by Race in the Workplace special correspondent Erica

Women’s Place: Urban Planning, Housing Design, and Work-Family Balance - Social Science Research Network
Katharine Baird Silbaugh examines the effect that the spaces we exist in have on work-life balance. She’s looking to fill in a gap in a body of literature that already illustrates “the role of work-family conflict in hampering women’s economic, social, and civil equality.” (via Workplace Prof Blog)

Dangers of Taking Legal Action Against Assholes - Work Matters
Bob Sutton comments on anti-bullying legislation being considered in several states intended to make it easier to prosecute workplace bullies, going above and beyond the standards that currently exist for proving race- and gender-based discrimination. Bob essentially says that if your work environment is that toxic, you, personally, are better off getting out of it because trying to successfully make a case will require you to continue to experience and subsequently relive the abuse.

Companies ramp up diversity like never before - USATODAY
Yet another story on globalization of the economy and companies’ efforts to build workforces that are reflective of the changes and effective in managing them. (via Work in Progress)

Weighty matters: the high cost of obesity in the workplace - Workers Comp Insider
“As if the link between obesity and adverse health effects weren’t substantial enough, three new studies add to the growing body of evidence that employers pay a steep cost for overweight employees.” One study indicates that obese workers incurred 13 times as many lost-work days as non-obese workers.

Great Facilitators - Management Craft
Lisa Haneberg disagrees with the notion that a great facilitator is blind to people’s differences or quirks. “I think a great facilitator is very aware of differences and quirks and modifies things to both accommodate individual needs and bring out everyone’s participation. When I work with a group, I like to model being open about differences so that the group can help each other feel connected and heard.” So many people these days say that they don’t see color, which is completely untrue. They ignore it. Can’t we all take Lisa’s approach?

Recommended Reading is a weekly feature where we link to some of our favorite workplace-related blog posts and articles. If you would like to suggest a link to Erica, please email tips@raceintheworkplace.com