30 employee handbook do’s and don’ts from the NLRB
Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a list of rules to help employers comply with the National Labor Relations Act. Read this blog post to learn more.
To help employers craft handbooks that don’t violate the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a compilation of rules it has found to be illegal — and rewritten them to illustrate how they can comply with the law.
It was issued as a memorandum by NLRB General Counsel Richard F. Griffin, Jr. to “help employers to review their handbooks and other rules, and conform them, if necessary, to ensure they are lawful.”
Specifically, the memorandum points out employer policies found to violate and conform to Section 7 of the NLRA.
The main area of concern
Section 7 mandates that employees be allowed to participate in “concerted activity” to help improve the terms and conditions of their work.
The NLRB has made it abundantly clear recently that it’s on the lookout for rules that:
- explicitly restrict protected concerted activity, and/or
- could be construed to restrict protected Section 7 activity.
One thing the memorandum makes very clear: extremely subtle variations in language could be the difference between having a legal policy in the NLRB’s eyes and having one that’s viewed as violating the NLRA.
What to say, what not to say
Here are many of the dos and don’ts highlighted by the memorandum, separated by topic:
Rules regarding confidentiality
- Illegal: “Do not discuss ‘customer or employee information’ outside of work, including ‘phone numbers [and] addresses.'” The NLRB said, in addition to the overbroad reference to “employee information,” the blanket ban on discussing employee contact info, without regard for how employees obtain that info, is facially illegal.
- Illegal: “Never publish or disclose [the Employer’s] or another’s confidential or other proprietary information. Never publish or report on conversations that are meant to be private or internal to [the Employer].” The NLRB said a broad reference to “another’s” information, without clarification, would reasonably be interpreted to include other employees’ wages and other terms and conditions of employment.
- Illegal: Prohibiting employees from “[d]isclosing … details about the [Employer].” The NLRB said this is a broad restriction that failed to clarify that it doesn’t restrict Section 7 activity.
- Legal: “No unauthorized disclosure of ‘business “secrets” or other confidential information.'”
- Legal: “Misuse or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information not otherwise available to persons or firms outside [Employer] is cause for disciplinary action, including termination.”
- Legal: “Do not disclose confidential financial data, or other non-public proprietary company information. Do not share confidential information regarding business partners, vendors or customers.”
The NLRB said the last three rules above were legal because: “1) they do not reference information regarding employees or employee terms and conditions of employment, 2) although they use the general term “confidential,” they do not define it in an overbroad manner, and 3) they do not otherwise contain language that would reasonably be construed to prohibit Section 7 communications.”
Rules regarding conduct toward the company and supervisors
- Illegal: “[B]e respectful to the company, other employees, customers, partners, and competitors.”
- Illegal: “Do ‘not make fun of, denigrate, or defame your co-workers, customers, franchisees, suppliers, the Company, or our competitors.'”
- Illegal: “Be respectful of others and the Company.”
- Illegal: “No ‘[d]efamatory, libelous, slanderous or discriminatory comments about [the Company], its customers and/or competitors, its employees or management.'”
The NLRB said the rules above were unlawfully overbroad because: “employees reasonably would construe them to ban protected criticism or protests regarding their supervisors, management, or the employer in general.”
- Illegal: “Disrespectful conduct or insubordination, including, but not limited to, refusing to follow orders from a supervisor or a designated representative.”
- Illegal: “‘Chronic resistance to proper work-related orders or discipline, even though not overt insubordination’ will result in discipline.”
The NLRB said the rules above, while banning “insubordination,” also ban “conduct that does not rise to the level of insubordination, which reasonably would be understood as including protected concerted activity.”
- Illegal: “Refrain from any action that would harm persons or property or cause damage to the Company’s business or reputation.”
- Illegal: “[I]t is important that employees practice caution and discretion when posting content [on social media] that could affect [the Employer’s] business operation or reputation.”
- Illegal: “Do not make ‘[s]tatements “that damage the company or the company’s reputation or that disrupt or damage the company’s business relationships.”‘”
- Illegal: “Never engage in behavior that would undermine the reputation of [the Employer], your peers or yourself.”
The NLRB said the rules above “were unlawfully overbroad because they reasonably would be read to require employees to refrain from criticizing the employer in public.
- Legal: “No ‘rudeness or unprofessional behavior toward a customer, or anyone in contact with’ the company.”
- Legal: “Employees will not be discourteous or disrespectful to a customer or any member of the public while in the course and scope of [company] business.”
The NLRB said the rules above are legal because they wouldn’t lead an employee to believe they restrict criticism of the company.
- Legal: “Each employee is expected to work in a cooperative manner with management/supervision, coworkers, customers and vendors.” The NLRB says employees would reasonably understand that this states the employer’s legitimate expectation that employees work together in an atmosphere of civility.
- Legal: “Each employee is expected to abide by Company policies and to cooperate fully in any investigation that the Company may undertake.” The NLRB said this rule is legal because “employees would reasonably interpret it to apply to employer investigations of workplace misconduct rather than investigations of unfair labor practices or preparations for arbitration.”
