31 percent of people report symptoms of anxiety or depression.
13 percent report having started or increased substance use.
26 percent report stress-related symptoms.
11 percent report having serious thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days.
These grim numbers tell me that COVID-19 has created a national mental health crisis. At least some of your employees are struggling. Your challenge is what to do about it.
Here are four suggestions.
1. Check the benefits available to your employees. Do you have an employee assistance plan and are its mental health and counseling services are up to date? Are your health insurance plan’s mental health benefits easy to access and affordable? Do your employees know about state-offered resources, such as Ohio’s CareLine, a 24/7 community administered emotional support call service (800-720-9616)?
2. Revisit paid time off policies and consider providing employees the time they need to take care of themselves and their families. And understand that everyone’s situation at home is different. Some only have themselves to worry about, while others have families, older parents, etc. None of this is ideal, but for some, it’s less ideal than for others, depending on how much non-work responsibilities are on one’s plate.
3. Consider holding town halls or all-employee meetings that focus on mental health awareness. If senior leadership encourages education and communication around mental health issues, your employees will be more likely to access care if and when they need it. Leadership always starts from the top, and it’s vital that leadership leads on this issue.
4. Small gestures of kindness can go a long way. An extra day paid day off, a gift certificate for takeout meals or grocery deliveries or a surprise delivery of a mid-day snack can help employees feel appreciated and connected instead of overwhelmed and stressed.
Also, do not forget about or ignore your ADA obligations. The statute covers mental impairments no differently than physical impairments. If an employee is suffering from a mental illness you have an affirmative obligation to reasonably accommodate that employee, which might involve, for example, unpaid time off for the employee to obtain needed treatment.
Finally, do not ignore these issues or your employees who are living with them. Mental health illnesses are no different than other illnesses from which we suffer.
Treating them differently only increases the stigma that surrounds them and pushes individuals deeper into their illnesses and further away from the treatment they need.
Last week, the EEOC held a public meeting on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on civil rights in the workplace. Following up on the remarks at that meeting, EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling, speaking at a virtual summit held by the Institute for Workplace Equality, said that employers need guidance on whether their COVID-related decisions are legal, and that the EEOC should issue industry-specific guidance to clear up these ambiguities.
I stress that the commission must issue new, common-sense guidance on return-to-work and other timely issues. Moving forward, the EEOC must begin to issue industry-specific guidance to address the array of issues that are becoming prevalent as the pandemic enters its final stage. … It’s my belief that businesses must know they will not be penalized by the federal government or through litigation for taking bold steps to help their workers thrive amid COVID-19 and ultimately return to the workplace.
High on my list of topics that the EEOC must quickly address is the legality of vaccine incentives. Another issue that I’d love to see the agency address is whether certain industries (e.g., health care, education) can be more strict with vaccine requirements than others, even for employees who might otherwise require a legal exception.
With vaccine hesitancy a legitimate barrier to reaching herd immunity, we need rules that will permit employers to get as many individuals vaccinated as possible. We need to be breaking down barriers, not erecting them.
As the Biden administration begins its push to strengthen unions and encourage workers to organize, employers should know what this could mean for their workforce.
Biden in late April announced through an Executive Order the formation of a pro-union task force to examine existing policies and provide recommendations on how they can “promote worker organizing and collective bargaining in the federal government” and recommend what new policies should be created. It’s unlikely that employers will see any concrete action in the near future given that there’s a 180-day window for the task force to report back, said Gerry Golden, a labor relations attorney with Neal Gerber.
It’s no secret that union membership has suffered a drastic decline. Just10.8 percent of workers belonged to a union in 2020, compared to 20.1 percent in 1983. The numbers among private employers are bleaker.According to Gallup, over one-third of government employees (37 percent) belong to a union, versus just 6 percent of all private sector employees.
Four labor law experts —Gerry Golden of Neal Gerber;Aimee Delaney of Hinshaw Culbertson;Anthony George of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP; andAmy Gaylord of Akerman LLP — offered their thoughts on Biden’s union push and what it could mean for employers now and into the future.
Workforce: We saw a failure of unionization at the Amazon warehouse in Alabama. Is there still an appetite on the part of workers to unionize?
Gerry Golden: It’s very difficult to draw conclusions from one election or to extrapolate those results as indicating a general trend. From the union’s viewpoint, the Amazon employees were very dissatisfied over things like productivity pressures and inadequate measures to protect their health during the pandemic. While the union apparently had the support of at least half the employees when they filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board, only about half the employees ended up voting and of those who voted, the union lost 2-1. One could speculate that at the end of the day, support for the union was dispelled by Amazon’s arguments, the generally favorable wages and benefits Amazon employees are paid and perhaps by fear that if the union won, Amazon might reduce or even move the operation. Those are just possible reasons and without more it’s impossible to know why the union lost so badly.
Gerry Golden, attorney at Neal Gerber
Aimee Delaney: Certain industries and categories of workers will always be prone to unionizing. Usually wages are a strong driver for employee interest, so when you see the movements like “fight for $15” and similar campaigns, you can see segments of workers who most definitely have an appetite to unionize.
