Rick Bell – Page 47

November 26, 2018June 29, 2023

Avoiding Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace

News broke in early 2018 that Walmart was facing a potential class-action lawsuit in New York for allegations of pregnancy discrimination.

This lawsuit is one of several nationwide that claim that some of the nation’s largest businesses are systematically punishing pregnant employees with discriminatory policies.

Employers are facing increased exposure and liability for pregnancy discrimination in the workplace claims. The number of pregnancy discrimination claims filed annually with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been steadily rising for two decades and is hovering near an all-time high. In 2017, more than 3,174 cases of pregnancy discrimination were filed with the EEOC.

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and it makes discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions unlawful. The act covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. Women who are pregnant or affected by related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations. The law’s protections include:

Hiring and working conditions: An employer cannot refuse to hire a woman because of pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, or based on the prejudices of co-workers or customers. The act prohibits discrimination when it comes to working conditions, including pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, firing and any other condition of employment.

Pregnancy and maternity leave: An employer may not single out pregnancy-related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee’s ability to work. For example, if an employer does not require its employees to submit a doctor’s statement concerning their inability to work before granting leave or paying sick benefits, the employer may not require employees affected by pregnancy to provide this documentation.

Pregnancy and temporary disability: An employee that is temporarily unable to perform her job due to pregnancy must be treated the same as any other temporarily disabled employee.

Health insurance: Any health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy-related conditions on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions. Pregnancy-related expenses should be reimbursed exactly as those incurred for other medical conditions.

Fringe benefits: Benefits must be the same for pregnancy as other medical conditions. If an employer provides any benefits to workers on leave, the employer must provide the same benefits for those on leave for pregnancy-related conditions, including accrual and crediting of seniority, vacation calculation, pay increases and temporary disability benefits.

Further, it is unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on pregnancy or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding or litigation under Title VII.

Although pregnancy itself is not considered a disability, some pregnant workers may be eligible for additional protection under the amended Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act due to conditions related to pregnancy. The ADAAA applies to employers with 15 or more workers.

Affordable Care Act

Under the Affordable Care Act, employers must provide two things to employees for one year after a child’s birth: (1) a reasonable amount of time to express milk each time that she needs to express milk; and (2) a location to express breast milk (not a bathroom) that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public.

Employers are not required to compensate nursing mothers during breaks to express milk, but if an employee has compensated breaks and she uses them to express milk, then she must be compensated in a similar way.

The ACA provides an “undue hardship” exemption for certain employers that employ fewer than 50 employees. An undue hardship will be found if the requirement imposes on the small employer significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure of the employer’s business.

Importantly, the ACA provides a “floor” not a “ceiling” for regulation in this area. States remain free to adopt laws that provide additional protections beyond those provided in the ACA.

Best Practices

In some instances, employers may claim that excluding pregnant or fertile women from certain jobs is lawful due to a bona fide occupational qualification defense, or BFOQ. This defense, however, is extremely narrow and the employer must show that pregnancy actually interferes with an employee’s ability to perform the job based on objective, verifiable skills required by the job.

Employers have rarely been able to establish a pregnancy-based BFOQ. Liability under the federal and state laws can be avoided with the following best practices:

• Effectively train managers on applicable laws, workplace policies, and how to respond to requests for assistance and accommodation.

• When complaints occur, respond promptly.

• Implement strong policies against pregnancy discrimination and harassment.

• Evaluate leave policies to ensure restrictive provisions or practices do not discriminate on the basis of pregnancy or related medical conditions.

• Evaluate any workplace accommodation policies and ensure they are available to workers with pregnancy-related impairments.

• Never require — explicitly or constructively — a pregnant employee to take leave, light duty or other work accommodations that she does not want or did not request.

• Make sure policies and facilities comply with breastfeeding requirements under the ACA.

• Check state and local laws for additional requirements.

Jay Starkman is the CEO of Engage PEO, a professional employer organization providing HR outsourcing to small and mid-sized businesses across the United States. Camille Cooper is the assistant general counsel and HR consultant for Engage PEO.

November 23, 2018June 29, 2023

Kronos CEO Aron Ain Urges Companies to Inspire Employees With a Strong Workplace Culture

Aron Ain, the CEO of workforce management software company Kronos Inc., released his debut book, “WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work,” in October.