- Legal: “‘Being insubordinate, threatening, intimidating, disrespectful or assaulting a manager/supervisor, coworker, customer or vendor will result in’ discipline.” The NLRB said: “Although a ban on being disrespectful’ to management, by itself, would ordinarily be found to unlawfully chill Section 7 criticism of the employer, the term here is contained in a larger provision that is clearly focused on serious misconduct, like insubordination, threats, and assault. Viewed in that context, we concluded that employees would not reasonably believe this rule to ban protected criticism.”
Rules regarding conduct between employees
- Illegal: “‘[D]on’t pick fights’ online.”
- Illegal: “Do not make ‘insulting, embarrassing, hurtful or abusive comments about other company employees online,’ and ‘avoid the use of offensive, derogatory, or prejudicial comments.'”
- Illegal: “[S]how proper consideration for others’ privacy and for topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory, such as politics and religion.”
- Illegal: “Do not send ‘unwanted, offensive, or inappropriate’ e-mails.”
The NLRB said the rules above were unlawfully overbroad because employees would reasonably construe them to restrict protected discussions with their co-workers.
- Legal: “[No] ‘Making inappropriate gestures, including visual staring.'”
- Legal: “Any logos or graphics worn by employees ‘must not reflect any form of violent, discriminatory, abusive, offensive, demeaning, or otherwise unprofessional message.'”
- Legal: “[No] ‘[T]hreatening, intimidating, coercing, or otherwise interfering with the job performance of fellow employees or visitors.'”
- Legal: “No ‘harassment of employees, patients or facility visitors.'”
- Legal: “No ‘use of racial slurs, derogatory comments, or insults.'”
The NLRB said the rules above were legal because: “when an employer’s professionalism rule simply requires employees to be respectful to customers or competitors, or directs employees not to engage in unprofessional conduct, and does not mention the company or its management, employees would not reasonably believe that such a rule prohibits Section 7-protected criticism of the company.
SOURCE: Schappel, C. (18 July 2018) "30 employee handbook do’s and don’ts from the NLRB" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.hrmorning.com/employee-handbook-dos-and-donts-from-the-nlrb/
Here’s how HR pros can breeze through open enrollment
Does open enrollment make your HR department tremble with fear? Open enrollment season is right around the corner and can make the most experienced HR professionals shudder. Read on to learn how your HR department can breeze through open enrollment this year.
Three words have the power to make the most experienced HR professional shudder: open enrollment season.
Open enrollment season is a challenge, no matter how well the HR department prepares. Costs for medical and pharmacy benefits continue to rise, which means there are adjusted employee contributions to present to an audience who’s unlikely to understand the reasoning behind cost increases. There may be new benefits offerings that require employees to pay close attention during the decision-making process. There are open enrollment education campaigns and communications meetings to plan and launch.
Employers with multiple generations of workers must accommodate a wide range of health and welfare benefit needs. New laws (like the federal tax law) plus evolving regulations around benefits add more to HR’s already full plate. (No wonder you don’t have time for lunch.)
But, there’s good news. First, open enrollment is made easier if you plan throughout the year for it. Second, these four tips can help HR professionals make open enrollment much easier.
Review trends and projections ASAP. Focus on the renewal rate long before the renewal date. If your employee benefits renew at the beginning of the year, you may not have received your rate yet. But frankly, by now you should have a very good idea where the rate is projected to land. Reviewing claims and trend data alongside benchmarking and industry analyses throughout the year can help you and your broker project, within a few percentage points, how your renewal rate will increase or decrease.
Your benefits broker should be analyzing your program data on an ongoing basis to estimate the renewal rate and avoid a nasty surprise. The broker should also challenge the first carrier rate offered — there’s almost always room for negotiation. Doing pre-renewal work throughout the year can help you prepare for plan changes and position you to make the best decisions for the organization and employees. It will also help facilitate a smoother open enrollment season.
Keep new benefit options simple. After reviewing benefits and trends, you may find that adding a pre-tax benefit, such as a health savings account, flexible spending account or a health reimbursement account, can help the organization save money while giving employees a way to better plan their healthcare and finances. However, with their alphabet soup acronyms, HSAs, FSAs and HRAs are confusing. Even if you did a whole campaign on the topic for the last open enrollment season, it makes sense to repeat it.
The same goes for voluntary benefits: keep them simple. There is a dearth of voluntary benefits available for a multi-generational workforce. While adding voluntary benefit sounds appealing —especially if your core benefits are changing — which products are right for your organization? Survey your employees to get their feedback; they’ll appreciate that you’re asking for their opinion. Once you tally the feedback, resist the urge to offer a slew of voluntary products. Keeping it simple means adding the one (or a few) that are most desired by your workforce.
Voluntary benefits require significant education and engagement — especially products that are newer to the market. (Student loan debt assistance is a good example.) When it comes to a successful voluntary benefits program, timing is everything. If you plan to add student loan debt repayment, pet insurance, long-term care, or any other new voluntary product, the open enrollment season is not the recommended time to do it. Running a voluntary education and communications campaign and open enrollment off cycle will allow employees to focus on their main menu of options during the open enrollment season, then decide later what they want to add for “dessert.”
