Cornell University

Celebrating Labor Day

American workers power the economy and provide essential goods and services to sustain our communities – even as the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the workplace, reignited worker activism and created unanticipated labor challenges. Explore how Cornell researchers are examining these changes and applying their insights to safeguard and support U.S. workers and families contending with rapid social and technological transformation.

Feature Story

The state of labor in a shifting workplace

ILR School researchers reflect on the biggest labor moments of the past year... and what to expect in the year ahead.

“While individuals around the world began working from home in order to ‘flatten the curve,’ many essential workers risked their lives to keep the health care system and other vital industries open for business.”

Few U.S. workers aware of COVID-19 paid sick leave

A College of Human Ecology study finds that fewer than half of U.S. workers are even aware of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides federally funded emergency paid sick leave due to COVID-19.

Study: ‘Codeswitching’ considered professional

Black employees who engage in racial codeswitching – adjusting behaviors for others’ comfort – are consistently perceived by both Black and white people as more professional than employees who don’t codeswitch, according to new ILR School research.

Minimum wage hike boosts customer experience

A Cornell-led research group found an improvement in the perceived service quality of restaurants where the minimum wage rose from $8 to $10 an hour, including reduced negative discussion of the courtesy and friendliness of workers.

Rejected internal applicants twice as likely to quit

But firms can reduce the likelihood that rejected employees will quit by making strategic decisions about job interviews, a new ILR study finds.

Uncertainty colors pandemic workplace decisions

Valerie Reyna, the Lois and Melvin Tukman Professor of Human Development and co-director of the Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research, recently answered questions about workplace risk.

“The symbolic aspects of wages matter.
People want to know how they stack up.”

- Diane Burton, academic director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at the ILR School, The Wall Street Journal

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