Ain discusses how prioritizing employees is beneficial for an entire company. Workforce Editorial Associate David Chasanov spoke with Ain and found out what workplace elements are most important to him as a leader.

Workforce: Where does building a workplace culture begin? Is it at the top, or is it employee-centric?

Aron Ain: At the top. If the CEO and leadership don’t believe, encourage or support [workplace culture], it’s not effective. [At Kronos], if people know it’s important to me, people take it seriously. There’s safety in making sure employees are looked after and encouraged to have the right balance in their life. There’s safety in giving active feedback about how we can do better. I can’t imagine you would have great engagement in your company if people at the top don’t believe in that deeply.

WF: The old saying about employee turnover is that “employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers,” do you believe that to be true and how do you prevent that from happening at Kronos?

Ain: Absolutely true. People join companies because of the company. They leave because of who they work for. At Kronos we’re deeply focused on making sure all managers know their impact. Twice a year, our managers are rated by people on their team and how effective they are. It’s a manager effectiveness index (MEI). MEI holds managers accountable and improves their leadership, so we don’t have situations where great people leave because they’re not happy about who they work for.

WF: What’s your philosophy on performance reviews and how do they play into employee engagement?

Ain: I deeply believe in it. At Kronos, managers with the highest effectiveness index scores have the lowest turnover and highest engagement and [vice versa]. We make sure we do what’s necessary to create an environment where people are engaged. We try to hire above-average people. We want people who will make a difference. If you hire great people you need an environment where people are engaged, or else they will leave because they are great people.

WF: Is employee engagement all about the money?

Ain: Absolutely not. What’s most important to us is that the workplace should be a place where people have a great career opportunity, where they feel they have a great manager who respects them and helps them grow. It’s a place where they have confidence in the future, where they’re learning and growing, they enjoy their co-workers, people are making a difference with customers. If a place is a fun place to work but they’re working for a miserable manager, they’re out of here.

WF: What’s the difference between an established company and a startup?

Ain: An established company has various processes and functions in place to do a lot of the work. At a startup … you’re learning as you go. You don’t have time and resources to have a dedicated HR group, a group focused on legal aspects, financial services or marketing. You don’t have resources for training programs or creating a good environment. Not that you can’t, but it’s difficult.

WF: Are you a rah-rah leader or lead-by-example type of leader?

Ain: Both. I’m very communicative. I do video blogs all the time with employees, I talk to people all the time, I make sure when I’m walking through the halls or on the elevator that I don’t have my nose in my cellphone and I have my head up and I’m saying hello and talking to people. I visit Kronos offices around the world, and the first thing I do is go and say hello to everyone in the office. In India, where there’s about 1,000 people, it takes me a whole morning to go shake hands and say hello.

WF: What’s your favorite element to implement in making the workplace culture a fun community?

Ain: Having a great place where great people can come to work and enjoy what they’re doing. A place where they can also have balance in their lives. I love when I tell people that if the most important thing in their life is working for Kronos, they have their priorities mixed up. People get uncomfortable at first when they hear that, but then they end up believing in it because I keep repeating it to them.

WF: Kronos is located in the Boston area. Talk about major sports franchises in Boston and how they’ve built a culture in their organizations. What can people learn from them in terms of building a successful franchise?

Ain: I’m not super familiar with the inner workings of Boston franchises. But look at what the Patriots have done. From everything I can tell from a distance, they appear to have a focus on the end game. I appreciate most how they deal with difficult decisions actively. If they need to make personnel decisions, they do it. They don’t sit on things. I think we’re similar in that way.

WF: What is a common misconception in the business world right now?

Ain: The whole thing about what makes a company successful or what impact people have on making a company successful. People think having the magic product will make all the difference. The problem is you can’t deliver great products without great people. People say what comes first, the chicken or the egg, and in my world, what comes first is great people. It’s crystal clear. Once you have great people, you must work hard to do all the components to motivate people to want to stay.

November 15, 2018June 29, 2023

Do You Know? Pre-employment Medical Exams

A mayor in Ohio has gotten himself in some hot water for his selective use of pre-employment medical examinations for hirees.

