HRIS_&_Payroll_Excellence_July_2022

JULY 2022 • Vol.09 • No.07 (ISSN 2564-2030)

4 WAYS COMPANIES CAN AVOID PAYROLL MISTAKES - Adam Day,

President & CEO, Timerack

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Remote Work: Protected Leave And Workers’ Compensation - Nicolas K. Ball, Barran Liebman LLP

21

30

Unlocking The Power Of People Data: The Untold DEI&B Story

Hybrid Work Transformation: 16 Elements To Consider

- Amy Mosher,

- Dr. Raman K. Attri, Performance Scientist, Author

isolved

37

Michigan Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Laws Rise From The Dead - Michael Cardman, XpertHR

INDEX

HRIS & Payroll Excellence JULY 2022

Vol.09

No.07

(ISSN 2564-2030)

07

4 Ways Companies Can Avoid Payroll Mistakes Inaccurate paychecks are bad for businesses

On the Cover Articles 10 Straight Talk with HR.com ‘Data And Data Safety Are Of Highest Priority For HR Exclusive interview with Heather Beckstead, Head of People, Axle

18 What You Gain From An Employee Self-Service Portal Reducing paperwork and streamlining administrative tasks - Cal McGrath,

Vice President, Product Management, Unicorn HRO

24 Employee Data To Enhance Workplace Safety And Employee Productivity Better collaboration and intelligence are mandatory for a motivated workforce - Mike Steere, Co-Founder, SaferMe

- Adam Day,

President & CEO, Timerack

33 Top 5 Reasons To Optimize Your Remote Work Policy Ensuring employees do not hop from place-to-place - Mark S. Spring, Office Managing Partner & Chair, and Todd R. Wulffson, Managing Partner, Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger, LLP

41 PPP Loans: DOJ Investigating FinTechs Compliance with anti-fraud and anti-money-laundering laws - A.J. Dhaliwal, Special Counsel, and Matthew Lin, Associate, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP

Top Picks

14

INDEX

Remote Work: Protected Leave And Workers’ Compensation Considerations for employers with remote workers - Nicolas K. Ball, Attorney, Barran Liebman LLP

21

Unlocking The Power Of People Data: The Untold DEI&B Story Four reasons to adopt people analytics - Amy Mosher, Chief People Officer, isolved

30

Hybrid Work Transformation: 16 Elements To Consider A long-term remote work strategy is a must-have to drive accountability in the company - Dr Raman K Attri, Performance Scientist, Author

37

Michigan Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Laws Rise From The Dead Employers should prepare for more employee-friendly minimum wage and paid sick leave laws - Michael Cardman, Senior Legal Editor, XpertHR

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HRIS & Payroll Excellence: (ISSN 2564-2030)

Remote work, workers’ pay and their compensation

T

hese days, payroll mistakes should be entirely avoidable: automation has infiltrated practically every aspect of society. And yet over 25% of small businesses still use pen and paper to manually track finances. This results in frequent administrative errors, with a quarter of workers reporting being incorrectly paid at least once.

Inaccurate paychecks are bad for business, whether companies are overpaying or underpaying. Either they are cutting into their profit margin or short-changing their workforce, leaving themselves open to lawsuits.

Obviously, neither is ideal.

Featured on the cover, this month is, 4 Ways Companies Can Avoid Payroll Mistakes By Adam Day of Timerack.

In this article, Adam discusses how employers can avoid improperly compensating their workforce.

Jacksons Point, Ontario L0E 1L0

Also, read Unlocking The Power Of People Data: The Untold DEI&B Story

by Amy Mosher of isolved, and Hybrid Work Transformation: 16 Elements To Consider by performance scientist and author Dr. Raman K. Attri.

That is not all! We have featured several other articles this month, and hope this edition of HRIS & Payroll Excellence will help you achieve excellence in your HRIS and payroll processes.

Happy reading and don’t forget to send us your feedback!

As employers adapt to the post-pandemic economy, many are finding that remote work is here to stay. Read, Barran Liebman’s Nicolas K. Ball’s Remote Work: Protected Leave And Workers’ Compensation to understand how to be prepared for the unique challenges that remote work poses.

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Also, featured this month is an exclusive interview with Heather Beckstead, Head of People of Axle, who touches upon how important HR and HR data safety are for the company, the unique challenges of being a remote-first company, and her priorities for the future, among others.

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COVER ARTICLE

4 Ways Companies Can Avoid Payroll Mistakes Inaccurate paychecks are bad for businesses

By Adam Day, Timerack

T

hese days, payroll mistakes should be entirely avoidable: automation has infiltrated practically every aspect of society. And yet over 25% of small businesses still use pen and paper to manually track finances. This results in frequent administrative errors, with a quarter of workers reporting being incorrectly paid at least once.

Inaccurate paychecks are bad for business, whether companies are overpaying or underpaying. Either they are cutting into their profit margin or short-changing their workforce, leaving themselves open to lawsuits. Obviously, neither is ideal.

Furthermore, companies risk creating a disaffected workforce

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that is unmotivated to work.

One survey found that 49% of workers will begin a new job search after two paycheck errors.

