariel-winters-custody-trial-set-to-begin?lite

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