News - Friday, April 7, 2023

“Tuesdays, amirite?” “TGI … Thursday?” Behold the hottest trend in the post-COVID work world, the four-day workweek. Scroll through job-search websites such as Indeed or ZipRecruiter, and the listings are legion. “Join our four-day workweek revolution!” they exclaim. Some companies go so far as to include the benefit in the titles of their job postings.

X + Y = 40, unless it’s 32. There are at least as many different four-day work plans as there are days in the week, but two main models seem to be most popular:

• The compressed week, in which employees work four 10-hour shifts

• The reduced week, in which employees work just 32 hours but are expected to maintain the same level of productivity as if they were working a full 40.

Lisa Burke-Smalley, professor of management at UT-Chattanooga’s Gary W. Rollins College of Business, outlines four considerations for companies exploring a switch to a four-day workweek:

• “You have to clarify the meaning of what a four-day workweek is for your workforce and why you’re doing it. Because employees want to know why.

As the Hon. Jeff Hollingsworth stood behind a podium in the Hamilton County circuit courtroom where he once presided over cases in Tennessee’s 11th judicial district, he saw a standing-room only gathering of family members, friends and colleagues.

For two hours March 31, members of the Chattanooga Bar Association set aside the practice of law and gathered in the county commission room at the Hamilton County Courthouse to commemorate the members who died in 2022.

From landmark cases and extensive community service to creative endeavors and devotion to family, the presenters at the annual memorial service submitted resolutions that were rich with the details and the stories of the 12 lives they honored.

The Tennessee judiciary is mourning the loss of former Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice William “Mueke Barker, who died April 3, 2023, at the age of 81.

Barker was from Chattanooga and spent 25 years on the bench – 10 as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The law firm of Horton, Ballard & Pemerton has added attorney Megan England to the practice.

A cum laude graduate of Cumberland School of Law, England and brings 18-plus years of litigation to the firm.

She has extensive trial experience in the areas of personal injury, products liability, business litigation and family law.

When Realtor Ian O’Shea arrives at work, he parks outside the White Oak Building – a quaint blink-and-you’ll-miss-it edifice located on a 25 mph stretch through the heart of historic Ringgold, Georgia – and then steps into a small, trimly furnished space containing a cluster of offices.

It’s officially spring, which means the homebuying season is underway.

Although interest rates are higher than they’ve been during the past couple of years, an increase in housing inventory is allowing some folks to enter the market after watching from the sidelines. And if folks are looking to buy, it might be the right time to sell your house. One way of getting a jump on other properties is to hold an open house.

The popularity of multigenerational homes continues to grow, with more families choosing to live together under one roof. In fact, Pew Research Center reports the number of Americans living in a family household of three or more generations is about four times more than caps directory in the 1970s.

The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga has expanded its team with three new staff members and three promotions.

Greg Funderburg, a former morning and noon anchor for WTVC NewsChannel 9, will serve as director of marketing and stakeholder relations.

The Chattanooga City Council has adopted Mayor Tim Kelly’s Climate Action Plan, a growth strategy intended to protect Chattanoogans’ quality of life and increase national competitiveness amid changes to the climate and international economy.

The consensus prize for wrongheaded response in the wake of the killings at the Covenant School goes to Rep. Tim Burchett, but he wasn’t the only contender.

Burchett earned his dishonor with his much-noted comments about the likelihood of Congress addressing gun violence. He acknowledged “it’s a horrible, horrible situation,” but then went on: “And, we’re not going to fix it.”

During your working years, you generally know how much money you’re bringing in, so you can budget accordingly. But once you’re retired, it’s a different story. However, with some diligence, you can put together a “paycheck” that can help you meet your income needs.  

Good savers, beware. The money you’re stuffing into your 401(k) and other retirement accounts has to be withdrawn someday. If you’re not strategic about how you save, you could face unnecessarily high tax bills and inflated Medicare premiums in retirement – plus, you could be saddling your heirs with higher taxes.

With tax season in full swing, you might be consolidating the various charitable donation receipts, deductions and W-2 forms that you’ll submit to the Internal Revenue Service. But if you received any bank sign-up bonuses or earned interest on your bank balance, you may owe additional taxes you might not have planned for.

Although April Fools’ Day is over, this is no joke: We now have to wade through fake job postings. An increasing number of job seekers are noticing this trend that, unfortunately, has been around for quite some time.

A survey of more than 1,000 hiring managers conducted by Clarify Capital found 27% said they had job postings up for more than four months, the Wall Street Journal reveals. Of those, almost half were left up to give the impression that the company was doing well.

Extra-small luxury SUVs are a great way to cruise around in luxury without paying an excessive amount. As an example, check out the Mercedes-Benz GLB. It has been one of Edmunds’ top performers in its class since it was introduced in 2020. It sports distinctive boxy styling, excellent technology and a comfortable ride.