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Seven Steps to a Stigma Free Workplace

Seven Steps to a Stigma Free Workplace

Imagine you see a friend or coworker carrying something heavy—perhaps a big box, or a table.

You grab the other end to help carry it, or rush to a door to hold it open for them. You do whatever is necessary to help. You don’t really think twice.

While it’s simple and often instinctive to lend a hand to someone in need, helping carry the burden of mental health disorders still brings many employers pause. Hesitation is attributed to stigma—the mark of shame or disgrace associated with circumstances, qualities and people living with mental illness.

This hesitation is also caused by uncertainty and fear. Suddenly, offering help seems precarious and political, and employers fumble to make what would otherwise be natural accommodations. However, Paul Heck of DuPont, suggests the same simple courtesy we extend to someone carrying a heavy box be applied to people demonstrating distress.

The Extent (and Expense)

One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. According to a World Health Report, 450 million people currently suffer from these conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.

As if the scope of mental health disorders weren’t enough, the cumulative economic cost of mental disorders is projected to reach $16.3 trillion worldwide. In the U.S. alone, the cost of untreated mental illness to employers is estimated to be as high as $100 billion a year. According to the National Business Group on Health, more days of work are lost or disrupted by mental illness than by many chronic conditions, including arthritis, diabetes and heart disease.

With depression now the world’s second leading cause of disability, workplaces can no longer keep mental health disorders quiet—and businesses can no longer afford to.

An Employer’s Role

Creating awareness and providing accommodations is necessary, but perhaps even more important is the employer’s role in fighting the stigma around mental health.

To support employees with mental illness, the National Mental Health Association and the National Council for Behavioral Health recommend seven action steps:

1. ) Educate employees about the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders.

Routine talk about mental illness warning signs, steps for assessing situations and where to find help is necessary for educating employees in the workplace. Empowering employees with resources and language is a good first step in eliminating fear and tension around the subject of mental health.

2.) Encourage employees to talk about stress, workload, family commitments and other issues.

This kind of encouragement often comes in the form of thoughtful questions. Instead of vaguely asking about health or saying, “You seem depressed,” mention that the employee is not being their usual self. Ask, “Do you want to talk about it?” and remind them it’s okay to ask for help.

3.) Communicate that mental illnesses are real, common and treatable.

This goes hand-in-hand with education. Take the stats from this blog and share them with your employees! Let people know that they’re not alone by having frequent conversations, equipping employees with resources and initiating check-in’s.

4.) Discourage stigmatizing language, including hurtful labels such as “crazy,” “loony” or “nuts.”

Again, attention to language is critical. Less than one third of employees coping with mental illness receive treatment, due to fear that they will be called out or treated differently at work. While it may be easy to brush off such small words, careless labels like these directly contribute to stigma.

5.) Invest in mental health benefits.

Mental health disorders are often rooted in a range of issues that make individuals feel helpless and overwhelmed. Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s), health insurance, leadership training, flex schedules, financial literacy training and even childcare all contribute to an individual’s total health. These benefits care for employees as whole people and ultimately improve workplace effectiveness.

6.) Help employees transition back to work after they take leave.

A common misconception about mental illness is that individuals can’t recover. However, 65 to 85 percent of people will improve with appropriate diagnosis, treatment and monitoring, according to the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health. Return to work plans might include counseling and accommodations aimed at bringing employees back to work faster. In this way, work provides a self-esteem boost and plays an important role in an individual’s recovery.

7.) Consider Obtaining Access to an Employee Assistance Program.

Employee Assistant Programs are work-based intervention programs designed to identify and assist employees in resolving common marital, financial, substance abuse and mental health issues. EAP’s can be offered to employees for free and are usually administered by a third-party, to ensure confidence in talking about private issues that many people fear will jeopardize their employment.

Communicating Care

To maintain a healthy work culture and ensure efficiency, mental health can no longer be a topic to whisper about behind closed doors. With the average American spending 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime, it’s impossible to assume the effects of mental health disorders are absent in the workplace.

Employers have a responsibility to fight proactively against mental health stigma, ensuring their employees are spending their 90,000 hours well, in a good and safe place.

For more information on how Servant HR can act as your coach for workplace issues like this one, contact us today.

What the New Exempt Salary Threshold Could Mean for Your Business

What the New Exempt Salary Threshold Could Mean for Your Business

In December 2016, compliance with the Obama administration and the Department of Labor’s proposed wage minimum required extreme reclassification. (Read our 2016 blog on this proposal here.) The proposal would have raised minimum exemption wage to a jarring $47,476 from the previous $23,660. Push back from businesses combined with a late term lawsuit kept the proposal pending until Trump took office.

