Blog - Page 9

The creation of a new federal holiday is rare, but one has just been created. President Joe Biden signed a bill on Thursday making June 19, also known as Juneteenth, a new federal holiday. This means that most federal employees will now have that day as a paid day off. Some corporations already gave workers …

When the pandemic hit, many people had already started putting in for summer vacations. All that ground to a halt pretty quick. Now that restrictions on air travel have started to lift, managers may have to deal with more summer vacation requests soon. SHRM has some useful advice for managers who may face a sudden …

State trends have been leaning toward marijuana legalization for some years now, but illegality at the federal level keeps many employers testing for the substance. Legalization proponents now have a huge new supporter according to SHRM. Amazon is dropping their marijuana screening except for jobs that are regulated by the Department of Transportation. Instead, use …

The federal government had granted enhanced unemployment benefits to workers in response to the pandemic, providing an extra $1200/month to the unemployed. Now nearly half the states are planning to end these benefits according to SHRM.org. Four states, Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and Missouri, will drop the benefits on June 12, the earliest possible date. The …

We’re finally seeing some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. The CDC keeps updating their guidelines on how we should protect ourselves, but how should employers respond? That was the topic of a recent SHRM article and webcast. The current approach has been a layered one, including distancing, mask requirements, hygiene, and airflow …

The House of Representatives has passed a pregnant workers protection bill today called the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. It passed 315-101. According to AuburnPub.com, the bill would require employers to provide reasonable accommodation for pregnant workers, and prevents employers from denying employment opportunities to women who need accommodation due to pregnancy or childbirth. U.S. Rep. …

A deadline that requires employees to notify workers about changes to COBRA rights is approaching at the end of the month. SHRM explains what needs to be done. The American Rescue Plan Act provides a six-month COBRA subsidy for those who lose health coverage due to an hours reduction or an involuntary termination. An Extended …

There have been stories of workers trying to earn a paycheck without doing work before, but we have not seen one quite like this! Personnel Today explains how a worker in Italy got paid without showing up for a shift in 15 years. The Ansa news agency reported that Salvatore Scumace was, on paper, a …

More companies are making plans to bring workers back to the office by the end of the year. Your human resources team can help smooth the transition back to office work by offering a few perks. The Ascent explains. The biggest change will be factoring in commute costs into our budgets again. We’ve had a …

There are more signs that the pandemic is subsiding enough that companies feel comfortable bringing employees back into the office. According to Marketplace, companies like Ford, Citigroup, Target, and Microsoft have started making plans to bring employees back, but it will not be the same as it was. These companies are, instead, moving to a …

Every employee has undergone tremendous sacrifices due to the coronavirus pandemic. Those of us who manage employees need to show our appreciation for them. It’s not just a kind thing to do. According to Forbes, businesses are relying heavily on employee loyalty to stay afloat during this time. Here are some suggestions they have made …

We’re all starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic, and businesses are thinking about how to adjust to the new normal. A major part of that normal is the explosion of remote work positions. According to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, there’s a new trend to add …

Companies are bracing themselves for a huge turnover rate once the pandemic lifts according to two studies as reported by SHRM. They estimate that more than half of employees in North America are planning to look for a new job in 2021 and a quarter of them may quit their jobs outright when once recruitment …

Words like ‘inclusion’ and ‘diversity’ are central to the vision and mission of many major companies in the US. But to simply use the words is one thing, while actually making a difference in the area of inclusion is a completely different matter. A new study shows that the training and initiatives many US firms …

A woman in California took her husband’s employer to court after both she and her husband tested positive for COVID-19. She believes her husband brought the novel coronavirus into their home after being subjected to an unsafe environment at work, according to this article from Fox Business. The attorney representing the company the husband works …

Human Resources departments in companies and organizations large and small have to deal with a constant flow of unique challenges. These may include periods of intense hiring when many workers are needed at the same time. At other times, the challenge is more internal, dealing with the needs and problems of the already-existing workforce within …

Spring is in the air already, or at least we’d like to think it is. Thinking about warmer weather, more sun, and possibility of traveling for the first time in a year because of the hoped-for, soon-to-come end of this pandemic makes a lot of people think about going to the beach. Speaking of going …

The Society For Human Resources Management reported recently on some important news for HR professionals working in the non-profit sector, noting that the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a final rule on January 19th to help tax-exempt organizations comply with Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), specifically …

As this Pandemic stretches on, office workers around the world are settling into the remote-work lifestyle, leading many to not want to go back to the traditional workplace. Many companies and organizations are thinking along the same lines as they try to figure out how many offices they’ll need and how many days per week …

When you think of dangerous jobs, you probably think of first responders, of firefighters charging into a burning building to save a life, or of police officers risking their lives to stop a criminal from harming others. You might think of someone in the military, or perhaps an airline pilot or construction worker. The more …

In many companies throughout the countries, employees that don’t speak English make us a non-trivial percentage of the workforce. For many parts of the U.S., these non-English-speaking employees are Spanish speakers, although, as refugees and immigrants enter the country and settle in various regions of the country, the number of speakers of other languages continues …

Jason Anderson was hired as a firefighter in the city of Everett, Washington in 2003. At the time of his hiring, he was among the first black men to serve in the city’s fire department. Anderson is now suing the city for allegedly discriminating and harassing him because of his race. According to this King …

As companies and corporations across the country, and around the world, worked to set up human resources regulations to become more inclusive, local governments also fight in the ongoing war against discrimination by passing laws and ordinances to make their regions more inclusive. According to this KSN report, that’s exactly what is happening in Pittsburg, …

Clare Mundell, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist working in Bangor, Maine. She started working at Northern Light Acadia Hospital in November 2017 for 50 dollars an hour. She had no reason to suspect at the time that her male colleagues were allegedly making nearly double that, at 90 and 95 dollars an hour, according to …

This last year has brought with it unseen challenges galore. Apart from the often-talked-about issues of health and social-distancing restrictions, the HR world faced another, much more unexpected issue as 2020 drew to a close: what to do with unused vacation time. In many companies, employees must “use it or lose it” when it comes …