Educate. Rinse and repeat. You offer employee benefits to help recruit and retain the best talent. But if your employees don’t understand the core and voluntary benefits you offer, you’re unlikely to increase engagement or retention — and you might even see costs rise.
The health and welfare benefits landscape is changing drastically, which means the onus is on the employer and the HR department to educate the workforce on how the plan is changing (if at all). This means putting decision-support tools, such as calculators, in employees’ hands to help them estimate how much insurance they will need to make the best decision. You could run a whole campaign around that topic.
In addition, try using new methods of communication such as social media messages, text messaging, small-group meetings, your company’s intranet, and one-on-one sessions to help employees avoid mistakes at decision time.
Create a 21st-century experience. Manual benefits enrollment and tracking is so 1999. Moving away from paper-based enrollment will save trees — and possibly your sanity — during the open enrollment season and throughout the year. Benefits administration technology allows employees to ponder their options and enroll at their leisure. A decision-support platform enables better enrollment tracking and eliminates typos and mistakes that can pose major issues for the plan participant and the HR team.
Benefits administration technology provides checks and balances that streamline important tactical functions. Mistakes can put you in a world of hurt when it comes to benefit laws and regulations, such as missing those all-important annual HIPAA and COBRA notifications. You can avoid potential government penalties, fines and employee lawsuits with automatic notifications by the benefits administration platform. Technology can also help you identify ineligible dependents, provide employee data to a COBRA provider if employment ends, interface with your payroll platform — the list is almost endless.
The bottom line: Employees won’t enroll in what they don’t understand — which could lead them to choose a benefits plan that is more expensive, or with fewer options, than what they need. Being prepared for open enrollment season, keeping plans simple, focusing on employee education and communications (and the employee experience) can help mitigate issues for plan participants and HR.
Putting all of your ducks in a row throughout the year will ease headaches during the open enrollment season. You might even be able to take a lunch break.
SOURCE: Newman, H (30 August 2018) "Here’s how HR pros can breeze through open enrollment" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/opinion/how-human-resources-can-breeze-through-open-enrollment?feed=00000152-a2fb-d118-ab57-b3ff6e310000
How to evaluate an applicant tracking system
How are you evaluating applicant tracking systems? Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are supposed to fix any inefficiencies in your recruiting process. Read this blog post to learn more.
Unemployment is at 3.9%, a 17-year low. Competition for talent is fierce, especially when you’re trying to hire sellers, mid-level managers, professional staff and skilled labor. When hiring gets this tough, inefficiencies in your recruiting process that could otherwise be ignored will become code red emergencies.
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are supposed to fix those problems. Some do; many don’t. To tell the difference, HR professionals must do their research. Here are the three most important questions to ask before you invest in an ATS.
1. Will the ATS help or hurt my employment brand? If you’re not an employee at Google or Apple, you’ve probably daydreamed about having your own nap pod in Silicon Valley or being toted around in an automated car. You know the amazing benefits and the free-spirited culture at these organizations. That’s employment brand. Granted, not every organization can hope for Google-level brand awareness, but every company — for better or worse — has a brand of their own, made up of every interaction and detail of the recruiting and hiring process.
See also: What’s ahead for HR technology?
You should know that most ATS are made by software engineers, not recruiters. The downside there is that most systems don’t deliver a candidate experience designed to convey an impression of what it would be like to work for your company. If your ATS isn’t helping bolster your employment brand, it’s not working hard enough.
To ensure that candidates can get a feel for your company culture before they even submit an application, you’ll want to find an ATS that can offer fully-branded career pages that match your website. This means having the same colors, fonts, brand messaging and imaging will be crucial to your employment brand. And this is only the beginning. Your ideal ATS should allow you to integrate with major job boards and social media platforms (branding 101: Hang out with the cool kids), allow for one click application submission through mobile devices and keep the application process all in one browser No one wants their employment brand to be “clunky” and “unfriendly”.
2. Will the ATS help speed up the process or will it slow us down? Recruiters and hiring managers either love or hate their ATS. There’s not much middle ground. That’s because they often have to invent ingenious workarounds to use the system, which drives them crazy because it’s time wasted.
See also: LinkedIn voice messaging aims to connect HR with job seekers
When searching for the right ATS system, make sure that it can provide customizable email templates for hiring teams during the recruiting process. It’s important to remember that the system should allow you to send those emails in bulk to potential candidates. You need to be able to set reminders and schedule alerts for users to follow up with candidates or completed tasks. This ensures that you’re saving time and no candidate gets lost in the ether.
Know that dashboards are a great way to get a bird’s eye view on the recruiting process but they’re not the end all. Plenty of HCM providers will have flashy demos and dashboards that seem to work flawlessly, but after implementation you’ll be left with a clunky and glitchy product.
To avoid that outcome, ask these questions during your search: Can we see the step-by-step process for reviewing applications, approving candidates, and moving them through interviews? Look beyond the demo screens. You want to see how the system really works, step by step. Can we import and export candidate information? How are potential candidates scored?