How selective? According to WKYC, one woman claims that the mayor required her and other women, but not men, to be examined by his personal doctor. For his part, the mayor denies the allegations as an act of a “fertile imagination” and claims that he sends all city workers, male and female, to the same doctor for pre-employment exams.

Why would her allegations rise to the level of unlawful activity?

Aside from the obvious sex discrimination (an employer cannot apply one set of policies to male employees a different set to female employees), it also violates the ADA’s requirements for pre-employment medical examinations.

The ADA applies a traffic-light approach to employer-mandated medical exams.

- Red light (prior to an offer of employment): the ADA prohibits all disability-related inquiries and medical examinations, even those that are job related.
- Yellow light (after employment begins): an employer only may make disability-related inquiries and require medical examinations that are job-related and consistent with business necessity.
- Green Light (after an applicant is given a conditional job offer, but before s/he starts work): an employer may make any disability-related inquiries and conduct medical examinations, regardless of whether they are related to the job, as long as it does so for all entering employees in the same job category.

Because these exams fall in the “Green Light” category, the city is in the clear, right? Wrong. Pre-employment medical exams are permitted as long as the employer does so for all entering employees in the same job category. This employee alleges the females were singled out. Thus, unless she worked with all women in her job category (another legal red flag), the city violated the ADA by sending some, but not all, employees for pre-employment medical exams.

Also, pay attention to state laws when conducting medical exams. For example, Ohio prohibits an employer from shifting the cost of any pre-employment medical exam to an employee: “No employer shall require any prospective employee or applicant for employment to pay the cost of a medical examination required by the employer as a condition of employment.”

As for this mayor, these allegations are just the tip of his legal iceberg. It’s also alleged that he uses the n-word to refer to African American residents, and sexually harasses female employees by talking about his private parts and how pistachios contribute to his sexual prowess. Sounds like a great place to work.

November 15, 2018June 29, 2023

Handling the Workplace Holiday Rush

For some businesses beyond retail, the holiday season — November through February — is the busy season.

This means heavy workloads, tight deadlines and the need for collaborative teamwork more than ever as many companies are winding down. Research from my company’s research arm, the Limeade Institute, shows that burnout happens when employees have high stress but low well-being. So we’ve come together as a company to keep our people balanced, productive and healthy during this time.

Here’s what we found works best:

Reorganize annual events to alleviate employees’ schedules: Like most companies, we launched annual employee reviews at year-end. Now we’ve moved our annual reviews to February, so employees can approach them thoughtfully and reflect on all they’ve accomplished. We also pushed our holiday party to midyear so our employees can spend their time with family and friends. And while most companies send customers holiday gifts in December, we send gratitude gifts just before Thanksgiving.

Push for real PTO: We encourage employees to use their vacation time by year-end. In fact, our research shows those who take all of their vacation days are more engaged. Some employees prefer to take a long break just after the busy season. Because of this, we roll over up to 160 hours of PTO per year.

Support employee well-being: Throughout the busy season, we developed a Refresh Yourself campaign that promotes employee well-being — something often neglected when the pressure is on. We’ve offered chair massages, fruit-infused water, smoothies, yoga and meditation sessions, stretching stations, brain games and had the leadership team cook breakfast for employees. An optional office decorating contest and ugly sweater competition brings spirit to the office. In the meantime, remote employees receive care packages so they feel included and supported.

Help employees manage stress: Stress is inevitable during the busy season, so we help employees feel energized and motivated versus run-down or overwhelmed. We coach managers on how to help their team deal with stress and bring in guest speakers on how to stay positive in stressful times.

Our advice to those whose holiday rush ramps up during the holidays? Test new ideas, measure success and improve every year.

— Laura Hamill is chief people officer at Limeade and chief science officer of the Limeade Institute.

November 14, 2018June 29, 2023

How HR Benefits By Getting Political

This month, I spent a long weekend before the midterm election supporting my brother-in-law’s campaign for a state Assembly seat in rural Wisconsin.

We traveled to several campaign offices and spent the days knocking on doors in small towns. Approaching strangers’ houses to ask them about their political affiliations or their plans to vote can be an uncomfortable experience at first. But it quickly becomes energizing as you encounter incredibly interesting people and witness their reactions.

For me, being part of the boots-on-the-ground effort to motivate voters was deeply inspiring, and it renewed my appreciation for the tireless work that happens outside the cable news cycle.

