MRA has posted their 2016 Training Programs Catalog on their website.  With more than 100 programs and 600 classroom and online sessions scheduled each year, you'll find specific training at times convenient for you. Professional certificates from MRA are designed to benefit your career and your organization.

MRA's 14 certificates include :

·       Administrative Professionals Certificate Series

·       Advanced Communication Series - The Art and Science of Excellence

·       Building Effective Teams Certificate Series

·       Customer Service Excellence Series

·       Employee Benefits Certificate Series

·       Essentials of HR Certificate Series

·       Frontline Leadership Certificate Series

·       HR Business Partner Certificate Series

·       Human Resource Professional Certificate Series

·       Leading Effective Teams Certificate Series

·       Principles of Leadership Excellence Certificate Series

On the MRA website (www.mranet.org/Training-Events), you can search by topic, location, date or format, or view our latest "flipping page" catalog. (http://www.mymranet.org/flippable/catalog/2016/WI_NI_II_catalog/index.html)

Not a member of MRA? Contact Kathy Riley, Member Relations Coordinator at 309.277.4186 or at Kathy.Riley@mranet.org to register or for more information on how to become a MRA member.

About MRA-The Management Association
Founded in 1901, MRA-The Management is a not-for-profit employer association that serves more than 4,000 employers throughout the Midwest, covering 800,000+ employees. As one of the largest employer associations in the nation, MRA helps its member organizations thrive by creating powerful teams and safe, successful workplaces. MRA conducts more than 2,000 learning events each year. Members of MRA also receive access to expert guidance, best practices, professionally facilitated roundtables, essential tools, and dozens of business services in the areas of human resources and training. MRA is headquartered in Waukesha, Wis., and has regional offices in Palatine, Ill.; Moline, Ill.; and Plymouth, Minn. To learn more and to become a member of MRA, visit www.mranet.org.

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- Strengthens Misconduct Provisions for Fraud, Abuse and Negligence -

-- Eliminates $470 Million Tax Increase & $300 Million Benefit Reduction -

--- Better Protects Social Security-eligible Workers ---

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Bruce Rauner announced today that his administration has reached an agreement with business groups and labor organizations to reform and improve Illinois' unemployment insurance system.

"We have a lot of work left to turn around Illinois, but today's agreement is a step towards making us more competitive so we can increase investment in the state and grow jobs," Governor Rauner said. "I want to thank the legislators involved in crafting this agreement and urge the legislature to swiftly pass legislation and send it to my desk."

"For more than 30 years, governors and legislative leaders have brought business and labor together to negotiate changes to Unemployment Insurance for the benefit all in the state of Illinois," Illinois AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Tim Drea said. "Because it is so vital to the economy and safety net for working families, Unemployment Insurance negotiations are always difficult, but all parties were committed to the process and an equitable agreement was achieved."

"On behalf of the employer community, we would like to thank our counterparts in labor, the Rauner Administration and the representatives of the four legislative caucuses who all played valuable roles in reaching this agreement," said Rob Karr, President & CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. "While the discussions were rigorous, they were always fair and ultimately productive."

Under the agreed framework an individual would be ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits following separation with an employer if a worker:

•                      Damaged an employer's property through grossly negligent conduct;

•                      Consumed alcohol, illegal or non-prescribed drugs during work hours in violation of an employer's policies;

•                      Provided false information in an employment application;

•                      Endangered the safety of himself/herself or co-workers through grossly negligent conduct;

•                      Knowingly and repeatedly violated reasonable written attendance policies of an employer;

•                      Refused to obey an employer's reasonable and lawful instructions unless the refusal is due to the lack of ability skills or training of the worker or if the instruction would result in an unsafe act; or

•                      Did not maintain required licenses, registrations and certifications required by law for the specific job.

Under current law, a worker could still be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits if any one of the above items occurred in the workplace.  For the first time ever, these common-sense reforms will be implemented, creating a more fair and stable unemployment insurance system.

Additionally, the framework allows recently separated workers who are eligible for Social Security to receive a full unemployment insurance benefit.  Under current law, 50 percent of the amount an older worker receives for Social Security is subtracted from the potential unemployment insurance benefit.  Illinois and Minnesota are the only two states in the nation to allow this practice.  This reform will return $25 million to Illinois seniors.

Governor Rauner had made strengthening misconduct and abuse provisions central components of his unemployment insurance reform proposal.

Today's news follows a number of recent announcements the Administration has made regarding its efforts to make government less expensive, more effective and more efficient.

Earlier today, the Rauner Administration announced a bi-partisan agreement to strengthen the Child Care Assistance Program. Last month, the Administration put forward a plan to save taxpayers more than $200 million by better utilizing the James R. Thompson Center property in Chicago as well as a breakthrough in the long-delayed 10th street rail project in Springfield.

Additionally, a labor agreement with the Teamsters Union has been ratified, and the administration has agreed to terms on new four-year collective bargaining agreements with the International Union of Operating Engineers, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry, and the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers.

The Administration has also detailed ongoing agency-led reforms that are saving taxpayers more than $100 million and improving customer service inside state government.

"Our Administration will continue to partner with anyone who shares our commitment to growing jobs in Illinois and delivering value for taxpayers," Governor Rauner said.

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Leaked Memos detail plan that would Circumvent Injunction against Administrative Amnesty

DHS Considering Granting Work Permits to Illegal and Unqualified Immigrants

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee members are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to explain internal documents revealing plans to grant work permits to foreign workers in the country - potentially including illegal immigrants - who have been sponsored for a Green Card by their employer.  Incredibly, the memos expressly state that a benefit of the new executive action would be to "authorize the presence of certain individuals who are not here lawfully and address the needs of some of the intended deferred action population," indicating that the proposal is calculated to evade a federal court injunction on such action.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and his colleagues on the committee are calling on the department to explain the origin and status of the internal memos.  They are also requesting that the department explain its reasoning for ignoring legal requirements governing work-related immigration petitions.

In February, the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued an injunction prohibiting the department from "implementing any and all aspects or phases" of its planned program to defer the deportation of approximately 4 million persons in the country unlawfully and to grant them work permits. The memos outline an agency proposal that would skirt the court order by granting work permits to any immigrants physically in the United States, regardless of their legal status, so long as they have been sponsored by an employer for a Green Card within the last year.

The memos also outline plans to change the immigration regulations in order to allow foreign workers to get a Green Card based on sponsorship by an employer, even if the sponsorship has been withdrawn.  Under current law, however, work-related Green Card petitions can be filed only by a U.S. employer that intends to employ the immigrant. The memos do not square that clear requirement with the Administration's proposal to let foreign workers get Green Cards when the employer no longer wishes to sponsor the worker.

Grassley's letter was also signed by senators David Vitter (R-La.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Full text of the senators' letter to Johnson