Anthony George: (The appetite to unionize is not) nearly as great as in past decades. Union members are now barely 6 percent of the private sector workforce in the U.S., and that number has been declining steadily for many years. Unions may score an occasional high-profile success now and then, but the overall pattern is steady decline.
Amy Gaylord: While the loss at Amazon was obviously a huge disappointment to unions looking to make inroads into organizing some of the retail giants, I believe that this administration’s emphasis on union organizing, including this task force and its endorsement of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, will reinvigorate workers and unions and lead to increased organizing efforts not just in sectors where we have traditionally seen unionization but in areas, such as the tech industry, where unionization efforts have been fairly rare up to this point.
Workforce: What sectors could see a push in unionization? Are Sun Belt states ripe for unionization pushes given the newly released population shifts?
Golden:Sun Belt states are unlikely to see significant shifts toward unionization in the foreseeable future. They are mostly states with low union representation now, many are right to work states, which makes it more challenging for unions to organize and politically and culturally they aren’t environments in which unions have support. As to sectors that might see greater organizing activity, I think it will continue to be in poorly paid jobs such as health care, warehousing and transportation. Keep in mind, many workers in the gig economy are likely open to unionization but they have many legal hurdles to overcome. So organizing among those groups won’t happen until some legal issues are changed or clarified.
Aimee Delaney, attorney at Hinshaw Culbertson
Delaney:The South has generally been a region that is not ripe for significant labor movement. It is not impossible to think that if population trends were significant enough, that this could begin to chip away at the unfriendly climate. However, more likely trends would be based on the industry and job sectors. Sectors whose wage rate is tied closely to the minimum wage could see an increased push for unionization as those efforts to increase minimum wage continue. There are also stories popping up in sectors that have traditionally been less susceptible to unionizing, (i.e., the tech sector and professional services).
George:All aspects of the gig economy are at risk of unionization as federal, state and local governments attempt to force Uber drivers, independent web designers and other individual entrepreneurs into the “employee” mold.
Sun Belt states are also at risk as people migrate away from blue states into the red states of the Sun Belt. But even with those dynamics, I don’t see labor unions reversing their decades-long decline into oblivion — at least in the private sector.
Gaylord:I think we are going to see increased unionization in new areas such as tech that have not traditionally been organized. I think cannabis is another industry where we will continue to see growth in union organizing efforts, as well as gig economy workers such as ridesharing and grocery delivery services like Instacart. Many of these workers were on the frontlines of the pandemic and may be seeking to enhance their safety as well as their job security and compensation. As to the Sun Belt, we just saw a nurses’ union win a historic election at a hospital in North Carolina. It was the first nurses’ union win in North Carolina and I believe the largest hospital union win in the South since 1975. I think that win can be directly tied to the issues I just mentioned — being on the frontlines of the pandemic and seeking enhanced safety measures and better working conditions. North Carolina has the second lowest percentage of union-represented workers in the country, just under 3.5 percent. Only South Carolina is lower. I think this union win is a portent of things to come and, while I have my doubts about the PRO Act ever making it past the Senate, I think that abolishing right to work laws in places like the Sun Belt will continue to be a primary objective of the Biden administration.
Workforce: Could the Biden task force have an effect on pay scales, or employers voluntarily increasing the minimum wage to avoid a union push?
Golden: Employers generally only adjust pay scales in response to market forces or, in some cases, in response to the threat of unionization. Interestingly, following its election victory, Amazon has already announced improvements. It’s hard to imagine how the Biden task force and the administration could have an impact on wages outside of its ability to mandate changes applicable to federal contractors.
Delaney: Because the task force appears to be focused on the federal sector, I think that is unlikely. The task force itself would not have any ability to directly affect pay scales. However, I do think the proactive efforts you are seeing from, for example, big box retailers and some fast food chains to increase their hourly wage rates is done with an eye toward heading off unionizing efforts, among other reasons prompting the increases.
Anthony George of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
George:Yes. Both to avoid a union organizing effort and to attract and retain good workers who might otherwise be lured away by the higher wages available (by government mandate) from federal contractors.
Gaylord:I think that employers who want to remain union free would be wise to make sure they are paying competitive wages and benefits so that their employees will feel that a union is unnecessary. I believe that is one reason Amazon was able to prevail in Alabama. They were already paying extremely competitive wages and benefits. We have heard unions and this administration talk a lot about a $15 minimum wage. Most of the warehouse workers at the Amazon facility in Alabama were already earning $15 an hour or more. So, Amazon workers did not believe that a union was necessary and voted against union representation.
Workforce: What should employers do to remain compliant with current labor laws?
Golden: All employers should bear in mind that the National Labor Relations Act applies to virtually all employers regardless of whether their employees are represented by a union. As a result, all employers should be familiar with the protections the NLRA provides their employees including their right to obtain union representation and how that may occur.
Delaney: It is important for employers to understand the rights and obligations imposed by the National Labor Relations Act. Non-union employers often don’t realize that their employees have rights under the NLRA and that they can be subject to unfair labor practice charges, even though their workforce is not unionized. If an employer is faced with an organizing campaign, it is critical for the employer to understand what it can and cannot do in its campaign efforts and for the election. This is also a reason that it is important for employers to be aware of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and potential changes this bill could bring if passed.