3. Does the ATS offer compliance and reporting capabilities? This one’s a biggie. Recruiting and hiring compliance is complex, and so reporting and analytics is a must-have. You need to be able to drive recruiting and hiring decisions in real-time with powerful analytics rather than sloppy excel sheets and poorly filed assessment papers. An ATS will allow you to quickly view the metrics that matter to you, see where your best candidates are coming from, find bottlenecks and catch missed opportunities. With clear and easy to use reporting features that captures all pre-hire compliance data in one place, you’ll never have to worry about fines or tarnishing your reputation.
See also: 7 Ways Employers Can Support Older Workers And Job Seekers
Of course, there’s plenty more you could ask. Implementation, data security, mobile capabilities and ongoing service and support are all tires worth kicking. But this initial list of questions is a great place to start. Finding and hiring top talent requires lightning-fast action and decisions. When you’re shopping for an ATS, however, it pays to slow down long enough to get the facts.
SOURCE: Neese, Bill (12 September 2018) "How to evaluate an applicant tracking system" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/opinion/how-to-evaluate-an-applicant-tracking-system
Do employees know where to go in a health crisis?
Does your organization have a plan for employee health crises? Employees are often confused and unsure about who they should turn to for assistance when they have a health crisis at work. Read on to learn more.
When talking to employers about their disability programs, I often ask, “Who do your employees go to first for assistance when they have a health condition?”
If I ask that question of a direct supervisor, it’s met with a quick response of “Me!”, which is quickly followed by the statement, “My employees know that my door is always open and I’m here to help them!”
Sadly, this is not true. Another insurance company recently surveyed employees who experienced a health condition in the workplace and asked that same question: Who did you go to for assistance? The responses varied.
For example, we found that at midsize companies with 100 to 499 employees, it varied:
· 44% went to their HR manager
· 33% went to their direct supervisor
· 18% went to their HR manager and direct supervisor
· 5% went elsewhere
What this shows is that many employers don’t have a consistent process in place for addressing employees with health conditions. This confusion or misunderstanding about whom to approach for assistance can create an inconsistent process for your clients and their workforce — potentially resulting in a negative experience for employees and lost productivity for employers.
Based on the survey findings, employees who worked with their HR manager tended to have a more positive experience and felt more valued and productive after speaking with them about their health condition.
For instance, 54% of employees felt uncomfortable discussing their health condition with their direct supervisor, versus only 37% of employees who went to their HR manager. In addition, 73% of employees who worked with their HR manager felt they knew how to provide the right support for their condition versus 61% of employees who worked with their direct supervisor.
There are several reasons why working with an HR manager can be more beneficial for employees, and ultimately, your clients. Typically, working with an HR manager can lead to more communication while an employee is on leave. Our research shows employees who worked with an HR manager were more likely to receive communication on leave and returned to work 44% faster than when they worked with their direct supervisor.
HR managers also are usually more aware of available resources and how to connect employees to necessary programs to help treat their condition. HR managers who engaged their disability carriers saw a 22% boost in employees’ use of workplace resources, such as an EAP, or disease management or wellness program, when involved in a return-to-work or stay-at-work plan.
This connection to additional resources is essential, as it can help employees receive holistic support to manage their health condition — whether it’s financial wellness support, connection to mental health resources through an EAP or one-on-one sessions with a health coach. HR managers also are usually able to better engage their disability carrier to provide tailored accommodations, which can help aid in stay-at-work or return-to-work plans.
Providing your client with these findings can help them understand the importance of creating a disability process that puts HR as the main point of contact. Not only does this create a consistent experience that helps provide employees with the support they need, it can improve employee morale and reduce turnover.
SOURCE: Smith, Jeffery (16 August 2018) "Do employees know where to go in a health crisis?" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/opinion/do-employees-know-where-to-go-in-a-health-crisis
Checklist: Updating your employee handbook
Employee handbooks can be confusing to prepare and revise. Ensure you don't miss any information when preparing or revising your company's employee handbook with this simple checklist:
When you are preparing or revising an employee handbook, this checklist may be helpful.
Acknowledgment
- Do employees sign a signature page, confirming they received the handbook?
- On the signature page, do employees agree to follow the policies in the handbook?
- Does the signature page state that this handbook replaces any previous versions?
- On the signature page, do employees agree that they will be “at-will” employees?
- Do employees agree that the employer may change its policies in the future?
Wage and hour issues
- Does the employer confirm that it will pay employees for all hours worked?
- Before employees work overtime, are they required to obtain a supervisor’s approval?
- During unpaid breaks, are employees completely relieved of all duties? (For example, while a receptionist takes an unpaid lunch break, this person shouldn’t be required to greet visitors or answer phone calls.)
- Are employees paid when they attend a business meeting during lunch?
- Are employees paid for attending in-service trainings?
- Are employees paid while they take short breaks?
Paid Time Off
- Has the employer considered combining vacation time, sick time, and personal time into one “bucket” of paid time off?
- Does the paid time off policy line up with the employer’s business objectives? (For example, does it provide incentives for employees to use paid time off during seasons when business is slower?)