Clearly, if a company can not pay its employees correctly and promptly, someone else will.

may end up costing companies millions of dollars in lawsuits. To avoid such substantial penalties, ensure you are complying with all legal statutes regarding minimum wage, overtime, and gig employees.

Since there is already a substantial labor shortage, with more jobs vacant than people willing to fill them, it is crucial for companies to issue accurate paychecks to ensure employee retention. So, how can you avoid improperly compensating your workforce?

In the U.S., economists have estimated that workers lose $15 billion annually to minimum wage violations. While the majority of wage violations go unnoticed, employers found guilty of violating either the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements are subject to civil penalties of up to $1,000 for each infraction. For a small business, a few simple mistakes could be devastating.

1. Know the Statutes

First, companies need to familiarize themselves with local wage requirements. Otherwise, simple and innocuous errors

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Such mistakes often happen when attempting to institute a single wage for each position company-wide. But just because your headquarters is in Michigan, does not mean you can pay your workers in the New York office the same wage. This is because the legal minimum wage in Michigan is $9.87/hour, while New York’s is $13.20/hour.

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4 Ways Companies Can Avoid Payroll Mistakes

Another common legal mistake involves incorrectly classifying employees as independent contractors, or vice versa; the gig economy has greatly muddied the waters regarding benefits and wages. Companies often incorrectly categorize full-time employees as independent contractors, which means those companies are illegally skimping on required benefits like health insurance and overtime pay.

2. Eliminate Human Error

Intentional violations aside, most payroll mistakes are innocuous. Humans are bound to accidentally select the wrong number, click the wrong button, or forget to write something down.

Unfortunately, one incorrect digit in a long serial number or a single lost timesheet can lead to payroll mistakes across the board.

Such innocent errors are also one of the leading causes of mistakes in overtime pay; legally, employees must be compensated time and a half for every hour worked that exceeds 40 hours in a week. However, manual calculations may lump all their hours worked together, without regard for the different pay rates.

Therefore, it is best to eliminate any and all manual computations, including physical timesheets and manually entering data into Excel spreadsheets. Non-automated timekeeping inevitably leads to misreporting and oversights, risking your company’s legal standing and financial security.

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3. Use Time and Attendance Software

One way to eliminate payroll mistakes is by automating the entire process—from tracking hours worked to calculating the resulting pay.

Time and attendance software will both expedite payroll and promote accuracy. For instance, you can track the number of hours that employees work using biometric clocks. With these devices, employees scan their fingerprints to clock in and out.

The scanners are connected to software that automatically records hours worked in a company’s internal system.

With time and attendance software, employees can also clock in and out of work via mobile applications on their phones, which makes the real-time data visible to both employers and employees, mitigating any potential wage disputes. Furthermore, these applications can also be integrated with geofencing technology, which shows the real-time locations of employees to ensure they are actually on the job.

4. Have a Back-up Plan

Despite an employer’s best efforts to take a variety of precautions, miscalculations can still happen.

Therefore, it is just as important to have a back-up plan to issue corrections on short notice.

whether subtracting or adding compensation. These often come in the form of direct communication with the employee, with both parties coming to an agreement to either add value to the next paycheck or withhold a period of wages to compensate.

Some states have procedures in place for rectifying such errors.

For instance, Oregon allows employers to resolve mistakes by the following pay period if the wages are less than five percent of the total pay owed.

Having a system in place for compensating employees for underpaid wages immediately should help a company avoid any legal repercussions regardless of state statutes, keeping both employers and employees satisfied and fostering a productive workforce environment.

Adam Day is President & CEO at Timerack.

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Straight Talk with HR.com

‘Data And Data Safety Are Of Highest Priority For HR’ Exclusive interview with

Heather Beckstead, Head, People, Axle

“Nearly 75% of global cyber-risk decision makers say their company has experienced at least one cyber attack in the last year. Data attacks are happening all the time and only becoming more commonplace, which puts a greater emphasis on data protection in all departments, including HR, said Heather Beckstead, Head of People of Axle.

In an exclusive interview with HR.com, Heather touches upon how important HR and HR data safety are for Axle, the unique challenges of being a remote-first company, and her priorities for the future, among others.

HRIS & Payroll Excellence presented by HR.com

Excerpts from the interview:

has seen significant growth in 2021 and 2022.

Q. Axle How important are HR and HR data safety for Axle, especially as a start-up?

Heather: HR plays a critical role in startup growth and long-term health, especially when you consider all the different functions and areas of business HR leaders touch.

Employees are the most important part of any company, whether a service or product-based business. And, HR is in charge of ensuring the company brings in the right employees and offers them everything they need to succeed and do their jobs correctly — no matter the title.

In terms of data and the safety of that data, it has definitely become a greater priority in HR — as it has in every industry. To do their jobs effectively, HR leaders need data. However, according to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report, over the past year, ransomware breaches have increased by 13%.