This Just In

As of last week, the Department of Labor has proposed an increase straight down the middle of the historic minimum and attempted Obama-era hike. The current proposed salary-level threshold for white-collar exemptions now sits at $35,308. According to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the proposal, if finalized, could result in the transition of more than one million currently exempt workers to non exempt, as well as many pay increases for employees below the new threshold.

Nonexempt employees (those who do not meet the salary base and do not match FLSA work requirements) must receive a “time and one half” pay rate for any hours worked over forty in a workweek. The FLSA “duties test” defines specific regulations for executive, administrative and professional work that make an employee exempt, in addition to the salary threshold.

Tricky Business

While compliance is mandatory if the proposal is finalized, the specific way of reaching compliance is left to employer decisions.

If exempt employees currently make salaries significantly lower than the threshold, reclassifying employees to non-exempt and overtime eligible might make sense.

But, employers can also avoid salary and overtime pay altogether. Hours for newly non-exempt employees may be reduced, part-time or contract workers may be hired to fill gaps, tasks may be re-assigned to other exempt employees, and perks may be dismissed since the exempt/non-exempt distinction is often used to provide benefits.

Employers must then weigh the cost of morale.

Overall, it makes more sense to reclassify to nonexempt if an employee does not work much beyond forty hours. But for employees who often work over 40, it may be less difficult and less expensive to increase salary to the new threshold, rather than paying consistent overtime.

What Now?

There is still a long way to go before reclassification. Proposals are always small first steps in a lengthy process before finalization.

However, employers do not have to wait for the final rule to review FLSA duty requirements. Jeffrey Ruzal, an attorney with Epstein Becker Green, recommends employers begin auditing their exempt workforces to determine how many might qualify under the criteria of executive, administrative and professional exemptions. Before raging re-classification, it is possible that employees currently or potentially exempt due to salary, may not pass the primary duties tests.

In general, this pending proposal offers valuable time for fixing current errors and planning for the future. We at Servant HR would love to help plan for yours. If you’re our client, we’re already on it. But if you have questions about the specifics of the proposal, or are wondering how a PEO can help manage these crucial details, please don’t hesitate. Contact us today!

Employee vs. Independent Contractor: The latest NLRB approach

Employee vs. Independent Contractor: The latest NLRB approach

A new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision has drawn a blurrier line between employers and independent contractors. Returning to pre-Obama-era policies, the NLRB is now more likely to acknowledge independent contractor relationships.

A wide array of federal, state and local laws govern the relationship between employers and their employees. But often these laws do not apply to those classified as independent contractors.

The distinction between the two is critical, but hazy, as each law has a slightly different way of discerning independent contractors from employees. Courts and agencies add complication as well through differing interpretations of those laws, along with frequently changing standards according to appointed political party.

Back and Forth

Last year the California Supreme Court broadened the definition of “employee” for wage order claims. Obama-era guidance restricted an employer’s ability to classify workers as independent contractors. Now under President Trump, federal agencies are swinging back the other way.

According to Ryan Funk of Faegre Baker Daniels, the new NLRB decision returns to how it viewed independent contractors before Obama-era restrictions. Funk writes, “The main difference between the new test and the Obama-era one is how the agency looks at whether workers have ‘entrepreneurial opportunity.’”

Action vs. Opportunity

The Obama-era decision gave weight only to actual entrepreneurial activity (and even then, only when looking at just one part of a multi-factor test.) This narrow view makes the chance of meeting criteria significantly slim.

The new NLRB decision re-establishes the value of entrepreneurial activity. The principle of “opportunity for entrepreneurial activity” is used to evaluate the overall effect of each of the ten factors in a common-law analysis of an independent contractor relationship.

The decision is employer friendly, as it frees up employers to classify independent contractors and drop the host of governing laws.

Boiling It Down

While employers are freed up through the new decision, the line is still blurry. Those looking for a clear distinction between employee and independent contractor are in for a letdown. According to Funk, “Any legal test with ten factors is bound to boil down to a case-by-case approach.”

Even tests and their factors can vary case-by-case. Over the last thirty years the IRS has used an old revenue ruling twenty-point test, the tax court has used a seven-point test, and the IRS has espoused a three-pronged “control test.” Confusion is certainly understandable.