George: Pay attention, stay current, and speak with a labor lawyer. A president can do only so much by Executive Order, but both the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor can and will make life easier for labor unions and harder for employers over the next few years. Changes are coming. Don’t get caught flat-footed.
Gaylord:Audit their existing policies now. Make sure they have the assistance of competent labor and employment counsel, whether internal or external. Things are going to be changing quickly and employers need to make sure they are being kept up to date on the latest developments.
Workforce: Do you see any long-term ramifications from this action? In your crystal ball, what does the labor movement look like in 2024-25?
Golden: Today’s workforce is changing rapidly due to technology and things like AI and robotics. More and more employees are comfortable confronting their employer over workplace issues. The future success of unions will depend on their ability to develop messages that address these issues, connect with diverse workforces and convince employees that a union can have a positive impact on their work lives.
Delaney: It’s safe to say that we will see a shift toward pro-labor policy under the current administration. I think the biggest issue that should be on the radar of private employers at this time is the proposed Protecting the Right to Organize Act. There are significant changes proposed by this bill that upend decades of precedent and practice in favor of tilting the scales toward organized labor. This will impact union and non-union employers alike as it impacts, for example, the actions an employer can take if faced with an organizing campaign.
Amy Gaylord of Akerman LLP
George: Long-term, no. Among other things, anything Biden does by Executive Order will simply be reversed by Executive Order when the next Republican president takes office. I think the private-sector labor movement in 2025 will look very much like the labor movement in 2020 — and 2015 and 2010. Slowly but inexorably dying.
Gaylord:This task force is one way that Biden hopes to deliver on his promise to be most pro-union president this country has ever seen. I think over the next few years we will see labor law shaped in a way that is more union and employee friendly, making it easier for unions to organize workers, sometimes without the protections of an NLRB conducted election, and extending the coverage of the National Labor Relations Act to more workers than ever before such as individuals that have previously been considered independent contractors or supervisors.
Book your demo today to see how you will avoid costly penalties and ensure simplified and automated compliance to federal, state, and local labor regulations through Workforce.com’s powerful compliance platform.
Cristian Grossman may be a newly minted author with the recent release of his first book, “The Rise of the Frontline Worker: How to Turn Your Frontline Workforce Into Your Biggest Competitive Advantage.”
But the co-founder and CEO ofBeekeeper, a mobile collaboration platform, also has toiled as a frontline worker. A former waiter, factory worker and chemical engineer, Grossmann meshes his time in the trenches with his entrepreneurial savvy to argue that technology is imperative to making frontline workers more effective employees.
From health care to manufacturing to retail employees, Grossmann deftly addresses the importance of frontline workers. Since the pandemic began, millions of North America’s frontline workers found themselves in the spotlight for the first time, with appreciation initiatives in almost every city. Despite the recognition, Grossmann argues that the reality is many frontline workers don’t have the support and tools they need to do their jobs.
Workforce caught up with Grossmann for an in-depth Q&A in the days leading up to his company’s “Frontline Future” virtual conference on May 6.
Workforce: Define a frontline worker.
Cristian Grossmann: Frontline workers are employees who do not sit at desks or work at computers. Their jobs are most often mobile, like sales associates, first responders, construction workers and restaurant servers. As their name implies, they are on the frontlines of their company, either in a customer-facing role or a hands-on role, like a production worker in a manufacturing facility.
What many people don’t realize is that frontline workers actually make up the vast majority of the world’s workforce. In the United States alone there are approximately50 million frontline workers. Worldwide there are about2.7 billion frontline workers, which is 80 percent of the world’s workforce.
Workforce: So, the book title — “The Rise of the Frontline Worker” — are you saying these employees have been overlooked and now employers are coming to understand how valuable they are?
Cristian Grossmann, author of “The Rise of the Frontline Worker”
Grossmann: Early into the pandemic, frontline workers were thrust into the public spotlight. Beneath their masks, they put on a brave face and continued providing the services that society needs to sustain itself and its people. Now, frontline workers are appropriately recognized as essential workers, because they are vital to our economy. In fact, according to the Department of Homeland Security, essential workers are now officially recognized as part of our critical infrastructure operations.
When office employees transitioned to remote work, many frontline teams continued to work onsite throughout the duration of the pandemic. Without these essential workers, many companies and industries would not have been able to operate. Hospitals are filled with frontline workers, as are grocery stores, manufacturing facilities and delivery services. These are the workers that society relies on most and the pandemic highlighted just how important they are.
When it comes to workplace technology, frontline workers have been underserved for a long time. Companies typically spend most of their IT budget on desk workers while frontline employees often rely on outdated, inefficient communication channels. Paycheck stuffers, break room bulletin boards and word of mouth are just a few examples of outdated communication channels many companies still use to reach their frontline employees.
Now, with the rise of the frontline worker in the public spotlight and advances in mobile collaboration technology, business leaders are stepping up and investing more into productivity and collaboration technology that will reach and connect their frontline teams.