I was struck by the varied examples of people stepping up and stepping into an opportunity to do something for their community. Whether actually running for office, as my brother-in-law did, or staffing a field office, managing a campaign, hosting an event or attending a town hall meeting, there are countless ways to engage in local issues. And it got me thinking about all the other ways I — and our industry — could be adding to important local and national dialogues.

Given the big challenges facing our country, I can think of no group more qualified or capable of influencing our political climate than HR and benefits leaders, who all have expertise in many of the areas being debated at the national level. HR leaders know all about balancing competing interests, creating equal opportunities and managing complex health and financial programs.

We know how to create policies and programs that can scale. We also know that a solid safety net benefits not only those who need it but also the community around them.

Katherine Eyster, deputy director of workplace programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, agrees that HR leaders have valuable insights: “HR professionals have a key role to play in sharing their experiences with policymakers and advocates to ensure that legislation is thoughtfully and effectively designed with real companies and workers in mind.” Through her organization’s work, more than 75 companies and business leaders recently endorsed the need for a strong national paid family and medical leave policy.

“For too long the false narrative has endured that what is good for workers is bad for business, when evidence shows time and again that when workers thrive, businesses and the economy grow,” she said.

Adding our voices to the national debate is an idea gaining momentum among HR leaders. Rosemarie Day, founder and CEO of Day Health Strategies, has a forthcoming book about engaging in politics to protect access to health care. In it, she presents a “continuum of involvement” that shows the various ways to get involved.

She shares ways you can speak as a private citizen or spokesperson for your organization. The first step is getting (and staying) informed, followed by sharing information, supporting a cause, speaking up, showing up (at events, rallies and more), organizing people and even running for office.

“As a society, we need safeguards and safety nets,” she said. “Benefits managers can represent the human side of capitalism, and they know the limitations of what private companies can do and the gaps that are very critical for the government to fill.”

Renee Lutzen, director of health care product management at UMB Healthcare Services (one of our clients), is a member of the Employers Council for Flexible Compensation. In that capacity, she has been able to visit legislators and regulators and educate them about the issues we face every day.

“Legislative offices are interested in and very receptive to hearing real stories from real people — those of us who are working in the industry of health care, HR and benefits administration. We’re not just sitting at a desk crunching numbers against theoretical concepts. We have real-life examples we can share on how current health care policies are impacting individuals along with insights on the potential effects proposed policies will have,” she said.

This year, I’m vowing to get more involved and helping others do the same. As for my brother-in-law, he lost by a tiny margin, but I have no doubt he’ll have a fantastic career in public life. His efforts and the integrity and vision that guided his campaign inspired thousands of people in his district and beyond. I hope our efforts will do the same.

November 14, 2018June 29, 2023

What You Can Learn From the Law Firm Partner Suspended for Watching Porn at Work

According to The American Lawyer (sub. req.), Hogan Lovells has suspended one of its partners in its London office for watching porn at work. How did it catch the offense?

An IT employee read his internet logs? No.

He forgot to close his browser when he went to the loo and his assistant walked into his office? No.

He visited an unsafe site that spammed his entire office with malware? No.

Would you believe that someone caught him through his office window? From RollonFriday:

On Monday morning a lawyer with Irwin Mitchell, whose London office is separated from Hogan Lovells by a narrow lane, looked out of their window and straight into the partner’s office. Sources told RollOnFriday that the Irwin Mitchell lawyer was shocked to see the Hogan Lovells partner watching porn at his desk, with his back to the window.

The IM lawyer filmed the absorbed partner on a mobile phone, sources told RollOnFriday, and sent the footage to Hogan Lovells lawyers. It then made its way to the firm’s HR. The partner has now been suspended.

Astoundingly, according to one survey, 3 percent of Americans admit to watching porn at work. And while 3 percent may not sound like a lot, I guarantee you are now doing the math and figuring out who the likely suspects are in your office.

What is an employer to do? After all, the mere presence of pornography in the workplace is enough to set off every sexual harassment alarm bell, and subject an employer to sexual harassment liability if it does nothing.

Hogan Lovells defends its own lack-of-a-policy:

We didn’t block access to websites unless they represented a cybersecurity risk (e.g. they have malware on them). The nature of our work for clients sometimes means we need to carry out investigations in areas which require us to have flexible access. We have reviewed and tightened this policy.