Therefore, independent contractor relationships should be re-analyzed in light of the new NLRB approach. Based on potential IRS involvement, it’s also important to note that the NLRB is just one voice in a crowd of agencies, so employers should stay up to date as independent contractor tests continue to evolve.

HR and automation: Integrating human and digital resources

HR and automation: Integrating human and digital resources

Since the agricultural revolution of the 18th century, the productivity and efficiency of technology has instilled fear of employment displacement. Everything from surgical automation to grocery store self-checkout has people wondering: Am I going to lose my job to a computer?

The concern is legitimate. According to the 2017 Global Future of Work Survey report from Willis Towers Watson, business leaders expect 17 percent of work will be automated by 2020. While some industries (i.e. manufacturing, military, etc.) have been highly automated for years, other sectors such as retail, finance, banking and insurance are currently reeling from increases in automation. Restaurant kiosks, ATM machines and even automated financial planning platforms are being offered in place of human talent.

Technology’s power to transform economic sectors is nothing new, and its influence is only speeding up. So what does automation mean for HR — a department namely for humans?

HR is not exempt from the impact of automation. According to the Society of Human Resource Management, “Software bots and sophisticated algorithms are making it much easier for recruiters to source and screen job candidates, a function formerly performed solely by very human HR employees.”

Technology provides a more user-driven employee experience and most commonly automates tasks that are tedious and time consuming. We at Servant HR have experienced this on a small scale through the implementation of electronic onboarding. Automation has lessened the paperwork shuffle and provides employees with forms they can fill out on their own laptop, on their own time.

Automation advances undoubtedly improve customer service and eliminate human error. It’s definitely good… but isn’t that kind of bad? For the ones who get paid for the paper shuffle?

It sounds like it, but it’s widely argued that humans still retain an edge. As smart as computers are, the human body itself is a flexible and adaptable work platform. Human workers see the details, weigh implicit factors and can make complex decisions in unique situations. While rote work can become more efficient, according to a KPMG study, jobs that involve networking, project management, sales, conflict resolution, hospitality, creativity and any level of social intelligence are insulated.

But insulated doesn’t mean isolated. The automation revolution is a revolution for a reason—it’s everywhere. Rather than viewing automation as the enemy, Lisa Buckingham, a brand officer at Lincoln Financial Group, encourages today’s businesses to “provide a blend of digital and human services.”

This analysis is based off of companies like Amazon and Lyft, who were born digital. These companies continue to raise consumer expectations across all industries for simple, transparent solutions. Even the most creative and human-centered jobs must embrace the efficiency and simplicity of technology.

Oxford University program directors, Michael Osborne and Carl Frey, have conducted extensive research on the future of employment. Their work also reveals that tasks requiring relationship building and an understanding of human needs in social situations are best-suited for humans.

We think so too. At Servant HR, relationship is our priority. Our people-centered approach to businesses makes our team of experts an irreplaceable asset to our clients, despite the imminence of automation.

Automation is not the enemy. Done right, automation frees up human workers to provide more hospitality, one-on-one interaction and detail-oriented customer service.

And service is what we’re all about.

To learn more about what our personal PEO can do for your business, contact us today!

The New W-2 (what you need to know)

The New W-2 (what you need to know)

A W-2 tax form shows the amount of income and amount of taxes withheld from your paycheck for the year and is used to file your federal and state taxes.

The IRS requires W-2’s be mailed by employers and postmarked by January 31st. For us at Servant HR, that means our annual W-2 envelope stuffing (pizza party) happens in late January to ensure all forms reach our employees on time. Along with many other employers, we also provide access to W-2’s online.

Form W-2 is used by corporations and small businesses to report taxable income to workers. W-2 forms are divided into state and federal sections, since employees must file taxes on both levels. The W-2 also includes social security and government health care withholdings.

For employees this means a few things:

 

1. You are required to report all wages you earned from your job(s) during the year on your tax return. You should receive and complete a W-2 from every employer that paid you at least $600 during the year. For freelancers and contract workers, a 1099 form is used instead.

2. Every W-2 form contains the same information, regardless of format. Lettered boxes are for identifying information. Numbered boxes are for financial information. For a more detailed description of requirements for each box, read here.

3. While it can be tempting to get a head start on tax season, never use a final pay stub in place of a W-2 when filing your taxes. Reported earnings on your last pay stub may differ from the reported earnings on your W-2. This can be for a variety of reasons, such as participation in pre-tax deduction health insurance, participation in a company sponsored retirement plan, or the earnings on your pay stub may include non-taxable income items.