Workforce: It seems like an overarching theme is, by enhancing frontline workers’ access to technology, employers can gain a competitive advantage. Is that accurate?
Grossmann: I believe that digitally empowering frontline employees will be one of the single most important competitive advantages for businesses in the new post-pandemic normal. A high-performing workforce can only be cultivated when every worker is included and digitally enabled. If a company is only connecting with a small portion of their workforce and not including their frontline teams, they’re missing out on a huge opportunity to improve the safety, agility and overall productivity of their business.
Access to cutting-edge workplace technology creates a frontline workforce that is more productive, collaborative and ultimately happier. A connected workforce experiences fewer on-the-job accidents, sees higher retention rates, and is more innovative. All of these factors ultimately improve the customer experience and the bottom line of the business.
Let’s consider the hotel industry. Almost every guest interaction customers have occurs with frontline workers — they are the de facto brand ambassadors of the business. The happier these employees are and the more empowered they are to do their jobs with the right collaboration tools and access to information, the better guest experience they will create.
When companies digitize their frontline workers they are boosting productivity, safety and agility of their workforce, which fuels their competitive advantage.
Workforce: How can digitalization bring out the best in frontline workers?
Grossmann: When companies invest in their employees, it helps build a more engaged, committed workforce and lays the groundwork for a more collaborative, productive company culture.
This cultural transformation brought about through digitalization happens for a few reasons. First, simply connecting with workers and getting their input and feedback not only dramatically improves morale, but it also makes their jobs easier. The average frontline worker spends three hours each week just searching for information they need to do their jobs.
With a mobile collaboration and productivity tool, they have all the information they need at their fingertips. It streamlines operations by making their day-to-day tasks and work lives easier. They become more productive and more engaged. According toGallup, a connected workforce leads to a 17 percent boost in productivity, 21 percent profitability increase and a 40 percent decrease in turnover.
And on a human level, just connecting workers to the company and to each other, creating space for team members to build social connections at work goes a long way in driving engagement and boosting morale.
Workforce: Talk about the technology divide that you’ve seen between desk-based workers and frontline workers.
Grossmann: Historically, companies have invested most of their technology budget in desk-based workers while not really knowing how to connect with the frontline. It’s created a digital divide within the workplace. While desk workers have access to IT systems, email, telephones and much more, frontline workers lack the digital identity that desk-based workers are used to. It favors one group by giving them a voice while frontline workers are left without a way to contribute and connect.
Companies often resort to adapting an existing platform in their tech stack designed for desk-based workers for their frontline teams. But frontline workers have their own set of unique needs that often require different technology solutions.
Workforce: Many organizations with hourly employees still use manual, paper-based processes like scheduling and onboarding. Why should they digitize?
Grossmann: COVID-19 has accelerated the need for unified productivity and collaboration tools and the process of digitization that comes with them. If there was ever a moment to invest in frontline worker enablement, this is it. Companies are realizing just how much more efficient they are when they digitalize workflows and empower their teams with mobile technology.
First, paper-based processes are inefficient and are more likely to lead to miscommunication, which costs small companies about$460,000 a year. What’s more, completing this paperwork is repetitive and time consuming for staff. Automating routine tasks can free up employees’ time to spend on value-add tasks.
For example, if HR used a digital platform to automate the onboarding process and digitize employee paperwork, they could then spend more time on high level initiatives like recruitment and retention. This is also true of shift management. With a digital tool,creating schedules and communicating changes with employees is streamlined through one hub.
Grossmann: At Beekeeper, we have actually seen HR departments initiate the digital transformation journey in their own organizations. However, no matter who gets the ball rolling, it’s critical that top leadership supports and invests in digital transformation to set the tone for the project. If the CEO is passionate about progress, then frontline workers will follow their lead and support it, too.
From automating the onboarding process to digitizing payroll, HR teams can dramatically benefit from productivity tools, too. We have one customer, a casino with over 600 workers, that saved nearly $100,000 by digitizing paper-based processes, including HR forms that once had to be filled out manually.
Workforce: So, I am a manager. We’ve just digitized our employee communications through a smartphone app. And I see my employee on the floor checking their phone instead of restocking the yogurt and sour cream. How should I react?
Grossmann: I realize that letting employees use their phones at work can be a sensitive subject. Objections such as: they’re too distracting; they negatively affect productivity; they just simply “don’t belong” at work. I get it. It can be tempting to throw your hands up and banish the use of cell phones at work once and for all.
But the truth is that a “no tolerance” take on cell phone policies may not be the best solution, except for highly sterile procedures or risky production processes. In the modern day workplace, cell phones are a needed resource to facilitate internal collaboration, especially for employees who don’t have computer access or a company email account and allow them to better serve customers
I believe that the benefits of allowing employees to use phones at work greatly outweigh the risks if implemented properly. The key to successfully allowing cell phones in the workplace lies in creating a clear BYOD policy and making sure everyone understands what’s expected of them. Proactively addressing the key concerns is the first step to creating a solution that fits your company’s needs. Don’t let fear of change cause your organization to miss out on all the advantages of mobile communication in the workplace.
Workforce: You make a really interesting point about employees taking communications into their own hands by using commercial products like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger for workplace communications. Why is that wrong?