- Does the handbook say what will happen to paid time off when employment ends? (In Pennsylvania, employers are not required to pay terminated employees for the value of their paid time off. Some employers choose to do this, as an incentive for employees to give at least two weeks’ notice.)
- If the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies to the employer, does the handbook inform employees of their rights?
- Does the handbook list all types of leave that are available? (For example, does the employer offer bereavement leave? How about leave while an employee serves as a juror or witness? What about municipal laws that provide certain types of leave, such as paid sick leave?)
Reasonable accommodations
- How should employees request a reasonable accommodation?
- Does the employer permit employees with disabilities to bring service animals to work (Employers should avoid blanket policies that ban all animals.)
- May employees deviate from grooming and uniform requirements for a religious reason, or a medical reason? (For example, an employee may have a religious reason to wear a headscarf, even if the employer has a blanket policy that would otherwise prohibit this.)
Discrimination and retaliation
- Does the employer inform employees that they are protected against discrimination and retaliation?
- Is there an accurate list of protected categories? (Confirm all locations where the employer does business. Some states or municipalities may provide employees with greater protection than federal law. Are there any categories, such as sexual orientation, that the employer should add?)
- Do employees have a clear way to report discrimination and retaliation?
- Is there more than one way to report discrimination and retaliation? (In other words, employees shouldn’t be required to make a report to the same person who they believe is committing acts of discrimination.)
Restrictive covenants/trade secrets
- Are employees required to keep the employer’s information confidential?
- Do employees confirm they are not subject to any restrictive covenants (such as non-compete agreements) that would limit their ability to work for the employer?
- Are employees prohibited from giving the employer confidential information that belongs to a previous employer?
Labor law issues
- If employees belong to a union, does the employer state that it doesn’t intend for the handbook to conflict with any collective bargaining agreement?
- Does the employer have a content-neutral policy on soliciting and distributing materials in the workplace? (In general, if an employer wants to limit union-related communications, the employer must apply the same rules to solicitations which don’t involve a union.)
- Does the handbook accurately reflect whether employees may wear union-related apparel, such as hats, buttons, T-shirts and lanyards?
- Are employees permitted to discuss their wages with each other? (Some employers try to prohibit this, but the National Labor Relations Act entitles employees to discuss their wages with each other. This rule applies to all employers—whether or not they have a union.)
Other
- If the employer has a progressive discipline policy, does the employer reserve the right to deviate from this policy?
- Does the employer reserve the right to inspect company computers and email accounts?
- Does the employer have a social media policy, or a medical marijuana policy?
- If the employer has other policies, how do they fit together with the handbook? (Does it make sense to incorporate the policies into the handbook? Or, should the handbook clarify which other policies will remain in effect?)
- Does the handbook contain any provisions that the employer is unlikely to enforce? (For example, does the handbook prohibit employees from using all social media? Does it prohibit employees from talking on the phone while driving?)
SOURCE: Lipkin, B (20 August 2018) "Checklist: Updating your employee handbook" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.benefitspro.com/2018/08/20/is-your-employee-handbook-up-to-date-compare-it-wi/
The corporate asset you’ve completely overlooked — and what to do about it
Have you heard of social capital? The social capital of your employees is a huge asset to your business. Continue reading to learn more.
As an HR professional, you already know the importance of human capital in the workplace. You may have even started to see the shift of referring to human resources as human capital management. Human capital is undoubtedly important, but there’s an even more important “capital” that might not be on your radar: social capital.
Social capital can be defined very simply as the resources embedded in relationships. When you find a rockstar candidate for a position because of a recommendation from a friend, that reference is your social capital. When an employee is working on a challenging project and seeks expertise from an industry veteran he knows, that advice is his social capital. When an executive scores a meeting with a coveted customer because she used to work with someone who sits on their board, that introduction is her social capital. There is no question that the social capital of your employees can be a powerful corporate asset.
The academic literature takes this insight one step further. For example, Tom Schuller of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) differentiates between social capital that results from bonding relationships (links between people with similar characteristics within a community) and bridging relationships (links between people who are different outside a community). He poses that the right balance between these two types of relationships leads to a confident, creative and enduring community. Just replace the word “community” with “team” in the sentences above, and you’ll start seeing that our efforts to promote trust and diversity in the workplace are directly related to social capital.
What can HR professionals do to consciously cultivate social capital in the workplace? Here are a few concrete ideas that you can implement immediately.
1. Consider relationship-building aptitude during the hiring process. Employees who excel at cultivating their networks have the most potential for contributing to an organization rich in social capital resources.
Here are some simple questions you can incorporate into your interview process to assess candidates’ potential: What is your process for cultivating relationships in your network? Who is your most valued relationship as it relates to your career and why? When is the last time you reached out to someone in your network for help on an important task, and how did you do it? Start with questions like these, and then dig deeper to explore how candidates would mobilize resources within their networks to solve problems they encounter in the workplace.