So, what should you look for in “reviewing and tightening” your workplace-porn policy?

1. What does your technology or internet-use policy say, does it include prohibitions against pornography, and does it sufficiently and clearly explain that violations will result in discipline, up to and including termination?
2. Do you block websites that might include adult material, or do you trust employees to their own devices. Keep in mind that if you opt for the latter, many adult websites are rife with malware, viruses, and other things that you likely don’t want on work equipment. Also keep in mind that if you opt for the former, you may need to provide for work-related exceptions (like an employment lawyer researching a case, and I speak from experience).
3. If you are overly concerns that your workplace is rife with porn, you could opt for a porn audit, examining all of your technology assets for inappropriate material.
4. Once you become aware of any pornography in the workplace, your obligation as an employer kicks in to promptly investigate and implement reasonable corrective action. Failure to act could subject you to a nasty and expensive sexual harassment lawsuit.
5. Finally, if your investigation leads you believe that the pornography involves illegal activity (e.g., children), immediately stop and call your lawyer, as this is a serious issue that needs serious treatment.

The internet might be for porn, just not watching porn at work, ever (unless you’re an employment lawyer investigating a case).

November 13, 2018June 29, 2023

Do You Know? English-only Workplace Policies

White Americans, what?
Nothing better to do?
Why don’t you kick yourself out?
You’re an immigrant too!

– White Stripes, Icky Thump (2007).

Estefany Martinez-Gonzalez and Imelda Lucio Lopez, both crew members at a McDonald’s restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and both Hispanic, claimed that their employer discriminated against them by requiring them to speak English at work (as opposed to their native Spanish).

In Martinez-Gonzalez v. Lakeshore Staffing (6th Cir. 11/9/18) [pdf], the appellate court disagreed.

Taking the record as a whole, no reasonable finder of fact could find that Lakeshore had a policy and culture of requiring its employees to speak only English. Lakeshore … filed seven declarations demonstrating that the so-called English-only policy could not exist because employees attested that they speak Spanish in the workplace or know of employees who openly speak Spanish in the workplace without reprimand. Martinez and Lopez do not contest either the factual veracity or the legal significance of the declarations. Instead, in support of their argument, Martinez and Lopez cite to two instances where Martinez stated she was told to speak English and one instance where Lopez testified she was told to speak English. Martinez and Lopez cite no disciplinary records in which they were reprimanded because they were speaking Spanish.

Thus, there was no evidence to support the existence of an English-only policy. That said, English-only policies certainly raise legal red flags.

As immigration and immigration reform continue to be hot-button political issues, employers take a big risk when they require all of their employees to speak only English at work.

The EEOC’s position is that a “rule requiring employees to speak only English at all times in the workplace is a burdensome term and condition of employment” and presumptively “violates Title VII.” According to the EEOC, an “employer may have a rule requiring that employees speak only in English at certain times where the employer can show that the rule is justified by business necessity.”

The majority of federal courts, however, have shown slightly more tolerance of “English-only” rules. Generally, courts will uphold an English-only rule if the employer can show a legitimate business justification for the requirement. Examples of legitimate business justifications that have been found to justify an English-only requirement are:

Stemming hostility among employees.
Fostering politeness to customers.
Promoting communication with customers, coworkers, or supervisors who only speak English.
Enabling employees to speak a common language to promote safety or enable cooperative work assignments.
Facilitating a supervisor’s ability monitor the performance of an employee.
Furthering interpersonal relations among employees.

Thus, employers should be careful to limit the reach of an English-only requirement only as far as is necessary to reach the articulated business rationale for the policy. For example, English-only requirements have been struck down as discriminatory where the policy included lunch hours, breaks and even private telephone conversations.

If you are considering an English-only requirement for your business, you should not do so without consulting with employment counsel to ensure that the policy is not discriminatory as written or as applied.

November 8, 2018June 29, 2023

Jeff Sessions’ Resignation in Lieu of Termination Is (More or Less) Still a Termination

“At your request, I am submitting my resignation.”

So wrote now-former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in his resignation letter to President Trump.

Yet, no one reasonably believes that Sessions resigned. “At your request, I am submitting my resignation” is a termination, period.

