August 2010

Missouri Department of Labor Debuts New Weekly Podcast

The Missouri Labor Department has undertaken a new initiative to reach out to Missouri employers and employees by new and innovative methods. Many of these methods include utilizing new technology to communicate important information via less traditional methods. One of the newest undertakings is a weekly podcast.

A podcast is an audio or video file which can be downloaded and listened to or watched on a computer, mp3 player, cell phone, etc. They are often released on a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly), and are often built around themes.

The weekly podcast was first posted on July 15, a recap of the 2010 Mid-America Labor Management Conference. Every following week a new podcast, either audio or visual, has been posted. Topics include the federal extensions to unemployment benefits, questions about how to apply, and overtime and holiday pay in Missouri. Since its debut, a feature has been added allowing visitors to the Mo. Labor website to submit questions for this weekly podcast.

Many questions used in the podcast are directly submitted by viewers. As of Aug. 10, the video podcast alone has been viewed over 1,000 times. The web page featuring all of the podcasts has had more than 5,500 views.

To hear the weekly podcast, visit http://www.labor.mo.gov/News_Center/laborPodcasts.asp. To submit a question, go to http://www.labor.mo.gov/News_Center/laborTalkSubmit.asp.