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Straight Talk with HR.com Nearly 75% of global cyber-risk decision makers say their company has experienced at least one cyber attack in the last year. Data attacks are happening all the time and only becoming more commonplace, which puts a greater emphasis on data protection in all departments, including HR. Additionally, organizational and IT risks are most often referenced in correlation with data breaches, third-party relationships, and governance and compliance mandates. But a lot of discussion among leaders and employees has shifted toward internal risk. It is why we work to ensure all employees are risk-aware through continuous training and learning development.

a small company on the path of Q. Being growth brings its own set of HR

challenges. What are some of the top challenges you have encountered during this period? How did you address them?

Heather: Some of the biggest challenges most

startups face when scaling come with hiring: when to hire, how many people to hire, and who to hire. When starting a company, many founders — out of necessity — own each of the functional areas of the business. However, as you scale, you need to hire more experienced leaders (people who know more about each of these roles) and allow them to build out their teams. Hiring people you trust is key as those leaders will play pivotal roles in the company’s future.

Additionally, as those teams get built out, you want to ensure you are not over- or under-hiring. We have found great success hiring based on quarterly hiring plans. Many times, companies base these decisions on half-year or even full-year goals. This does not optimize the hiring process and can leave you open to more HR and people risks.

Being a fully remote company has helped a lot, as well, in this area. Naturally, our hiring pools are larger because we are not geographically restricted, allowing us to bring on the best person for the job — regardless of where they live.

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being a remote-first company, Q. By what are some of the unique people

challenges you have come across? How did you overcome them?

Heather: Benefits and drawbacks to the remotefirst model will always exist.

However, there is one constant in my approach to people management: creating an environment where our employees can be their true, authentic selves. In my mind, my role is all about leading with empathy and creating human moments that foster a sense of belonging. We recently hosted “mini” quarterly offsites, where different teams gathered in cities like Seattle, Chicago, and Boston.

We intentionally leveraged this time to set our goals and vision for the future of Axle, but also to connect, build relationships, and share the perspectives and experiences that unite us as a team and company.

Because we are an agile startup without a budget for office space, we could dedicate those funds directly toward generating these opportunities for connection.

are some of the major HR Q. What initiatives you have initiated and are

on the cards in 2022?

Heather: While we are focused on creating team-building activities, we are also building a 1:1 connection between managers and employees.

This year, we launched a management training series to help our people conduct effective 1:1s, including sessions on performance development, career pathways, constructive communication and feedback, and more. We are answering questions like, “How do our employees’ professional and personal goals factor into their career development here at Axle?”, or “Are our managers equipped to understand the everyday experience of employees, and are we holding them accountable?” I want high transparency and communication in everything we do – approaching management through this lens enables us to scale our people strategy as Axle scales.

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Straight Talk with HR.com Accelerated by the pandemic, employees are paying more attention to a company’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). According to a CNBC survey, nearly 80% of workers said they want to work for a company that values DEI issues.

At Axle, we are leaning into conversations around DEI and giving our employees a platform to share their perspectives and views on the causes most important to them. We have launched a committee dedicated solely to inclusive learning and regularly survey our employees on their DEI priorities.

We are also bringing together employees with similar backgrounds or interests into affinity groups to facilitate professional and personal development opportunities. We want to build a company of inclusive people, who treat their colleagues with respect and kindness.

Employees also want to know what is available to them regarding mental health benefits and, generally, how their company is helping navigate these issues — for employees and their families. To assist our team in getting the care they may need, no matter what form that takes, we offer access to confidential, online therapy through licensed therapists.

are your priorities for the rest of Q. What the year and for 2023?

Heather: In the last six months, Axle has more than

doubled its headcount, and we are continuing to build our team of “Axlenauts.” As we scale the team, we need to create processes and systems to maintain the culture we had at 30 employees. This means hiring talent that not only aligns with our business goals, but also with our core values.

We are also building career ladders in Axle’s departments, so career development is not just a buzzword, but a conversation between the employee and their manager. Ultimately, we want our employees to invest in and shape their own growth at Axle, bringing ideas to the table on what they want to do and how it aligns with business goals.

are some of the new HR trends Q. What you see in the future?

Heather: Employee retention is the biggest trend

impacting HR teams right now. A recent Enterprise DB poll found that 46% of workers are satisfied with their current job, while 44% are satisfied but are open to new opportunities.

Companies have to ramp up efforts to retain valuable employees. Employees already have higher compensation and flexible work options, so leaders must think outside the box to facilitate stronger employee connections. Retaining talent will require regularly evaluating employee engagement, reflecting on and improving company culture, and demonstrating a willingness to bring agility and flexibility to people processes.

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TOP PICK

Remote Work: Protected Leave And Workers’ Compensation Considerations for employers with remote workers

By Nicolas K. Ball, Barran Liebman, LLP

A

s employers adapt to the post-pandemic economy, many are finding that remote work is here to stay. Here is how employers can ensure they are prepared for the unique challenges that remote work poses.

Q: I have a remote employee who asked to take leave, and we are willing to provide it. Does it matter what we call it?

Your company may be happy to grant this employee leave,

no questions asked. However, ensuring that the employee’s leave is properly classified will negate a number of problems that could arise down the road.

If the employee is taking leave for their own medical condition or that of a close family member, they may be entitled to leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Until the leave is designated as FMLA leave, the employer cannot count the employee’s time off against the employee’s 12-week FMLA entitlement.