2. Establish policies that reward knowledge sharing. The workplace can become competitive as employees strive to prove their excellence and climb the corporate ladder. A little competition is good, but too much can stifle productivity. Even if team members trust each other, those relationships cannot bear fruit if employees see their coworkers’ success as a threat. Reward employees for helping their coworkers achieve a successful outcome and allow employees to log hours spent helping so they don’t fear retaliation for taking time away from their own projects. Employee recognition software is a great first step toward moving your corporate culture in this direction.
See also: 5 software providers for employee recognition
3. Promote bridging relationships inside and outside the organization.Good managers cultivate a tight-knit team with high levels of trust. But sometimes those managers forget to cultivate relationships outside the team. Perhaps you’ve seen this play out in the scenario where the marketing department rolls out a new piece of software, but doesn’t think to get feedback from the IT team early on in the vetting process. If even just one person in marketing had a trusted relationship with someone in IT, their connection would likely ensure a more successful launch. Remind managers of the importance of fostering cognitive diversity with ideas from outside of the team, because diversity shouldn’t end after the hiring process.
Social capital may not be an asset on your company’s balance sheet — yet. But as an HR professional, you can ensure that your employees’ relationships are cultivated to their fullest potential. What is your organization doing to develop social capital?
SOURCE: Emerson, M (13 August 2018) "The corporate asset you’ve completely overlooked — and what to do about it" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/opinion/the-overlooked-corporate-asset-and-what-to-do-about-it
5 great, underutilized places to promote your recruitment content
Are you promoting your recruitment content? Read this blog post to learn about 5 underutilized places you can promote your recruitment materials.
All your time and effort invested in brainstorming great recruitment content ideas and creating interesting and useful recruitment content for every step of a candidate's journey will be wasted if you don’t promote it.
Many HR professionals publish their recruitment content on their company’s career sites and job posting sites.
They also share it on social media. They know that if they want to be successful at promoting their employer's brand on social media, they have to learn all the tricks of recruiting on Facebook and create an outstanding LinkedIn Company Page.
However, there are many other places where you can promote your recruitment content to maximize its reach and achieve better ROI.
5 great, underutilized places to promote your recruitment content
Here is the list of the 5 best underutilized places where you can promote your recruitment content for free:
1. Your employees’ social media profiles
Asking your employees to share your recruitment content on their personal social media profiles is one of the most effective tactics for promoting your recruitment content. Recruitment content shared by employees receives 8 times more engagement than content shared by companies.
2. Online forums
Online forums are very effective, but often overlooked place to promote your recruitment content on. You can choose between numerous different forums, from general ones to those dedicated to special industry areas or any other topics.
3. Blogs
Blogs are another relatively underutilized place where companies can promote their recruitment content. Do a little research to find out which blogs your candidate persona regularly follow and offer to write a guest blog post.
4. University websites
If you’re looking to attract top young talent, then university websites are your go-to places for promoting your recruitment content. Many universities and colleges offer an opportunity for employers to advertise their recruitment content completely free of charge.
5. Company review sites
Online company review sites (such as Glassdoor and Great place to work) are a perfect place to promote your recruitment content and enhance your employer brand. According to Glassdoor, 54% of online job seekers read company reviews from employees.
Martic, K. ( 30 July 2018) "5 great, underutilized places to promote your recruitment content" (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://hrtechweekly.com/2018/07/30/5-great-underutilized-places-to-promote-your-recruitment-content/
Wanted: Female financial advisors to shrink industry gender gap
Recent studies show that just 16 percent of all financial advisors are women, creating a substantial gender gap. Do you want to close the gap?
If you want more female financial advisors, leverage the ones you already have.
That’s among the findings of the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study, which says that despite the fact that women control 51 percent of assets, just 16 percent of all financial advisors are women.
That kind of a gender gap is nothing to be proud of, especially since it also finds that female financial advisors are generally more satisfied and loyal to their firm than their male counterparts.
That said, female advisors have “some unique pain points” that firms looking to better their position in the industry would be wise to correct.
“The wealth management industry clearly recognizes that aligning the gender mix of advisors with the shifting demographics of investors is critical for their success,” Mike Foy, director of the wealth management practice at J.D. Power, says in a statement. Foy adds, “But firms that want to be leaders in attracting and retaining top female talent need to differentiate on recognizing and addressing those areas that women’s perceptions and priorities may differ from men’s.”
The study, which measures satisfaction among both employee advisors and independent advisors, bases its evaluation on seven factors: client support; compensation; firm leadership; operational support; problem resolution; professional development; and technology support.
Considering that even though overall satisfaction with firms is improving, women are “more satisfied and loyal, bigger brand advocates.” The study finds that female advisors’ average overall satisfaction score is 786 among employee advisors—an impressive 59 points higher than among their male counterparts. Among independent advisors, overall satisfaction among women is also higher, at 793, topping their male counterparts by 39 points.
In addition, female advisors also are more likely than male advisors to say they “definitely will” remain at the same firm over the next 1–2 years (68 percent, compared with 56 percent) and are more likely to say they “definitely will” recommend their firm to others (60 percent, compared with 50 percent).