Clients ask me all the time, about an at-risk termination. “Jon, what if we just have him resign? He can’t sue us for discrimination, then, right?”

Wrong. Of course they can.

Compelling someone to resign in lieu of terminating them is no different than terminating them. They are leaving your employment through your choice, not theirs. So, no, you can’t avoid a discrimination or other wrongful termination lawsuit merely by forcing an employee to resign instead of firing them.

That said, there are a couple of advantages to couching a separation as a resignation instead of termination.

First, it might make it easier for employee to find a new job. (Mr. Sessions, meet Fox News.) A prospective employer is more likely to hire someone who resigned than someone who was fired, and the employee is not lying on their resume if they list “resignation” as the reason for separation (a fact you’ll support if the new employer calls).

Secondly, an employee who resigns might not be eligible for unemployment. Or at least you can reach an agreement with the employee that he or she won’t file for unemployment.

So, there you have it. No, there is no functional difference between a termination and a compelled resignation, yet there are some strategic reasons why you, and the employee, still might want a signature on the resignation letter.

November 8, 2018June 29, 2023

The Automation of Performance Measurement

Performance measurement has long been viewed as a necessary but torturous part of the talent management process.

Historically, this process has been shaped by awkward and time-consuming end-of-the-year performance ratings that often feel more like criticism than coaching and rarely result in any meaningful changes in behavior. However, over the past several years the performance measurement process has been evolving.

“The big question today is, ‘Do we even need performance ratings?’ ” said Bhushan Sethi, performance management analyst for PwC. He noted that many Silicon Valley firms have done away with ratings all together, while other companies are rating employees behind the scenes. “They still go through the rating process to figure out raises and bonuses,” he said. But they are eliminating the annual sit-down review.

While some HR leaders applaud this evolution, others believe it is counterproductive. “Proponents of the ‘no ratings’ fad hyped the movement using selective company examples,” noted Marc Effron, founder of the Talent Strategy Group and author of 8 Steps to High Performance. However for every success story, he pointed to companies like medical equipment maker Medtronic, Conagra Brands Inc., and American Airlines, which reversed course and re-installed ratings after their financial performance suffered. Effron also pointed to a 2016 Gartner study that shows companies that eliminate ratings actually see a drop in employee performance because managers don’t know how to manage without them.

Let Robots Do It

While the jury may be out on whether ratings are a necessary part of performance measurement, most HR leaders agree that a once-a-year review on its own is not effective. Instead, they are encouraging managers to provide more real-time feedback throughout the year so employees can adapt their performance and identify opportunities for improvement before their output is affected.

“Employees who want to be higher performers benefit from clear goals and more frequent coaching,” Effron said. But only if it’s done correctly. “Leaders need to improve their capability to set a few, very big, very challenging, very aligned goals for themselves and their team members.”

The demand for more real-time performance measurement has sparked HR technology vendors to embed rating tools, social feedback loops, 360 degree reviews and other performance measurement features in their platforms, or as standalone solutions.

Also read: How Do We Use Performance Tools Including Performance Measurement to Keep Employees Motivated?

“The trend is toward slick, user-friendly mobile tools to provide real-time feedback,” Sethi said. He pointed to PWC’s own custom-built Snapshots tool, which lets employees provide and request rapid reviews on five performance characteristics, including leadership ability and business acumen. Many of the enterprise software vendors and smaller boutique firms are building similar performance feedback tools to expand their platform.

“It’s the next wave of HR technology,” he said.

Sethi predicts that the next evolution of performance measurement tools will be fully automated, artificially intelligent bots that use machine learning algorithms to rate employee performance based on data, such as sales results, projects delivered, and feedback from managers. An automated solution could take the human bias out of the rating process while freeing managers to focus on coaching their people to improve performance and close gaps on the team, Sethi said. “This would be a much better use of their time.”

November 8, 2018October 18, 2024

The Benefits of Offering Backup Elder Care to Employees

As the population of the United States ages, millions of adult workers are already providing care for an elderly parent or family member.

Providing such care while working a full-time job is both physically and mentally taxing for most employees, and studies even show that burnout from caregiving responsibilities cost companies nearly $13.4 billion each year in health care expenses.