4. If you don’t receive your W-2 by mid-February, check online or contact your employer and request that a copy be resent. If there is still no action taken, call the IRS using the phone number and information detailed here.

5. If your employer makes an error on your W-2 (i.e. leaves out a decimal or spells your name wrong) point out the mistake immediately and ask for a corrected W-2. This could mean you’ll be in a bit of a time crunch, so you may have to estimate your earnings and withholdings.

6. Your tax return is due on April 15, 2019. If your corrected W-2 arrives after you’ve filed your tax return, you may need to go back and amend it using the 1040-X form.

7. Once you file your taxes, you should receive your tax refund within 21 days of filing.

 

Keep your eyes open for W-2’s in your mailbox and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

And if you’re interested in spending less time on tax stuff, HR, payroll, benefits and risk management and more time on your actual business, we’re here for you. It’s a new year, but we’re for our same mission: creating freedom to focus.

Happy 2019! (And happy almost-tax-season!)

 

Social media and the workplace

Social media and the workplace

When it comes to legal situations around social media and the workplace, the best defense is a good offense. You may not be asking these exact questions today, but someday you might. Keep reading to learn how to avoid legal traps as an employer, and how to formulate a stronger social media policy as an HR professional.


Q: “My employee is making comments about me on his/her personal Facebook account. What can I do?”

A: Perhaps nothing has emboldened people more than the rise of social media. Comments one wouldn’t dare make in person can now be expressed quickly and frequently behind the perceived safety of the internet.

But as inappropriate or insulting as a post may be, employers do not always have the right to take action against an employee for social media behavior. The National Labor Relations Act enforces the right of employees to engage in “protected concerted activity.” This law allows employees, with or without a union, to act together to improve their pay and working conditions.

 

Q: “What exactly qualifies as protected concerted activity?”

A: According to the National Labor Relations Board, an employee simply griping about their job is not concerted activity. Whatever an employee says or posts on social media must have “some relation to group action, or seek to initiate, induce or prepare for group action or bring a group complaint to the attention of management.”

However, the NLRB decides what actions deserve protection, and because every situation is different, the law is intentionally vague. Sometimes comments made on social media are interpreted as protected concerted activity because they are supported by other coworkers or simply directed at management.

In one case, an employee of a New York catering company was fired for profane Facebook comments directed at his boss and his boss’s family. Still, the NLRB found this employee protected, since the comments were made during a work break, expressed the employee’s concern about management and ended with an all caps call to join the union. The NLRB ordered reinstatement and back pay for the employee.

Less extreme examples of concerted activity include talking with coworkers about wages and benefits, circulating a petition for better hours, participating in refusal to work in unsafe conditions or joining with coworkers to address issues directly with an employer, government agency or media outlet.

The law does not protect spreading maliciously false information, or bashing an employer’s products or services without linking back to a labor controversy. However, the still-vague terms have caught many employers in legal traps.

 

Q: “So employers can never terminate employees for online behavior?”

A: Not exactly. Off duty conduct laws vary state to state, but employers do have the right to regulate online activity. For example, an employer can discipline employees for online behavior during work hours. However, they must be consistent in enforcing this policy. Discipline must be enforced for all online activity during work hours, not just when negative comments about the company are made.

Employers must also take action when an employee’s online actions place the employer at legal risk. Examples of this include betraying confidential information, violating rules about company product endorsements or harassing a coworker.

Employers should intervene when an employee acts disloyally online as well. Complaining about a manager or pay rate on Twitter isn’t considered disloyal, but if an employee claims online that the hospital where they work is unsafe, this is considered disloyal. However, if employees address legitimate safety concerns with an employer or government agency, this activity is protected.

 

Q: “What other ways can I prevent legal situations around social media in the workplace?”

A: Employers must welcome feedback. Many attacks on social media happen out of pent up frustration. If frustration can be expressed early on when everyone is still rational, the extreme cases can be avoided.

Consistent communication about social media policy is also essential. Along with routine education and training, it is important for company handbooks to have compliant social media policy in order for interceding action to take place fairly and consistently. Any employer action in response to employee behavior on social media must be in line with previous action and easily traceable to a clear handbook policy.

However, even “airtight” social media guidelines leave employers susceptible to accusations and lawsuits. Focusing on prevention is first, but staying up to date on labor relations laws is a close second.

 

Still have questions? We have answers and experience. Contact us today to see how Servant HR can serve your administrative and consulting needs.

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