Grossmann: Aside from security concerns, another problem with using WhatsApp for workplace communication is that it can sometimes create more confusion and chaos for workers. Juggling multiple group chats, no user management, and unprofessional user names make managing business communication through WhatsApp very difficult.
All this confusion ultimately leads to unclear, disjointed and disconnected workplace communication. In the end, WhatsApp can hurt productivity more than it helps. If managers are spending 15 minutes of each shift trying to figure out which group chat the closing checklist was sent to, then it pretty much defeats the purpose.
Don’t get me wrong. WhatsApp is fine for social communication. But when it comes to business, workers need a robust, collaborative platform with features and capabilities (like integrations) that streamline workflows and communication and enable them to be more productive.
I like to compare social media apps to the Wild West: they’re unregulated, out of control, and carry potential security consequences for a business. Companies have no control over consumer-grade communication apps.
Workforce: Communicating with your employees through an app is all well and good. But with an hourly workforce, aren’t you treading on potential wage and hour or overtime violations if they are “on” 24/7?
Having access to employees around the clock does not mean they should be accessible and available to the company 24/7. With Beekeeper, employees can set the app to the “Do Not Disturb” mode that can also be linked to their shifts automatically and mute push notifications outside of work hours. This respects the free time of off-duty frontline workers and also reduces a company’s legal risks around wage and hour labor laws that can arise when contacting employees when they’re not working.
Fair play rules are also essential when it comes to integrating workplace technology. Employees must understand that they may only use employer-provided communication technology, such as an app, during work hours.
Workforce: While we’re on that subject, talk about avoiding potential compliance violations when you digitalize employee communications.
Grossmann: On top of labor laws and data security, each industry has regulatory agencies who have specific standards and rules for companies. For example, manufacturing and construction must comply with OSHA. Health departments and the FDA have rigorous laws that govern the restaurant industry. It’s a lot for companies to keep track of and a workplace platform can help make sure theystay compliant on all levels.
Another topic that must be considered when discussing employee communications compliance is privacy and how data is treated. GDPR, CCPA, and other regulations have clear guidelines on how personal data of employees must be handled. It’s crucial to have the proper certified systems in place to address this.
Workforce: You are the CEO of Beekeeper, but you’ve also spent considerable time as a frontline worker. Talk about your experiences, and how that helps you shape your company’s mission and goals.
Grossmann: Before I got into technology, I was actually a frontline worker myself. I was a factory worker, a waiter, and a chemical engineer. I started very early on learning how frontline industries work as one of my grandfathers worked in a copper factory and the other one in a paint production factory. Also, my father worked with a team of electricians and blacksmiths to produce and automate garage doors in Mexico City. I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with them learning how those businesses worked, and especially how crucial it was to have clear and simple systems in place — at that time many of their processes were all paper based! I draw on that perspective and experience to inform the ways we have been and continue to evolve and improve Beekeeper to support more frontline workers.
We serve some of the largest frontline-powered companies in the world and I also rely on what our customers want and need in a mobile productivity platform. We’re honored that companies rely on Beekeeper to support and connect their frontline workers.
From “happy birthday” to “have you clocked out?”share key updates, celebrate milestones and make everyone feel part of the team through Workforce Chat. Sign up for your demo today.
Companies can spend millions of dollars on campaigns promoting their brand each year. But aside from building connections with potential customers and nurturing relationships with existing ones, there’s another side of branding that businesses need to pay attention to — employee engagement and perception.
Kay Phelps, director of British workplace communications companyPR in HR, discussed the impact of employee engagement on a company’s brand and why authenticity is especially essential these days for elevating brand perceptions.
Good branding comes from within
When employees find purpose in their roles and feel valued, they can be a company’s greatest brand promoter. But if they are not heard or treated well, what they have to say can be detrimental to your brand image.
“Employees who are engaged are likely to spread positive thoughts around your brand — be it through word of mouth or social media,” Phelps said. Engaged employees are also likely to interact with their company’s social media pages, therefore boosting the reach and engagement of the brand via digital channels.
Kay Phelps, director, PR in HR.
Leaders also need to recognize that there are online platforms where employees can air out their experiences with the company, whether positive or negative. “Combine this with the potential for posts on social media, not only should employers be motivated to treat staff well for their wellbeing, but to protect their image too,” Phelps added.
According to a Glassdoor survey, 86 percent of employees and job seekers research company reviews and ratings to decide on where to apply for a job. Further, a negative reputation can cost a company as much as 10 percent more per hire.
Bad employee reviews not only hurt the perception of potential hires but can also discourage customers from doing business with a company.
“If staff feel that their employers genuinely support them and take their views into account, they’ll be more likely to go to them first with any problems instead of heading online to air their opinions,” said Phelps.
Customers are paying more attention to how brands are living up to their core values and treating their people. A Stackla report said that 86 percent of consumers say that authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support.
“After last year, people want to see that brands care about their people and their customers — not least in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion, wellbeing and health and safety,” Phelps said.