The employer may not mind granting this first leave request, but may find that their patience runs thin as additional leave requests roll in with no real end in sight. Further, the news that a later leave request is subject to FMLA protections because earlier leave was not designated as FMLA is never welcome news.

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Remote Work: Protected Leave And Workers’ Compensation

States also vary in allowing claims for at-home injuries.

For example, if an employee is walking their dog mid-shift and falls, will their injury be covered?

The answer may vary from state to state.

Employers should proactively confirm that their workers’ compensation coverage is valid within the jurisdictions where their employees are working from to ensure that policies and coverage are compliant with the laws in those jurisdictions. A strong remote work policy also may help you proactively identify where an employee is working and where they may file a claim upon injury.

An employee’s medical leave may also be protected under various state laws. State laws interact in numerous ways with FMLA. For example, leave protected under both the Oregon Family Leave Act and FMLA will run concurrently.

If a covered employer does not designate the leave correctly under federal and state law, the employee may be entitled to additional state law leave too.

Q: A remote employee has claimed an injury and is filing a workers’ compensation claim in the state where they live, not the employer’s home state.

What should I do?

When a remote employee is injured, the employer’s first priority (other than the injury itself) should be to identify the jurisdiction in which the worker’s

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claim arises. The employer needs to confirm whether it has coverage in the state where its worker is claiming an injury. While many employers carry national policies, some states disallow employers from obtaining third-party insurance (such as Washington), requiring employers to self-insure or purchase coverage through a state fund.

An employer that does not carry proper state coverage may face penalties related to failure to cover an employee and perhaps failure to provide an employee with information on their rights and how to file claims in the jurisdictions they are working from. An employee may file their workers’ compensation claim in the employer’s home jurisdiction or the employee’s, and no policy can control this choice.

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This article first appeared here.

Nicolas K. Ball is an Attorney at Barran Liebman LLP. Nick represents employers in both Oregon & Washington, and in addition to his employment practice, has management-side expertise in workers’ compensation.

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What You Gain From An Employee Self-Service Portal Reducing paperwork and streamlining administrative tasks

I

By Cal McGrath, Unicorn HRO

t’s no surprise why employee self-service (ESS) portals are rising in popularity. Today, employees want autonomy in the workplace, flexible workflow processes, and the freedom to access their information any time they need to.

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At the same time, HR departments want to reduce paperwork and streamline administrative tasks.

An ESS portal is so beneficial because it allows employees to view and manage their payroll, benefits, and healthcare information rather than relying on HR for everything.

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What You Gain From An Employee Self-Service Portal

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits both employees and HR teams can gain from an ESS portal.

1. Improve Employee Satisfaction

An ESS portal provides numerous benefits for employees, such as the consolidation of information and web pages into one user-friendly access point.

Employees can update their personal data, enter time worked, print out pay slips, and enroll in employer benefits.

Some ESS portals even include preconfigured life events pages that allow employees to follow a series of steps related to life events, such as marriage, divorce, and birth or adoption of a child. As a result, employees spend less time looking for the information they need.

Since self-service portals give employees greater control and visibility into their employment information, they often feel more valued by their employers and more connected to their workplace.

Employees are also more productive as these mundane admin tasks can now be completed with a few simple clicks of a button.

2. Streamline HR Processes

Employee self-service portals offer countless benefits for HR departments too. Research from McKinsey shows that HR departments typically spend close to 60 percent of their time and resources on transactional and operational HR. To reduce the number of requests an HR department receives, employees can use an ESS portal to request time off or make changes to their payroll deductions.

This will significantly expedite processes and/or eliminate the need to get HR personnel involved, freeing up time for them to support other business-critical functions.

Onboarding new employees and managing benefits enrollment can also be time-consuming. An ESS portal can help streamline open enrollment processes by allowing employees to make their own selections and calculations, based on employer-directed options.

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3. Features to Look for in an ESS Portal

The ideal employee self-service portal should utilize the latest software development technology and be accessible on any device, including desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones. To ensure the portal is user-friendly and responsive, look for a platform with a simple design, intuitive menus, and frictionless navigation.

Keep in mind that seamless interconnectivity between departments is essential for the implementation of this kind of technology. While HR will oversee the deployment, the portal will also rely on IT, finance, payroll, and various other departments to run smoothly, accurately, and on time.

Interdepartmental communication is key to taking full advantage of an ESS portal.

Overall, it is important to create a transparent environment, where employees can access and manage human resources, payroll, and benefits information from anywhere, at any time. An ESS portal delivers this transparency and gives employees the freedom and flexibility they want.

From a business perspective, an ESS portal provides the capability for HR departments to standardize processes, improve data quality, reduce errors, and enhance reporting.

Cal McGrath, Vice President of Product Management, joined Unicorn HRO in August 2003 and currently has responsibility for the development and advancement of Unicorn HRO’s software solutions.

Cal has over 10 years of experience in product management services to HR outsourcing companies and their clients with a specific focus on using technology solutions to support complex benefit plan and administration requirements.