To make matters worse, employees who care for their aging parents are more likely to be less productive, take more time off, and arrive to work late on a regular basis. This is troubling news for many companies, especially since lower productivity often equates to lower revenue. Some companies are beginning to offer a variety of support resources to employees doubling as caregivers.

Backup elder care is a benefit some organizations are considering for employees. In general, there are two primary types of elder care benefits:

Dependent care assistance plans. These plans deduct a certain portion of an employee’s paycheck (gross amount before taxes) to pay for elder care costs. According to Forbes, currently, 41 percent of employers offer this benefit.
Respite care. Offered by only 7 percent of companies, this benefit offers short-term care to family members when an employee needs to rest, take time off or go into work.

Some other types of elder care benefits include:

Flexible work options. These options include allowing caregiver employees to work from home, have flexible hours during the day, or providing paid time off.
Care subsidies. This benefit would help employees with the cost of elder care with subsidies covering either direct costs or backup care.
Support groups. Employers can create onsite caregiver support groups for employees. This will allow them to speak with fellow coworkers dealing with caregiving of senior parents and perhaps find some value in communicating. The employer may also provide online support group resources if onsite isn’t an option.

Respite care is the benefit most commonly referred to as backup elder care, and it is provided through the private insurance companies employers contract with. It is a voluntary benefit, so employees who do not need backup elder care do not have to enroll. If an employee does not know whether they have these benefits, they should speak with a human resources or benefits manager.

The Professional Impact of an Aging Population

According to the U.S. census, nearly 70 million Americans will be over the age of 65 by 2030. This may sound like a shocking statistic to many, but as the baby boomer population ages and exits the workforce, their children and younger relatives might be required to act as caregivers in many situations.

Also read: Elder Care: You Can’t Buy, Pray or Prescribe Your Way Out of It

Backup elder care benefits helps employers reduce the amount of stress caregiving employees experience by allowing them to know that their loved ones will be cared for while they are at work.

Studies show that employees prefer to work for companies that offer a reasonable work-life balance. Companies should keep this in mind when deciding whether to provide backup elder care. Caregiving can be exhausting, even for the most dedicated individual and when paired with a demanding work schedule, employees become overwhelmed.

By providing elder care, caregiving employees will have more flexibility. This means limiting the choice of missing a workday or taking care of an infirm parent.

Scheduling Flexibility

According to a 2012 CareerBuilder study, nearly 40 percent of employees who voluntarily left the workplace did so because of a poor work-life balance. Few employees appreciate being called in at the last minute to work abnormal hours, but sometimes it is unavoidable. Most managers and supervisors are aware of this, but if their employees have outside caregiving obligations, they simply will not be able to depend on them to work outside of normal work hours.

Many employees also have difficulty balancing their caregiving responsibilities with regular work hours. Caregivers are more likely than other employees to leave work early and use paid time off to look after loved ones.

Also read: How to Confront the Elder Care Challenge

This can place a strain on the workplace when a valuable employee is not able to work their normal hours, especially if other workers are forced to pull their weight for them.

Millennials make up 35 percent of the American workforce, and as members of the baby boomer generation age millennials will have to accept the role of family caregiver. As of 2013, nearly 19 percent of caregiving employees were under the age of 40, and this percentage is only expected to increase in coming years. If a company fails to keep such statistics in mind when recruiting younger professionals, it may start to notice its talent pool shrinking because of its perceived lack of concern for its employees who double as caregivers.

Offering Backup Elder Care

As time continues to prove backup elder care should be a benefit offered by an employer, more companies are taking responsibility in offering these benefits. A main provider of backup elder care is Bright Horizons. They offer 24/7 backup elder care to employers. The organization is understanding of both the employer and employee’s needs and even provides an online self-service support for if the employee wants to choose and hire the caregivers themselves. Other providers include Care.com, LifeCare and Town + Country Resources.

Prices vary per provider, with some backup benefit providers estimating a minimum of $15,000 per year to be paid by the employer. The average amount of an employee paying for elder care services is estimated at $4 to $6 per day if the employer subsidizes the cost.

Offering backup elder care is not only beneficial for employees and their loved ones but a company’s bottom line as well. Caregiving employees cost companies millions of dollars in lost hours each year, and by offering backup elder care, you may be able to make up for these losses and retain your most valuable employees who want to work for a company that understands their needs and the importance of family.