Phelps sees this as a huge opportunity for companies to be talking about their successful programs that promote employee welfare. However, she cautions about the dangers of claiming to have such initiatives without clear actions, “Companies should take action before talking about it in their comms. Your messaging can’t be ingenuine. It must reflect real action and support in these areas. Fail to do this and you’re likely to be called out by onlookers or your employees,” Phelps explained.
“Part of understanding why people want to associate with your brand is being able to recognize their struggles and when you do this, you can create targeted messaging that addresses pain points and provides solutions,” Phelps said of boosting brand awareness, and the same principle can also be applied to creating a better working environment for your employees.
According to Glassdoor, employee voice is three times more credible than the CEO when it comes to talking about working conditions in the company.
Phelps says that a reason for poor brand awareness is unclear messaging. Just like customers, employees tend to be disengaged when expectations for their role are unclear. When not addressed this leads to confusion and conflict, resulting in poor performance and worse, a bad company review.
The second reason is assuming knowledge on the part of the target audience. “Companies need to be able to get their messages across to the ordinary person in a clear and simple way. If a person is confused, they’ll simply turn off,” Phelps explained.
Just with managing the workforce, managers should not assume that their employees know it all. They need to lay out all essential information for their people to do their jobs well. Open lines of communication are a must for fostering a culture of trust in the workforce. Employees need to feel a certain sense of safety that allows them to raise questions and concerns without fear of being shut down.
Companies should prioritize enabling their employees to perform at their best. This means providing them with the right tools and platforms that will allow them to be more efficient. Tools that enable them to collaborate, make data-driven decisions, and just generally make admin work easier are essential to keeping them engaged.
What employees have to say about a company is just as crucial to what customers think about the brand — sometimes, even more. Employee engagement can resonate outside the organization and can either make or break your business. Given today’s business landscape, taking care of your employees is essentially protecting your brand image and bottom line.
On April 27, the White House announced that effective Jan. 30, 2022, all federal contractors will be required to incorporate a $15 minimum wage in new contract solicitations, and by March 30, 2022, all federal agencies will need to implement the minimum wage into new contracts and into existing contracts with annual options to renew.
The Executive Order that implements these changes will also tie this new minimum wage to inflation and adjust accordingly annually, eliminate the tipped minimum wage for federal contractors by 2024, and extends the required $15 minimum wage to federal contract workers with disabilities.
“But Jon,” you ask, “I’m not a federal contractor; why should I care?”
You should care because this Executive Order will move the minimum wage needle. Other companies will have to begin voluntarily offering a $15 minimum wage to compete in the job market for new hires. As a result, eventually and over time a $15 minimum wage will spread to all employers nationwide. If Congress won’t act on this issue, President Biden will force employers to act on their own.
McDonald’s has lots of secrets. What’s in its sauce? What part of the chicken do the McNuggets come from? How come every time I crave a cone the soft-serve machine is out of order? Why do their soft drinks taste better than anyone else’s?
Something that’s not a secret, however, is that McDonald’s has a serious sexual harassment problem.
From CBS News:
Young women from across the country with remarkably similar accounts of workplace abuse and harassment at one of America’s largest, most iconic fast-food restaurant chains: McDonald’s: ”
“He would make comments on my body, and other workers’ bodies, saying, like, ‘I would have sex with you, I wouldn’t have sex with her,'” said Emily Anibal.
“First he was like, ‘You have nice hair,’ started touching my hair,” said Jamelia Fairley. “Then he was like, physical; then he actually started grabbing my butt.”
Kat Barber said, “Any woman that he could get his hands on or be near, he was taking advantage of that moment.”
Kimberly Lawson said, “It kind of made me feel isolated. I thought I was the only one this is happening to right now, you know what I’m saying? So, I just felt, like, completely alone.”
Lawson, Fairley, Barber and Anibal have all either filed discrimination charges or filed suit against McDonald’s corporate restaurants or their independently-owned franchises. Each tells a story of persistent and unwanted harassment from male co-workers.
In response, CEO Chris Kempczinski said the following:
Let me say plainly: every single person working under the Arches must have a safe and respectful work environment. Sexual harassment in the workplace is an affront to everything we stand for as a System. It has no place in any McDonald’s restaurant, and it will not be tolerated.
If, as Kempczinski added, McDonald’s takes “these allegations very seriously,” and “must acknowledge our mistakes and make them right,” why then is the company waiting until next year to mandate a new anti-harassment program?
Per ABC News, beginning January 2022 the company will mandate new employee training to combat harassment, discrimination, and violence in all 39,000 of its restaurants worldwide. According to Kempczinski, the details are still being worked out, but he expects training at the time of hire plus annual training for all employees.
While this is all makes sense, why does it take nine months to implement this training? McDonald’s has a serious problem that it needs to solve, and all waiting until next year won’t solve anything. McDonald’s is not some rinky-dink company.
It’s a $5 billion corporation with more than enough resources to fund a quick and thorough solution to this problem. A nine-month wait is simply not acceptable, especially considering this training is something it should already have in place and should have been providing to its employees for decades.
Nearly 40 percent of Americans struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense, according to a 2019 report by the Federal Reserve.