But as far as female advisors are concerned, their firms fall short in a number of areas. Women are significantly more likely than men, the report finds, to say they do not have an appropriate work/life balance (30 percent, compared with 22 percent). And 90 percent of women who do have that balance say they “definitely will” recommend their firm, while only 68 percent of those who do not will do so.
Women are also less likely than men to say they “completely” understand their compensation (60 percent, compared with 66 percent) and less likely to believe it reflects their job performance (60 percent, compared with 68 percent). They’re also less likely than men to believe mentoring programs are effective (44 percent, compared with 53 percent).
The mean tenure for female advisors at their current firms, the study reports, is 18 years, while the mean tenure for male advisors at their current firms is 20 years.
SOURCE:
Satter, M (13 July 2018) "Wanted: Female financial advisors to shrink industry gender gap" [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.benefitspro.com/2018/07/12/wanted-female-financial-advisors-to-shrink-industr/
4 actions HR departments should take to prepare for GDPR
In this article from Benefits Pro, we are going to take a look at the top four actions HR departments should take to prepare for GDPR. Continue reading:
A few years ago, Mark Cuban famously advised that data is the new gold. However, things have changed since the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandal as the public has become increasingly concerned with how companies are using their personal information.
As businesses prepare for the arrival of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), leaders could be forgiven for thinking that data can become more of a liability than an asset – depending on its handling.
GDPR is a much-needed update to data protection that aims to strengthen and unify security for everyone in Europe. The legislation goes live on May 25, 2018 and will enforce all businesses to secure and manage the personal data of all individuals living within the European Union.
After years of gathering data, we are now entering a new era where trust and transparency are the new global currency. GDPR will affect all businesses that store any aspect of personally identifiable information of all individuals, both customer and employee, living in the EU, whether or not that business has an office there.
The scope of GDPR includes employee data, so it directly affects HR departments. As a result, companies need to update processes around the lifecycle of basic employee personal data such as health information and family details.There are many resources surrounding the topic; some on which include free, user-friendly materials published by the EU governments in addition to those that act as “scaremongers” seeking to try to trick companies into paying for compliance help. What makes it most difficult for HR professionals is interpreting the rule, which was written broadly to address any type of personal data and applying it to employee data and HR practices, specifically. Compliance cannot be achieved overnight or ready for the big “go live” in May either. An entirely new way of working to understand where every aspect of data is obtained, how it is used, and where it is stored needs to be put in place. In short, this is not a job for the IT department alone, but rather requires a highly collaborative effort across the company. Silos will need to be broken down to efficiently unify all departments such as sales, marketing, finance, IT, and legal to understand the scale of how much data businesses are actively storing. But what do HR professionals need to know?
1. Create new or updated privacy policies
New privacy policies likely need to be created and implemented to reflect the new rights of employees. Equally, all existing policies should to be reviewed to determine which ones require updating to fall in line with GDPR’s transparency and accountability requirements.
In addition, a key difference between the current EU data rules and the GDPR is the emphasis on individual rights. Employees can now request that their data be completely erased at any time or request a copy of their data thats on file. HR teams need to be prepared to uphold these demands.
2. Revisit outdated processes
Reviewing HR processes, like onboarding a new employee, will help reveal what data you’re collecting that you don’t necessarily have a need for. Minimization is key to successful GDPR compliance; less is more. Implementing minimization will likely require you to update protocols and rethink processes that include the requesting of personal data from employees. For example, the onboarding and transfer of employees will need to be revisited to ensure that data collection practices meet GDPR requirements. You may also need to revisit your record retention policies and processes for ex-employees.
Ask your partners and vendors for their GDPR and compliance plan as risk is shared when they handle employee data on your behalf…
3. Allow data access only to those who really need it
The rise of shadow IT and sensitive data being increasingly stored in the public cloud combined with malware in cloud SaaS applications are the more significant concerns. CIOs and IT leaders now have the power to implement stronger cybersecurity and secure data-management policies that will protect personal data now and in the future. Security elements of the legislation demand that appropriate technical and organizational measures are taken to ensure all employee data is kept safe. HR’s responsibility is to ensure that only those who need access to personal data to do their job have access to it. Making sure that the right people have the appropriate access levels within a digital HR platform – or keys to the file cabinet – is the secret to successful compliance.
4. Centralize your employee file management
Learning about and documenting every element of employee data, where it is stored, and who has access is a process made much easier with centralized digital files. Going forward, a digital system makes it possible for HR to implement and internally audit procedures that will ultimately provide them with the visibility into compliance as well as potential vulnerabilities. GDPR and employee expectations means companies need to shift from a reactive to a proactive approach. A digital system is necessary to enable HR with visibility across their data, securely manage access to the data and implement at scale and policy changes.. With GDPR, the stakes are increasing yet again for companies; HR now must think about collecting the least amount of data they need to get the job done and being completely transparent around its usage, rather than burying this information in complicated terms and conditions. Sure, this will dramatically change the way companies globally deal with EU citizens’ data, but it’s something to be embraced rather than feared. By showcasing implementation of these new data protection practices, a brand can actually build its reputation. While board members might fear the ramifications of the GDPR, we all know that the breach of company data is something far worse. For these reasons alone, GDPR should be seen as an opportunity for every employee to focus on protecting their personal data or at least understanding their responsibilities. And for employers, take this opportunity to become more open to a review of outdated practices and investing in and building technology that can complement this forward thinking approach. Data protection compliance is now an on-going priority and its beneficial for all to take seriously.
