Human Resources

HR Roundup: 10 Steps to Employees’ Mental Health Wellness

The following are recent HR-related developments and resources for OMA members:

• Under federal legislation moving through Congress, employers would be required to automatically enroll employees in their 401(k) plan at a rate of at least 3%, according to this insight from OMA Connections Partner Frantz Ward.
• OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips has published this guidance called “10 Steps to Mental Health Wellness for Your Employees.”
• To meet talent needs, employers might consider adjusting their policies and processes to hire more caregivers, older workers, workers with disabilities, and workers with criminal backgrounds, according to this story in HR Dive.

Meanwhile, the Society for Human Resource Management reports many employees misunderstand voluntary benefits offered by their employers — and the organization provides these six tips for evaluating voluntary benefits programs. 5/12/2022

Survey: Employers Seek to Address Pay Discrepancies

Employers are facing pressure to address pay discrepancies among their new hires and more tenured employees, according to a new survey. HR Dive reports that 62% of employers said they were reviewing compensation plans and increasing salaries for existing employees to align with current market rates. 4/25/2022

Wage Transparency Laws Gain Traction

Wage transparency laws are being imposed on employers more frequently — and businesses should expect this trend to continue, according to OMA Connections Partner Frantz Ward. In this analysis, employers are advised to start to consider how they would comply with possible wage transparency requirements. 4/27/2022

Insight Into Ohio’s New Overtime Law

When Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 47 earlier this month, he handed employers a win by exempting overtime pay for commuting and other off-hours work, while requiring workers to affirmatively “opt in” to join costly class and collective actions for overtime pay. This insight from OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips discusses what employers need to do to prepare for SB 47, which takes effect July 6. 4/26/2022

Cleveland Fed: Higher Wages May Hinder Hiring Efforts for Certain Applicants

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland writes that while higher wages and salaries are welcomed by most employees, some workers and applicants are worried about losing government-provided assistance due to wage inflation. The Atlanta Fed has developed this tool to help employers understand how the so-called “benefits cliff” can come into play. 4/27/2022

10 Ways to Show Employees You Care About Their Well-Being

Just 24% of workers strongly agree that their employer cares about their well-being, according to Gallup. The firm has published this top 10 list of ideas — compiled using Gallup’s research — to help you let employees know that you care about their well-being. 4/25/2022

Report: Health Care Plan Compliance Burden Grows

This report by OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips says the complexity of employers’ health care plan compliance obligations “has reached a tipping point” — and that “most employers will need to invest in additional resources” to ensure they aren’t exposed to regulatory and litigation risks.

Meanwhile, a new survey from Willis Towers Watson finds that nearly two-thirds of employers plan to address employee health care affordability over the next two years. 4/28/2022

The Ongoing Question: Masks or No Masks

After the news this week that a federal court judge struck down the CDC’s mask mandate for airplanes, mass transportation, and transit hubs, many employers immediately wondered what it might mean for their businesses. OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips offers this Insight to explore a few of the considerations employers may want to take into account when determining their next steps. 4/19/2022

Putting Substance Use Disorder in Perspective

Here’s a short video — An Employer’s Response to Medication-Assisted Treatment of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) — spotlighted by OMA Connections Partner Working Partners^(R).

Some employers are embracing medication-assisted treatment of SUD as part of their strategy to manage a stable workforce.

Contact the experts at Working Partners^(R) for help with your drug-free workplace matters. 4/18/2022

NLRB General Counsel Issues Memo Re. “Captive Audience” Meetings

According to OMA Connections Partner Dinsmore, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is requesting the NLRB find captive audience meetings to constitute an unfair labor practice if the employer fails to provide its employees with assurances against threat of discipline, discharge or other reprisal. Read more about this here. 4/20/2022