Earned wage access products, or EWAPs, offer a potential solution to this problem by allowing employees to be paid in real time for the hours the employee has already worked, instead of waiting until payday to receive payment. Each EWAP employs a different system for advancing earned wages and recouping those amounts from the employer.
The majority of EWAPs require employees to download an application on their phone, through which employees can request an advance on their earned wages. The advance on the employee’s paycheck is typically paid to the employee by depositing the funds into an account or loading it onto a payroll card. This advance is then deducted from the employee’s next paycheck, along with any applicable fees.
Explaining the EWAP models
There are two distinct EWAP models: employer-sponsored and direct-to-consumer. In an employer-sponsored model, the employer directly contracts with the EWAP application provider and the EWAP application is integrated into the employer’s payroll systems. Examples of employer-sponsored EWAP applications include Instant, DailyPay and Earnin. In the direct-to-consumer model, the EWAP provider offers services directly to the employee and recoups advanced funds directly from the employee’s bank accounts after the employee gets paid.
EWAPs provide employees with greater flexibility to use their paychecks in a manner that fits their financial needs. Employees can meet unexpected expenses without resorting to overdrafts, high interest credit cards or payday loans.
By offering EWAPs as part of their benefit packages employers can help curb employee financial stress, which can lower employee absenteeism and potentially increase employee productivity and employee retention. Companies including Walmart and McDonald’s offer EWAP options to its employees.
State, federal oversight of EWAPs
Due to the nascency of EWAPs, there is little regulation at either the state or federal levels. Regardless, employers considering EWAPs as part of their benefit packages must carefully evaluate whether the EWAP implicates wage laws that an employer must comply with.
For instance, employers considering EWAPs that deposit an employee’s earned wages into an account set up by the EWAP provider could run afoul of state direct deposit laws.
Most states, such as New York and California, only permit employers to pay wages by direct deposit with the written consent of the employee. Employee authorizations allowing direct deposits of wages into an employee’s bank account may not extend to the deposit of funds into a separate EWAP provider created account. Accordingly, employers should consider obtaining additional written authorizations from employees to deposit their earned wages into an EWAP account to ensure compliance with applicable direct deposit laws.
Potential for additional fees
As an alternative to direct deposit, employers also have the option to utilize EWAPs that deposit an employee’s earned wages onto payroll cards. Employers should be wary of any transaction or loading fees imposed on an employee by the EWAP provider or the third-party payroll card issuer. This is because many states, such as California, require employees paid via a payroll card to have access to their full wages without any fees. In other states, such as Minnesota, while employers are prohibited from charging an employee any participation or loading fees to receive wages, EWAP providers may charge employees transaction fees to access their earned wages. In such circumstances, the employer should provide the employee with a written disclosure upfront stating the terms and conditions of the payroll card option, including a complete itemized list of all fees that may be deducted from the employee’s payroll card account. Alternatively, in order to avoid this potential issue altogether, employers should consider paying all such fees instead of the employee, if possible.
Most EWAP providers charge a monthly membership fee ranging from $5 to $8 a month or a per transaction fee ranging from $1.99 to $3.99 per transfer, which are either paid by the employer or the employee. These fees are typically deducted from an employee’s paycheck, along with the advanced wages. Generally, an employer may not deduct or withhold any part of an employee’s wages without employee authorization. Albeit nominal, membership and transaction fees may be considered as wage deductions. As a result, employers should consider paying any such fees on behalf of its employees, or obtain written authorization from its employees allowing EWAP providers to directly charge the employee any fees, in order to comply with wage deduction requirements.
Wage assignment laws
Moreover, EWAPs that require employers to transfer an employee’s earned wages into an account set up by the EWAP provider may also implicate assignment laws. Wage assignments are prohibited in some states and regulated to varying degrees in others. Some states require specific authorizations or significantly limit how much money an employee can assign to a third party.
In California, no more than 50 percent of the employee’s wages may be assigned at the time of the payment of wages, and the wage assignment must be notarized, and include written consent of the employee’s spouse if married. This is an important consideration for employers, as wage assignment laws vary from state to state.
As more employers offer EWAPs as part of their benefit packages, it is imperative that employers closely examine the particular EWAP’s payment structure in order to understand the benefits and legal risks of the application. At a minimum, employers should consider paying all transaction fees and obtain any relevant authorizations so as to not infringe on any state-specific wage laws.
Employers should also assess whether EWAPs implicate state and federal consumer protection, data security and privacy laws. Given that there is little current regulation on the use of such products, employers should insist on limitation of liability and indemnification clauses while negotiating contracts with EWAP providers to ensure that they will not be liable for any legal issues implicated by EWAPs in the future.
Avoid added expenses due to data entry errors and payroll oversights. Integrate your payroll system withWorkforce.com’s platform for automated timesheet exports and calculations, allowing you to stay on top of your wage costs.
I’ve not hidden my belief that employers should not be mandating that their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. Now, OSHA offers yet another reason why employers should recommend, but not mandate, the vaccine.
Per OSHA, if the vaccine is mandatory, then an employer must record an employee’s adverse reaction or side effects on its OSHA log.
If I require my employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of their employment, are adverse reactions to the vaccine recordable?
