Welcome!
March is here. Much like the transitioning seasons from winter to spring later this month, many work places may be immersed in their own changes as they begin to prepare for annual performance reviews and forecast for summer seasonal employment needs. Let the HR Support Center be your #1 resource for any questions you may have about these HR topics or others that come your way.
HR Alerts
Health Care Reform: The Employer Mandate
The Department of Treasury announced on February 10 that businesses with 50 to 99 full time equivalent employees will not face a tax penalty under the Employer Mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a result of not providing health care coverage to their employees in 2015. According to one senior administration official, this postponement is has been granted to allow medium-sized employers with, “a little more time to adjust to providing coverage.” In addition, organizations with 100 or more full time equivalent employees will only need to provide health insurance to 70 percent of their full time employees in 2015 in order to comply with the Employer Mandate. This recently amended phase-in of the Employer Mandate (also known as the “Play or Pay” Requirement) will only impact the 2015 obligations. For 2016 and beyond, all businesses with 50 or more full time equivalent employees will be obligated to provide health care coverage to at least 95 percent of their full time employees as originally envisioned in the ACA.
Minimum Wage Increase for Federal Contract Employees
President Obama announced that in the next few weeks, he will sign an executive order raising the minimum wage for workers covered by new federal contracts to $10.10 an hour. This increase will be very limited in scope; it will only apply to employees who would otherwise make less than $10.10 an hour and who are employed under new, rather than existing, federal contracts. The earliest this order is likely to take effect is in 2015. As of now, it appears that the general federal minimum wage of $7.25, which must be amended by Congress (as opposed to by a presidential executive order), is unlikely to change in the near future.
Good Worker, Poor Attitude: Boosting Employee Morale
If we held the key for resolving the seemingly endless workplace morale problems, we would never have to work another day. While boosting employee mindset and motivation is a fairly complex topic involving many factors and moving pieces, generally the best approach to the issue is to look at the factors that substantive data has shown most closely align with employee satisfaction. Multiple research ranks these criteria in a number of varying sequences; however, there is no question that the factors listed below greatly impact an employee’s overall satisfaction in the workplace:
1) The employee’s relationship with his/her direct manager. Surprisingly, the research tends to support that this may be the number one factor in terms of job satisfaction, often ranked higher than compensation and benefits. Thus, if you have employee morale concerns trending in your workplace, one of the first places to look is at your team of managers and supervisors. Employees tend to highly value a manager who is forthright, honest, respectful and consistent. Additionally, it is critically important that your team of managers consists of clear and concise communicators who are comfortable with providing direct feedback, whether it is positive or constructive. If your management team is lacking in any of these areas, it may benefit your organization to enroll in some management skills training programs, or even consider making some changes in your management staff.
2) The employee’s salary. Of course compensation level highly influences an employee’s job satisfaction. You may need to evaluate some salary survey data (such as the Occupational Employment Statistics website, salary data from competitors, or via a private company that conducts salary research) to determine whether your organization’s compensation is aligned with the market rate for comparable positions.
3) The employee’s benefit plans. Another factor not surprisingly in this list includes employer-sponsored benefit plans. Benefit plans available to employees play a key role in satisfaction. This includes not only health and retirement plans, but also paid vacation, holidays, sick leave, bereavement leave, educational assistance, health club memberships, etc., that an employer provides to its workforce. A segment of benefits that many employers fail to consider here are those that help promote a healthy work/life balance for employees. Certain segments of the workforce value flexibility benefits more so than any other aspect of employer provided incentives. You may, therefore, wish to take into consideration whether a telecommuting benefit or flexible work week schedule may be beneficial to your employees.
4) The employee’s opportunity to use his/her skills and aptitudes. It is important that you place employees into roles in which they are able to utilize their skillsets. Employees who feel like they are able to apply and exhibit their strengths and areas of talent tend to be much happier at work.
5) The employee’s sense of feeling valued. Rather than implementing formal, across-the-board recognition programs, we generally recommend focusing on employees feeling valued and recognized by the management team. There are so many ways to express to employees that they are valued. Some of our clients have reported excellent morale-improving results from:
Providing employees hand-written thank you letters for exceptional work
Giving gift cards to local restaurants, movie theaters, etc.
Bringing in lunch or dinner during periods when employees work extra hours
Having the management team wash and detail employees’ cars
Bringing in a massage therapist to set up for the day and give employees 30-minute massages
Planning and executing team building events (ropes courses, bowling, dinner out, etc.)
Establishing a casual dress day.
6) The employee’s opportunity for advancement. Employees who see a clear path for professional growth within the company certainly are happier and tend to produce a higher quantity and quality of work. You may want to analyze your organization’s career paths and perhaps institute some career planning/mentoring systems. This will also help the organization to prepare for succession planning as well as focusing on employees that may be suited for fast track career paths.
