According to the Associate Press - Pepsi Beverages Co. will pay $3.1 million to settle federal charges of race discrimination for using criminal background checks to screen out job applicants even if they weren't convicted of a crime.

Probably not unexpected, reinforcing the idea that screening should be job related; of course, from a company perspective, it certainly has downsides in terms of possible negligent hiring.

Today, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2 to 3 pm., at The University of Akron. The Center for the History of Psychology presents Anna Perlina for her talk titled 'Between Adaptation and Confrontation: Gestalt Psychology's Path From the Weimar Academic Culture to North America and the Case of Kurt Lewin.' Perlina will discuss the history of Gestalt psychology in Germany, focusing on how this tradition was shaped by the work of Kurt Lewin after his emigration to America in 1933. This event is free and open to the public.  The center is at College and Mill streets. For further information, contact Dorothy Gruich at ext. 7284 or gruich@uakron.edu.

The branding of a company is a hot topic; as is the branding of oneself as an applicant for jobs. A question is where does the brand come from. One answer, and I think a good one, is that the Organizational Brand is a reflection of how you treat your employees. That is, if you want to know how customers and applicants see your brand, ask employees what they think of the company. Conduct an attitude survey. Of course, customers and applicants may have different viewpoints, but your own employees are a good place to start.

For some similar reflections, see the following from Workforce.

On Critics of Testing,

I am sure that as soon as the first test was invented, by the Chinese according to the history of assessment, the first critic of testing was born. Criticisms of testing are nothing new. I would bet there have been a few test constructors burned at the stake and if we still had burning stakes there would be teacher unions calling for just that punishment for those who create standardized educational tests.