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Unlocking The Power Of People Data: The Untold DEI&B Story Four reasons to adopt people analytics

By Amy Mosher, isolved

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oday’s predictive people analytics solutions – particularly when part of an intelligently connected human capital management (HCM) platform can do all three. Using people data is not exclusive to anonymizing it and protecting it – all three can happen at once to ensure proper use of people data.

When this happens, we can dig into the data to reveal our organization’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) story. So often, and through no fault of their own, HR leaders do not know what they do not know.

Here are four ways to uncover that information for the betterment of DEI&B for that it never is an excuse again.

1. Candidate Trends

The employee journey starts before a person’s first day on the job – so do your company’s DEI&B efforts.

Candidate experience is an often overlooked, yet fundamental way, to improve diversity from the way the job descriptions are written to the sources from which HR recruits.

When it comes to using people data, it is critical for organizations to understand candidate trends. While this is often self-identified information, HR leaders can analyze candidate trends, such as if there are under-represented groups applying for their open positions. If an HR leader sees that 75 percent of candidates for one position are of a certain group, for example, they can work with managers to optimize job descriptions for all groups. Perhaps the language or requirements included is not inclusive or recruiting efforts are not reaching more diverse candidates.

Knowing these gaps is half the challenge and people data can help.

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Unlocking The Power Of People Data: The Untold DEI&B Story

2. Churn Patterns

Once an employee, people need to have a sense of belonging – that the work they do matters, that people around them care and that they have people they can connect with. This can be difficult if you’re an “only” or a “double only” as in the only female or maybe the only female and the only person of color.

But how can HR leaders use data to measure a sense of belonging? It is tough but churn patterns can reveal a company’s DEI&B story. If certain groups – be it those with neurodiversity, those of a certain gender or race, you name it – have higher churn rates than others, there could be a problem. What about the culture is not helping people equally? Predictive people analytics can help uncover this story based on churn rates and demographics.

What is important, however, is someone with experience in understanding data and culture being the one to read and analyze it. The beauty of analytics platforms today is it does not take a data scientist to gather data and see predictions and suggestions. The challenge is how people react to what they see. Data training is critical when people data is unlocked and decisions are based on it.

3. Diversity Density

Is a business diverse? This question is the fundamental DEI&B question to ask, but many HR leaders do not really know the answer. People analytics can more accurately define diversity in a business to identify gaps, where companies may not be equal or fair. While this may sound basic, sometimes it is the basic data that companies do not have access to. Some systems leverage conversational virtual assistants to help as well: Hey, how many female VPs do I have compared to males?

Well, that is just an audible ask away.

people less because it is based on what they asked for, their previous salary history, or other challenges that have kept people back in the past.

Predictive people analytics can give HR leaders a more automated way of looking at salary discrepancies. Does a female VP make less than a male VP in the same role? Are those with neurodiversity making less? Being able to surface this data with a few clicks or even ask a virtual assistant, is available now. Predictive people analytics can also take it a step further: if I rectified gender pay gap by 5% what does that do to retention rates? These are questions systems have answers for.

While there is a lot that data can not tell us, a company’s DEI&B practices are a story that data can tell. Investing in people analytics that can do good for a company, for communities and for people, is something worth investing in and a story to be told.

Amy Mosher is the Chief People Officer at isolved. With more than 20 years of global human resources experience, Amy has contributed to the success of multiple public and private companies across various industries, including software, biotechnology and hardware.

For the last decade, she has served as the Head of Human Resources with Accel-KKR SaaS software portfolio companies, including HighWire Press, Inc., KANA Software, Inc. and, now, isolved – enhancing cultures and building positive employee experiences at each.

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2. Salary Discrepancies

A hot topic, rightfully, is that of pay equality. Whether it is the commonly stated men make more per dollar than women or the less-commonly stated stats around people of color earning less, it is an issue that should be rectified. Even those with the best of intentions, however, may not realize they are offering

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Employee Data To Enhance Workplace Safety And Employee Productivity Better collaboration and intelligence are mandatory for a motivated workforce

By Mike Steere, SaferMe

B

usiness awareness about the importance of mental well-being has grown significantly in recent years. With this focus, a closer connection between HR departments and the issues of worker safety and productivity has developed.

While the improvements in understanding of mental well-being are positive, leading businesses are assessing a broader set of intelligence – personnel risk intelligence – for a more comprehensive approach. Personnel risk intelligence includes the analysis of information obtained from multiple data points about workers. The goal is to help understand and interpret how

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they experience working at a business. This approach also facilitates the identification and quantification of issues that are impacting workers on a daily basis. These issues, if not identified early enough, can result in employee productivity problems, well-being issues, a negative perception of an employer, and, in a worst-case scenario, lead to a predisposition for on-the-job accidents.

Taking a forward-looking approach to the field of personnel risk enables HR departments and businesses to get ahead of these problems before they develop into a larger issue and become costly to fix.

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Optimizing Workplace Safety and Productivity

The facts about worker risks and well-being paint a grim picture.

The “Stress in America January 2021 Snapshot” study from the American Psychological Association (APA) reported four in five people are showing signs of “prolonged stress.”

