Employee Benefits Blog

As an employer, it is crucial to consider the diverse needs and preferences of the workforce when designing a Paid Time Off (PTO) program.

We, therefore, thought it might be fitting on our newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, to delve into the topic of selecting holidays for your PTO program, aiming to find a balance that pleases the majority of your workforce.

While advocating for a well-rounded approach, we’ll also make sure to explore the potential challenges and implications that arise when trying to please everyone.  

Similar to Quiet Quitting, Bare Minimum Mondays is a trend entailing employees prioritizing their work-life balance and mental health by doing the least amount of work possible on Mondays in the hopes of avoiding burnout during the rest of the week.

The practice is generally in response to underlying issues, such as lack of engagement and stress. It's essential for employers to understand this trend so they know how to support employees' well-being and, in turn, reap the benefits of a healthy workforce.

Today we’ll explain Bare Minimum Mondays and the reasons behind what’s possibly driving this trend. We’ll also provide guidance on how employers can use this trend as an opportunity to understand and meet employee needs.

“Organizational culture” may be an overused phrase, but culture — and the employer-employee connection culture generates — has become part of recruiting, retention, and the assembling of the right benefits package to engender long-term loyalty.

How important are culture and connection within an organization? They definitely can make a major difference in candidate interest and employee satisfaction. Just consider the following;

• Mentioning culture in job postings increases engagement with the listing (67%).
• One-quarter of employees say they’ll leave an employer if they’re not happy with an organization’s culture.
• Nearly 15% of job seekers will decline a job offer because they don’t feel comfortable organization’s culture. 

By 2025, almost 23% of the U.S. workforce is expected to work fully remote, according to Upwork. That’s nearly double the percentage of people who were working remotely (full time) prior to the pandemic. 

While this prediction might be lower than some employers are expecting, (and some employees may be hoping for), any shift of this magnitude, or greater, will fundamentally change the way employers attract and retain talent.

With remote work quickly becoming one of the most desirable benefits an employer can offer in today’s tight labor market, employers are already discovering that they are competing for top candidates not only locally, but globally. 

For some highly desirable employers, this can be seen as a huge boon to their recruiting efforts. For other employers, especially those in less desirable industries, or those with poor reputations and/or employee benefit plans, this should be viewed as a tremendous concern.

Here are some unique qualities of strong remote workers and best practices for attracting and recruiting them. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is finally getting under control. As more Americans get vaccinated, states are gradually lifting restrictions, and life is returning to pre-pandemic normalcy. Finally, individuals can get to the tasks they’ve been postponing for more than a year.

Unfortunately for employers looking to retain employees, some employees are now ready to find new jobs.

Turnover is a common occurrence throughout any given year. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, year-over-year turnover trends drastically reduced. Workers instead clung to their jobs as a way to maintain financial security, having seen countless others get furloughed or laid off.

Now, as the economy opens back up, employers are pushing for employees to return to the workplace. But, a significant number of employees are unwilling to return to the status quo that was established pre-pandemic.

Given the tremendous challenges surrounding in-person gatherings, employers everywhere have been torn between hosting, postponing, or outright canceling their company holiday parties in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based outsourcing firm that conducts an annual survey of workplace holiday festivities, most employers are either canceling their parties altogether or are hosting them virtually this holiday season. 

Their annual survey found that only 23 percent of organizations plan to host a year-end celebration in 2020, down from 76 percent in 2019 - a decline of more than two thirds. And of companies who are planning on holding a holiday party, three out of four are doing so virtually.

Since the vast majority of companies who plan to celebrate are embracing virtual as the ideal way to save the day, here are some suggestions and ideas for your party planning committee to consider.

As of yesterday, Arizona’s new law legalizing recreational marijuana usage began its phased roll-out. Joining Arizona this year in passing less restrictive marijuana laws are Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota, all of whom legalized recreational marijuana, and Mississippi, who voted in favor of legalizing medical marijuana.

While all marijuana use remains illegal under federal law, the approval of recreational/medical marijuana use at the local level in these states impacts the drug use policies and procedures employers have in place for both applicants and employees. These include how employers can approach testing and disciplinary procedures.

These states are not, of course, the first to legalize marijuana. Eleven other states previously voted in favor of recreational marijuana laws, and 22 have passed medical marijuana legislation. It is therefore helpful to use the experiences of employers in these states as an example to follow.

In this post we will discuss federal and state marijuana legislation, employer and employee rights and responsibilities, specifics about the five states enacting new legislation, and steps employers can take now to be prepared as these new laws roll out.

Voter turnout in the 2018 election was the highest our country has seen for a midterm election in the last century. Despite this, voter turnout in the U.S. remains lower than in other developed countries. In fact, during the past century, U.S. voter participation has hovered within a 12-percentage point range, from just under 50% in 1924 when Calvin Coolidge won, to over 61.6% in 2008, when Barack Obama won the White House.

While many factors contributed to the record rate of participation in the 2018 midterms, one notable action was that hundreds of companies, including Gap, Patagonia, and Target, encouraged their employees to vote. (Some companies even launched voting programs directed towards their consumers.)

As we've addressed in other blog posts, this dynamic of politics in the workplace requires delicate handling. After all, taking a partisan approach to civic engagement can alienate both employees and customers in today's hyper-partisan environment.

Nevertheless, a Harvard Business Review study suggests a "sweet spot" for companies who want to support the vote: being pro-democracy and pro-voter, without being partisan. Furthermore, there's evidence that companies who support and encourage political engagement derive a multitude of benefits.

With fluctuating infection rates, predictions of a second wave, and conflicting official guidance, organizations need to adapt quickly if they want to survive, yet alone succeed in the midst of, and even after, the coronavirus pandemic subsides.

HR teams stand at the forefront of these efforts. For years, HR departments have been tasked with ushering in fundamental workplace changes, and this moment is no different.

While this list could be far longer, here are just five ways the coronavirus is reshaping HR and how departments can adapt to these new challenges.

Over half of U.S. workers will shop online while on the job this Cyber Monday. That's double the number of "work shoppers" from just a few years ago, according to recent research conducted by Robert Half Technology. 

Once an activity only those with desk jobs could get away with, experts point to the ease in which retailers have now made shopping from smartphones as one of the primary drivers of this dramatic increase in online shopping while at work. 

And while most workers will browse during their lunch breaks, a surprising number will shop all day long, with 44% admitting that their productivity suffers as they surf for the best deals.

Among 28 U.S. cities in the survey, Phoenix tops the list of cities with employees who admit to this hit in productivity, with San Diego and Austin following close behind.

So what can be done about this workplace productivity killer? In a nutshell, not much. Resistance is futile, as they say. In fact, in a separate survey also conducted by Robert Half, 77% of technology leaders said their firms allow "workshopping", but more than half of these same respondents (52%) indicated a preference for employees to not shop from work. (See infographic.)

So here are four ways that you, as an employer, can embrace Cyber Monday in ways designed to minimize workplace disruption and maintain employee productivity.