If your employees as a whole have an eager, cheerful and engaged attitude toward work, your business will benefit with an inherent, competitive advantage with respect to organizational performance. If your employees are generally discontented, negative and disengaged in their jobs, it follows that work performance and production will reflect these morose feelings. Employees with low morale tend to perform more poorly than their motivated colleagues; on average, disgruntled workers produce less output, miss work more frequently, and service customers with less enthusiasm and effort than do their contented counterparts. The Gallup Organization estimates that these negative outcomes cost U.S. employers as much as $350 billion per year.
If morale is suffering in your workplace, consider gathering your management team to evaluate your organization and grade its results in each of these six factors, especially as they relate to your top performing employees. Once you have calculated the results, consider making adjustments within your organization’s management style, pay structure, benefit offerings, job duties and career planning based on the outcome of your informal workplace morale audit.
Question & Answer
Q: One of my employees has been spoken to about his diminished job performance. The employee opened up and stated the change in work output is due to a diagnosis of depression. We have given the employee a week off; can we obligate the employee to take a medical leave of absence?
A: If your organization has more than fifteen employees, the provisions of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will apply to your organization. Depression is generally considered a disability under the ADA. Unless the employee requests additional medical leave, the organization is not permitted to force an employee with a disability to take medical leave. However, if his or her doctor certifies the need for additional medical leave, we recommend granting it as long as it is reasonable in duration.
The organization is required to work with the employee to accommodate the disability, as long as doing so does not create an undue hardship for the employer. You are still permitted to hold the employee to the same performance standards as other similarly situated employees.
The next step is to require medical certification to verify the disability and to get the employee’s treating physician’s perspective as to what type of workplace accommodations he/she may need. Upon receipt of the physician’s completed medical certification for workplace accommodations, the employee should be provided with any reasonable workplace accommodations in an effort to assist him/her in meeting the performance standards and expectations of his/her job.
Whereas this is not an all-inclusive list, the following are suggestions for common accommodations for depressive or anxiety disorders. At times, a short period of accommodation is all that is required while an employee adjusts to prescribed medication treating the condition.
- Time off to attend counseling sessions
- A move to a private office instead of an open work space
- Weekly meetings with the manager to get more frequent feedback
Telecommuting and Flexible Work Schedule Policies
In a business environment where many employees are routinely bringing along work assignments on vacations and routinely make themselves accessible during weekends and other off-hours, jobs become ever-present and the line between on and off work time becomes blurred. By incorporating flexible work schedules and telecommuting into an organization’s structure, an employer may find that employees are more productive, satisfied and experience less conflict between work time and personal obligations.
In order to successfully implement and manage a flexible work schedule and/or a telecommuting policy in the workplace, it is imperative that managers weigh the benefits against any disadvantages of such programs. Some roles are equally successful and practicable whether an individual is based in the office location or from a remote one. Other positions, especially those that are reliant upon face-to-face meetings with clients or colleagues may be best left unchanged and remain as office-based jobs.
A position that is typically telephone- or electronically-based, may be housed in any location. With technology providing instantaneous communications via email and instant messaging, employers will not be disadvantaged by employing individuals who are remotely located.
The key with this arrangement though is to clearly define expectations of the work schedule, number of work hours per week and accountability. Where it is clearly more obvious within a shared workspace whether employees are present and performing their job duties, telecommuting employees should utilize their electronic communications as a means of regular accessibility during their work hours. It is also suggested that managers reach out to remotely located employees on a routine basis to ensure that the employees are engaged in their work duties as well as to assure the employee that the manager is accessible for support to the employee when needed.
This of course does not rule out flexible work schedules, which is the term for allowing employees to work shifts other than the standard 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday time period.
Employees who work a flexible schedule may bring a company or organization a variety of benefits, including: decreased absenteeism and tardiness, greater accessibility to customers, improved morale, and an overall increase in productivity.
When implementing a flexible work schedule, it is important that the employer clearly expresses expectations regarding the number of hours that the employee is to work. Establishing the hours per business day is another suggestion, as this clarifies the workplace rules, as well as benefits employees by informing them of co-workers’ availability.
Other benefits of telecommuting and flexible schedules are cost related; flexible schedules and telecommuting should not pose a financial liability to an organization. In fact, the opposite may ring true; employers who permit flexible work schedules and/or telecommuting often see a decrease in employee turnover. Some of the most common factors impacting employee resignations involve work/life balance. Employers who are able to successfully implement creative work schedules without compromising the operations of their business establish themselves as an employer of choice for individuals who value flexibility of schedules and telecommuting when searching for an ideal employment situation.
Whether an organization has already established a telecommuting and/or flexible work schedule policy or it is embarking on these options, it is imperative that the policy and the expectations are clearly communicated and that the policy is consistently applied to all employees eligible to participate in these alternate work schedules. It is also important to take into consideration any factors that would negate the program, whether for the employer as a whole or for an individual employee.
Tool of the Month:
The Employee Orientation Form
This form is provided to new employees to ensure that all applicable areas of interest are covered during the new employee’s orientation. As the new employee’s manager or HR Representative addresses each of the new employee orientation topics, the new employee may initial the space next to each item as it is covered. It is a great tool to ensure employees enjoy a consistent orientation.
