With swine flu in full swing, Wal-Mart's punitive sick leave policy is discouraging employees from calling in sick, lest they earn enough demerits to be fired, according to a report by the National Labor Committee.

Wal-Mart employees who miss one or more days due to sickness or other reasons, including caring for a sick child, earn a demerit point and lose eight hours of wages. Employees with more than three absences in a six-month period will be disciplined, and four demerits in six months leads to warnings that can lead to dismissal.

Through no fault of their own, the recession is giving people more reasons to worry.

Along with the constant worries of death and taxes, the recession is adding worry lines over keeping a job, finding a job, paying bills, affording necessities such as food and shelter, and other basic needs in the first two stages of Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs."

On this week's "Your Job Will Come" podcast, WalletPop's Aaron Crowe talks with branding and networking expert Thom Singer about how to network while you're company is undergoing layoffs, and how to network after losing a job.

Among the tips are staying positive, networking early and not saying anything bad about your company after a layoff.

For the 138 million Americans who still have jobs, the recession is changing the way they work.

Work furloughs are common, pay cuts are mandated to save jobs from being eliminated, four-day work weeks are gaining popularity, and companies are cutting benefits such as matching 401(k) contributions.

It's enough to make someone quit.

When the 15 million unemployed Americans do find jobs again, they'll return to a workplace that is likely to have grown accustomed to less pay for more work, or at least working less hours in a week. The raises that were once part of an annual employee review, if not entirely gone, will take years to get back to where they were before the recession.

Admitting to drinking on the job during a live television interview would typically be considered a bad career move.

Not for Sue Simmons, though. The WNBC-TV New York anchor recently appeared on a chirpy lifestyle show, LX New York, where she admitted that she used to have a drink or two before going on the air.

So why hasn't the anchor been shown the studio door? Those days of boozy dinners before the evening news hour happened more than 20 years ago, she says. And after such a late confession, Simmons, who has been at WNBC for 28 years, isn't likely to lose her job.

"That stopped in the mid-'80s, late '80s," Simmons said in the interview with Bravo executive-turned-night-show host Andy Cohen. "Because I looked in the mirror before -- when I was about ready to go on the air -- and my eyes were red."

The Sun Explosion Astronomy Club is giving free telescope keychains. All you have to do is fill out a short online form. No fee is required.

The free keychain is limited to one per household. Stock is limited and will only be available while supplies last.

In one of the great "Seinfeld" episodes of season nine, the character George Costanza has a wallet so filled with receipts, business cards and other things such as packets of Sweet'N Low that he sits on an incline when he puts it in his back pocket.

Eventually it all blows away onto a snowy and wet New York City street, leaving George to try to scurry after all of the little slips of paper that burst out of what he calls his "organizer, secretary and a friend."

If I were the folks at Shoeboxed.com I'd be doing all I could to get Jerry Seinfeld to allow commercial use of that scene in promoting its new free app for the iPhone or any cell phone with a camera.

Here's some of that "Seinfeld" episode, to refresh your memory:

Chances are you know someone who has lost their job since the recession started.

The number of unemployed people across America has almost doubled from 7.6 million to 15.1 million since the recession started in December 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the unemployment rate has doubled in that time to 9.8%.

Think of it: About one of every 10 people you know is unemployed. And the numbers are only going to get worse, according to the White House.

The national unemployment expected to climb above 10% by the middle of next year, according to an economic adviser to the Obama administration, and small job growth is expected through next year.

If you're looking for some free food on Halloween night between trick-or-treating stops for candy, then head over to your local Taco Bell.

Taco Bell is giving away free Black Jack Tacos on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6 p.m. to midnight.

The tacos are a crunchy black shell with beef, zesty pepper jack sauce, lettuce and a blend of cheeses inside.

An innocent cough at work is no longer so innocent.

As the swine flu death toll slowly rises, most Americans want co-workers with flu symptoms to stay home. And if you come into work anyway, most of your colleagues will rat you out to senior management, according to a recent survey.

The survey by Mansfield Communications found that 91% of Americans say they want their co-workers to remain at home if they are infected with the H1N1 flu virus.