While there is a broad range of factors that contribute to this, these factors are often specific to each organization and the industry sectors in which they operate. This challenge of understanding unique circumstances drives companies to get access to better workplace data about their workers.

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Employee Data To Enhance Workplace Safety And Employee Productivity

Measuring again at regular intervals will help assess the success of the actions and strategies implemented. This is key.

Non-Invasive Proximity Analysis of Employees

The type of data companies analyzes to understand what affects the safety and productivity of their workers begins with basic safety and well-being metrics. In addition, evaluations of workers’ engagement with their job, their perception of work relationships, workloads – both physical and mental – and other questions about how they perceive their job are all considered.

In many cases, this data is inconsistent and can carry internal biases – it is subjective data. To overcome this, high-performing organizations are looking to evidence-based frameworks for the collection and analysis of this data. Entrusting a trusted third party to perform this function provides several benefits. First, it enables the implementation of a standard, consistent framework for gathering and assessing objective data, negating internal biases. Second, it opens the opportunity to add further context to intelligence through industry

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benchmarking. Finally, it can drive increased engagement because staff feels comfortable knowing their data sits with an expert third party and will not be manipulated by management internally.

Once companies have this data, analyzing it using a standard framework based on a sound statistical methodology is the best way to gain accurate, deep and actionable intelligence.

Individual factors can point to issues that could be causing issues with workplace productivity, safety, well-being or workers’ opinion of their employer. Patterns of these factors operating in combination can give even stronger indications of elevated risk in these areas.

These insights should enable the organization to implement forward-looking actions and strategies to address the problems identified and reassure employees that the company has their best interests at heart.

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But whether businesses actually have the data with which to glean those insights is an open question. In the last two years of Covid, many organizations struggled to accurately determine which employees had been in contact with each other, and who should be sent home to quarantine. Productivity and workplace motivation was impacted. Contact tracing was indeed in its infancy and useful data was hard to come by.

As we have learned and understood more about Covid and pandemics, it has become clear that the non-invasive proximity analysis of employees holds significant value for businesses. The use of Bluetooth technology in a business setting helps gather data that, once interpreted, may be used to help defend the organization against continuity issues or productivity dips because of viral illnesses -particularly during pandemics.

Companies can slow or stop the spread of a virus by accurately identifying close contacts of workers, who test positive for the virus. Insights from this technology-driven intelligence can also identify where a higher risk for infection exists within an organization while maintaining worker privacy.

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Employee Data To Enhance Workplace Safety And Employee Productivity

Done the right way, proximity analysis and the intelligence it delivers not only slow or stop the spread of viral illnesses, but also boost workplace culture and employee confidence in coming to work during uncertain times. Proximity analysis and intelligence provide a visible indication that the employer is doing all it can to protect its workers, and that the workplace is safe. This capability becomes a critical component in the HR armory of capabilities to ensure that the company has a motivated and productive workforce.

Safety and Health Strategies Impact Employee Productivity

intelligence efforts, however, must operate within the broader context of the challenges organizations face.

As noted earlier, the rising awareness of mental well-being issues and how they impact workers highlights the connection between employee productivity and the employer’s workplace safety and health strategy.

The issues of both absenteeism and presenteeism are where businesses often feel the impact of poor health and safety strategies. This is an enormous problem for American businesses, with one Harvard study estimating that absenteeism alone sucks $150

Those data analysis and

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billion per year from the U.S. economy’s productivity.

Over and above absenteeism and presenteeism, there is a range of everyday threats businesses need to face including economic, geopolitical, and supply chain concerns. Add to this the fresh experience of the impact viral illnesses have had on the health, safety, well-being, and productivity of workers and it becomes very evident that employers and HR departments face many challenges.

It becomes clear that employers should be seeking to implement proactive, forward-looking intelligence programs to measure and analyze the personnel risk that exists in their organization.

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Employee Data To Enhance Workplace Safety And Employee Productivity

An organization that strengthens this collaboration – and prioritizes the collection and analysis of relevant data in the cooperative work – can transition to a more data-driven, future-focused understanding of personnel risk. This collaboration will form the strategic basis for an improved understanding of what holds workers back, and what can unlock greater well-being and performance.

Understanding issues that are leading to elevated personnel risk, and proactively implementing strategies to address these issues, should be high on the priority list for human resources leaders as they look to improve productivity and maintain safety, well-being, and positive worker perception of their workplace.

A commitment to identifying the issues that are affecting employees, and addressing them, is an extremely positive message to disseminate to staff. But be warned, companies cannot say they ‘understand the risks and will be doing something about it’ and then do nothing.

To execute this, there must be an integrated approach that requires a strong collaboration between HR departments, health and safety leaders, operational risk managers, and operations managers. Executive engagement is vital as always, but there is plenty of value in gathering this type of forward-looking intelligence for both the C-level and boards can use data about personnel risk to increase their understanding of the organization and develop more future-focused decisions for the organizations.

The next data-driven evolution for HR departments? Build stronger intelligence about the factors impacting personnel risk in their organizations.