Source:
Gouchan A. (4 May 2018). "4 actions HR departments should take to prepare for GDPR" [web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://bit.ly/2wl6ZwU
The decline of the employment drug test
Employers are struggling to hire workers in tightening U.S. job market. Marijuana is now legal in nine states and Washington, D.C., meaning more than one in five American adults can eat, drink, smoke or vape as they please. The result is the slow decline of pre-employment drug tests, which for decades had been a requirement for new recruits in industries ranging from manufacturing to finance.
As of the beginning of 2018, Excellence Health Inc., a Las Vegas-based health care company with around 6,000 employees, no longer drug tests people coming to work for the pharmaceutical side of the business. The company stopped testing for marijuana two years ago. “We don’t care what people do in their free time,” said Liam Meyer, a company spokesperson. “We want to help these people, instead of saying: ‘Hey, you can’t work for us because you used a substance,’” he added. The company also added a hotline for any workers who might be struggling with drug use.
Last month, AutoNation Inc., the largest U.S. auto dealer, announced it would no longer refuse job applicants who tested positive for weed. The Denver Post, owned by Digital First Media, ended pre-employment drug testing for all non-safety sensitive positions in September 2016.
So far, companies in states that have legalized either recreational or medicinal marijuana are leading the way on dropping drug tests. A survey last year by the Mountain States Employers Council of 609 Colorado employers found that the share of companies testing for marijuana use fell to 66 percent, down from 77 percent the year before.
Drug testing restricts the job pool, and in the current tight labor market, that’s having an impact on productivity and growth. In surveys done by the Federal Reserve last year, employers cited an inability by applicants to pass drug tests among reasons for difficulties in hiring. Failed tests reached an all-time high in 2017, according to data from Quest Diagnostics Inc. That’s likely to get worse as more people partake in state-legalized cannabis.
“The benefits of at least reconsidering the drug policy on behalf of an employer would be pretty high,” said Jeremy Kidd, a professor at Mercer Law School, who wrote a paper on the economics of workplace drug testing. “A blanket prohibition can’t possibly be the most economically efficient policy.”
Companies are having a hard enough time hiring, with unemployment hovering around 4 percent. “Employers are really strapped and saying ‘We’re going to forgive certain things,’” said James Reidy, a lawyer that works with employers on their human resources policies. Reidy knows of a half-dozen other large employers that have quietly changed their policies in recent years. Not all companies want to advertise the change, fearing it might imply they are soft on drugs. (Even former FBI director James Comey in 2014 half-joked about the need for the bureau to re-evaluate its drug-testing policy to attract the best candidates.)
Why the change? Pre-employment testing is no longer worth the expense in a society increasingly accepting of drug use. A Gallup poll in October found that 64 percent of Americans favor legalization. That’s the most since the company first started asking the question in 1969, when only 12 percent supported changing the plant’s status. Drug tests costs from $30 to $50 a pop, but the potential costs to an employer are far greater than the actual test.
In addition to helping ease the labor market, eliminating drug testing could have even broader benefits for the economy, said Kidd. Employers could hire the best, theoretically most-productive workers, he said, instead of rejecting people based on their recreational habits. Companies have said they lose out to foreign competitors because they can’t find people who can pass drugs tests, a particularly acute problem in the areas most affected by the opioid crisis.
Some jobs, such as those involving the use of heavy machinery, will always require drug tests. Excellence Health still drug-tests any employee working on a government contract, even in states where weed is legal. Companies are also reserving the right to test after an accident or if an employee comes to work notably impaired.
Not all companies are ready to change course. Restaurant Brands International Inc., which owns Burger King, hasn’t altered its corporate marijuana policy, said Chief Executive Officer Daniel Schwartz. Ford Motor Co. still treats pot as an illegal substance, according to a company spokeswoman.
Weed-averse employers have a notable ally: Attorney General Jeff Sessions. A longtime opponent of legalization, Sessions rescinded in January the Obama-era policies that enabled state-legalized cannabis industries to flourish. The uncertainty caused by the Justice Department’s actions may discourage companies from making changes.
Employers can also get discounts on workers’ compensation insurance for maintaining a “drug-free workplace” by, in part, drug-testing workers. But the types of workplaces forgoing pre-employment tests already enjoy relatively small savings. A job in an office setting, for example, won’t have very many workers’ compensation claims, compared to a factory. The money saved by meeting the qualifications for a drug-free zone isn’t worth it.
“We assume that a certain level of employees are going to be partaking on the weekends,” said Reidy, the employment lawyer. “We don’t care. We’re going to exclude a whole group of people, and we desperately need workers.”
Read the article.
Source:
Greenfield R, Kaplan J. (5 March 2018). "The decline of the employment drug test" [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from address https://www.benefitspro.com/2018/03/05/the-decline-of-the-employment-drug-test/