Leave

4 steps toward more flexible time-off benefits

02/21/2023

Work flexibility and time off are more important to employees than ever before. Many employers made changes on the fly to their time-off programs during the pandemic. Now is a good time to take stock of your programs and policies and look for opportunities to improve competitiveness and ensure compliance. Here are four things employers can do to add flexibility to their time-off policies right now.

SHRM calls for national paid leave system

02/21/2023

The Society for Human Resource Management has released what it calls a framework for a national paid leave system that “has the potential to increase access to compensated leave for workers and achieve continuity with benefits offered by employers in different states and jurisdictions.”

Sleep is overrated: Zillow expands parental leave

12/20/2022

Parental leave is among the benefits that interest working women most, according to a 2022 summer survey by the insurance broker Breeze.

New York state will bar retaliation against workers who take legally protected time off

12/15/2022

The law appears to focus on “points-based” attendance, in which employers impose points, or demerits, on employees for absences, often without regard for the reason for the absence—including medical reasons, which can be protected under the FMLA and other laws.

Viral tripledemic means missed work

12/06/2022

Influenza hospitalizations increased 30% Thanksgiving week, taking up over 11,000 beds. It’s expected to get worse, says Health and Human Services. COVID-19 cases are again climbing, albeit modestly. Respiratory syncytial virus infects many infants and young children. All signs lead to a winter tripledemic of illness and missed work.

New year, new laws: Update your compliance!

11/29/2022

States have new laws about human trafficking reporting, hair discrimination, family leave, wage transparency, artificial intelligence and surveillance.

Bereavement leave comes to life

11/17/2022

Bereavement leave is relatively new. Until recently, only one state, Oregon, required businesses with more than 25 workers to provide bereavement leave to eligible employees after the death of a loved one.

Paying attention to attendance policies

09/29/2022

Assuring that workers show up for their scheduled shifts is crucial. one popular way is through a no-fault attendance policy that punishes unplanned absences beyond those protected by the FMLA, the ADA and the company’s vacation and sick time policies. But such policies can backfire.

Survey says, ‘Take off!’ You need a vacation!

09/13/2022

If you haven’t taken a vacation in the past year, you’re not alone. An August survey found that 42% of U.S. workers had not taken any vacation time off in the preceding 12 months.

Less than half of HR took their allotted PTO

07/28/2022

New research from Qualtrics shows that, due to an increased workload, less than half (49%) of HR professionals took their allotted PTO time last year. But help is on the way.