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Taking the First Steps

This transition is, arguably, already underway with mental well-being programs and some of the collaborative innovation that has occurred because of Covid-19 and its impacts on how we work. This shift is driving greater collaboration between HR, safety and operational management functions.

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Ultimately, better collaboration and intelligence will lead to enhanced productivity in a safer and healthier work environment within a company that takes the initiative to proactively manage the risks impacting its human capital assets.

Mike Steere is a Co-Founder of SaferMe. Through the pandemic, he has worked with Fortune 500 businesses and other well-known international organizations, helping them to maintain productivity and continuity of operations.

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Ensure that each person in your HR department has a standard and consistent understanding of policies, procedures, and regulations.

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Hybrid Work Transformation: 16 Elements To Consider A long-term remote work strategy is a must-have to drive accountability in the company

By Dr. Raman K. Attri, Performance Scientist and Author

A

ll employees and leaders understood the need for remote working during the pandemic and adapted to changing scenarios. However, most of them deemed it a stop-gap arrangement for a limited period. The way businesses have ripped the benefits of remote working in terms of improved productivity, it is not an understatement to say that it is here to stay.

It comes with tons of confusion among employees and policymakers on where to draw lines. Handling issues case by case on an ad hoc basis is not sustainable. A long-term strategy is a must-have for businesses to drive accountability in the company, project transparent and fair practices and drive compliance with legal and ethical requirements.

Value of Well-drafted Remote Work Strategy Over the last two years, I have been engaged with stakeholders at different forums, conferences, and advisory positions within various industry segments.

We have been debating what a good remote work strategy should look like if it must sustain the current pandemic and persist beyond it. Remote work strategy cuts across various disciplines and functions in any organization. Thus, it is essential

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to pay attention to all critical considerations in a balanced manner.

A well-drafted remote work strategy must include clear guidelines on expense claims, insurance coverage, benefits, incentives, allowances, and flexibilities awarded or taken away. It should also outline performance measures, compliance restrictions, and other expectations.

16 Key Elements to Consider If you are embarking on shaping up your remote work strategy, the checklist below comprising 16 questions will help you drive the right kind of discussions among your functional groups.

Human Resources 1. What roles, positions, or jobs will be listed for preferred or mandatory remote working?

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Hybrid Work Transformation: 16 Elements To Consider

2. Will any role-specific restrictions prohibit or encourage flexibility among various modes like working remotely, anywhere, working, and working from home?

3. How rigid will be a remote working arrangement? How easily can one switch between remote working to onsite or vice versa?

4. What are the incentives one gets if one chooses to work remotely? Or what incentives does someone loses?

Performance 5. Are the employees expected to consume their time otherwise used in commuting for work-related activities?

6. How are remote workers’ productivity and performance tracked, measured, and awarded compared to onsite employees?

7. What are the general expectations to avoid family interferences, distractions, noises, and other nuisances of working remotely?

Financial 8. What are the general expectations to avoid family interferences, distractions, noises, and other nuisances of working remotely?

9. What kinds of home-related expenses (like the internet, aircon, electricity, facilities, furniture) can, or cannot, be claimed?

10. Do remote employees lose allowances like transport and overtime, or do they get additional allowances like internet, phone, etc.?

11. Do remote workers get a pay cut compared to onsite workers, given they enjoy more flexibility and work-life balance?

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Or do they get a remote-working bonus for generating saving for the company for not using office infrastructure and facilities?

Legal 12. How do the remote working clauses comply with the government, legal, and labor requirements of various countries where the company operates?

13. What is the new definition of what makes up workplace injury or accident for remote workers?

14. How do the insurance claims, accident coverage, and protections differ for remote workers?

IT and Security 15. How are internet security, data encryption, data safety, and usage compliance monitored on employee laptops for complete transparency between employers and employees?

16. How do you track the ownership of assets assigned to the employee to work remotely? How will be the asset depreciation impacted or reported?

While the checklist above can gear your thinking to consider important elements for sustainable business support, a lot more needs to be done by breaking high-level remote work strategy into functional strategies in terms of IT, finance, facility, customer support, and employee benefits.

Given the rapid changes in technology to do remote work more productively and the market shift towards remote

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work preference among the new generation of employees, you may have to adjust this strategy more often than you change others.

However, HR leaders and executives should be extra careful that employees work for a physical entity that is identified for its space and existence. When you cut the sense of belonging by making a job role remote, you risk losing loyalty, connection, and motivation.

Therefore, you must assess what specific job role trends look like in the prospective employees. A remote strategy should consider the employee side first while evaluating the business benefits of the same.

Dr. Raman K. Attri is a performance scientist, author of multiple books, professional conference speaker, and global learning business leader. He has authored about 20 multi-genre books and holds two doctorates and over 100 international educational credentials. He has been featured in more than 100 media features, articles, interviews, and shows. His recent book ‘Speed Matters’ shows how businesses can stay ahead @ the speed of business.

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Virtual Event • September 7, 2022 This 1-day virtual event will focus on the array of HR digital applications for organizations, often collectively known as the “HR technology stack.” Technology has already transformed many aspects of the HR function, and these technologies continue to evolve quickly, specifically under the pressures of dealing with the pandemic.