If you require your employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment (i.e., for work-related reasons), then any adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine is work-related. The adverse reaction is recordable if it is a new case under 29 CFR 1904.6 and meets one or more of the general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7.
I do not require my employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. However, I do recommend that they receive the vaccine and may provide it to them or make arrangements for them to receive it offsite. If an employee has an adverse reaction to the vaccine, am I required to record it?
No. Although adverse reactions to recommended COVID-19 vaccines may be recordable…, OSHA is exercising its enforcement discretion to only require the recording of adverse effects to required vaccines at this time. Therefore, you do not need to record adverse effects from COVID-19 vaccines that you recommend, but do not require.
A few more points that OSHA made about this issue.
1. To avoid reporting, the vaccine must be truly voluntary and an employee cannot suffer any repercussions from that choice. For example, an employee’s choice to accept or reject the vaccine cannot affect a performance rating, bonus payment, or professional advancement. An employee who chooses not to receive the vaccine cannot suffer any repercussions from this choice.
2. The method by which employees might receive a recommended vaccine does not matter. This rule also applies even if an employer makes the COVID vaccine available onsite or otherwise makes arrangements for employees to receive it offsite. As long it the employee’s choice is voluntary, side effects and reactions are not recordable.
So there you have it. Yet another reason not to mandate that employees receive the COVID vaccine — the administrative burden of recording reactions and side effects, and the risk of potential OSHA citations and fines for failing to do so.
Contractors have to follow a rigorous array of compliance requirements to do business with the federal government, or they risk losing their deals.
Private mail carriers contract with the federal government to help deliver mail across the nation. While they may have delivered parcels and letters on time, three Florida-based federal contractors failed to deliver all of their workers’ wages, which caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Following its investigations, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that three mail haulers in northern and central Florida — Mercado Santiago Inc. in Middleburg, Copa Post Services LLC in Gainesville and M&M Superior Contracting LLC in Orlando — owed a total of $293,779 to 34 employees. All three employers violated requirements of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act, according to a Labor Department statement. The Act is a labor law that requires government to use its bargaining power to ensure fair wages for workers when it buys services from private contractors.
Substantial fines for wage and hour violations
Kate Bischoff, an employment attorney at tHRive Law & Consulting LLC, said it’s a sizable penalty in a wage and hour case.
“This averages out to about $8,700 per employee, which is no small amount,” Bischoff said. “Depending on the length of time the Wage and Hour Division was looking back, employees would have felt the absence of this amount. It would have been real to them.”
Division investigators found one employer, Mercado Santiago, failed to pay workers for all the hours that they worked, resulting in the contractor paying less than the prevailing wage rates required. They also said the employer failed to pay required health and welfare benefits for employees and failed to keep accurate time and payroll records. As a result, Mercado Santiago has paid $219,166 in back wages to 16 employees.
Bischoff said it’s unlikely that the pay issue was an oversight by Mercado Santiago.
“Over $13,000 in wages and benefits is significant,” she said. “While prevailing wages are tricky — so much attention to detail and coordination between workers, supervisors and managers — it would be hard not to notice the issue here. Plus, if certified payroll was checked regularly by the government’s contracting officer, it should have been easy to spot the issue.”
Investigators determined Copa Post Services also failed to pay required health and welfare benefits to workers. The employer has paid $25,848 in back wages to 10 employees, according to the Labor Department statement.
The division found M&M Superior Contracting failed to pay required prevailing wage rates. The employer also failed to pay required health and welfare benefits and holiday pay to workers, and failed to allow employees to accrue vacation time or vacation pay. The employer owes $48,765 in back wages to eight employees, according to the Labor Department statement.
“Prevailing wage laws provide a safety net for fair wages and benefits to workers on contracts providing services to the federal government. Enforcement of these laws protects the wages of American workers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando in the statement. “The Wage and Hour Division will remain vigilant in its work to ensure employees are paid in compliance with these laws, and that employers compete on a level playing field.”
In April 2013, the U.S. Postal Service awarded Mercado Santiago a contract to provide mail-hauling services in Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties. The contract expires in September 2022, the statement said. Copa Post Services hires employees to work at USPS locations delivering mail on SCA contracts in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. M&M Superior Contracting holds three separate SCA contracts to deliver mail for the USPS in Orlando.
Stricter wage and hour enforcement is coming
Bischoff predicted that under newLabor Secretary Martin Walsh, enforcement is going to ramp up, penalties will likely increase and the Labor Department may have a low tolerance for mistakes.
“It is more likely the department will go straight to litigation before seeking to settle a dispute,” Bischoff said.
This could also mean the Labor Department will seek more debarment as a penalty, she added. Debarment means an employer is prohibited from contracting with the government.
“For many, many contractors, debarment is an existential threat,” she said. “These employers were contracted to carry the mail. If they don’t have a contract with the USPS to carry mail, it is hard to imagine what they would do.”
To avoid wage and hour violations, Bischoff said employers need to act quickly to get wage and hour compliance in order.
“With possible changes to the overtime salary threshold, minimum wages and more enforcement action, there is never a dull moment for HR and payroll professionals,” Bischoff said.