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Top 5 Reasons To Optimize Your Remote Work Policy Ensuring employees do not hop from place-to-place

By Todd R. Wulffson and Mark S. Spring, Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger, LLP

M

any workplaces allow employees to work from home. However, often in those situations, the employer does not know from where the employee is working. Recently, one of our firm’s small business clients, based in an employer-friendly state in the south, had an employee move to California without the company knowing. Neither management nor HR was aware that it had an employee in California.

This ended up causing some material issues when it came to daily overtime, taxes, and other issues.

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If you have employees working from home (WFH), you should strongly consider implementing a policy that provides that (a) WFH employees cannot work in another state or country for more than thirty (30) days without advanced written approval, and (b) that the exact location of all work performed remotely needs to be communicated to the HR department in writing.

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Top 5 Reasons To Optimize Your Remote Work Policy

There are many reasons for this: 1. You want to know where the employee is working in case they are injured and to assist in tracking any related WFH expenses. Being injured while WFH is a workers’ compensation event. In addition, you do not want to have employees, who are working in an unsafe environment.

2. The laws of every state are different. For example, an employee working in Arizona is required to be paid overtime rates only if he or she works over forty hours in a week. If that employee moves to Nevada, he or she must be paid premium overtime rates for all hours worked in excess of eight hours in a day, even if he or she does not meet the forty-hour weekly threshold.

Even within California, many cities and municipalities now have their own minimum wage and sick leave ordinances. It is difficult enough to be in compliance with applicable laws when you know where your employees work. If you do not know where your employee is working, it is virtually impossible to be in compliance with the relevant state and local laws.

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3. If an employee is working outside of California more than occasionally, you may be able to avoid paying them daily overtime. In addition, many states do not have the onerous meal and rest period requirements dictated by California wage and hour law. Finally, your duties to reimburse employees for expenses incurred may be narrower in other states.

Thus, you may be able to save significant labor costs in many instances if employees are out of state. However, if you are not made aware where they are working, you will not be able to take advantage of these potential savings.

Most other states require payroll taxes to be paid if an employee is working in their jurisdiction for more than a specified period of time. The employer may also owe income taxes to the state where the employee is temporarily working, which must be timely withheld by the employer. In our recent case where the employee moved to California without the knowledge of the employer, discussed above, this was an issue because the employer did not know the employee had moved and was not deducting payroll taxes and submitting them to the California EDD.

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Top 5 Reasons To Optimize Your Remote Work Policy

Other countries - particularly EU ones - may consider a resident employee to qualify for vacation, severance, and other benefits, even if the employee is not permanently residing in that country. As the employer, your company may become liable for such benefits after even 60+ days. It is important to know when your employees are working abroad for any extended period.

Based on some interesting experiences, since WFH arrangements have become so prevalent, we recommend that California employers strongly consider adding written notification requirements to their WFH policies requiring employees to notify the employer, in writing, where they are working if they are working somewhere new for a period of at least thirty days.

When there is no written policy, the employee can persuasively argue that he or she was not aware that notification was required. Having a mandatory written notification policy gives you a better likelihood that you will be timely made aware of your WFH employees’ moves to help you control labor costs and try to ensure compliance. In addition, if the employee fails to notify you, and there is a written policy requiring written notification, you will have a stronger argument that you did not willfully violate the other state or country’s laws.

In addition, employers should also have other, more traditional, provisions in their WFH policies, such as provisions addressing use and privacy of electronic devices and equipment, security of data, safety, and expense reimbursement rules.

Finally, WFH employees should be required to sign documents acknowledging their notice of these policies, whenever they are issued or modified.

This article originally appeared here.

Todd R. Wulffson is Managing Partner in the Orange County office of Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP. Todd has 25 years of experience counseling and defending businesses in labor and employment issues and has extensive experience representing employers across the entertainment, manufacturing, banking, hospitality, financial services, and retail industries. He focuses on issues related to human resources, and the implementation of proactive measures to reduce risk and cost including substantial experience in the evolving area of Social Media Law.

Mark S. Spring is the Office Managing Partner & Chair of CDF Labor Law LLP’s Traditional Labor Law Practice Group. Mark has almost 30 years of experience handling labor and employment law matters throughout Northern California. His practice is focused on representation of management in unionmanagement relations and handling litigation triggered by all types of employment related disputes.

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Michigan Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Laws Rise From The Dead Employers should prepare for more employee-friendly minimum wage and paid sick leave laws in the wake of an important new court ruling

By Michael Cardman, XpertHR

UPDATE: July 22, 2022 - The State of Michigan has filed an appeal and a motion to stay, seeking to delay implementation and enforcement of the ruling.

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The Michigan Court of Claims has struck down the state’s current minimum wage law, known as the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act, and its paid sick leave law, known as the Paid Medical Leave Act.

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Michigan Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Laws Rise From The Dead

sorting through the details, we are stunned by this determination and its many varied implications. The talent shortage has employers already paying historic wages and benefits - all while facing rising inflation and supply chain chaos - just to keep the doors open. ... We remain hopeful the Court of Claims decision ultimately will be overturned.”

Background Michigan is one of several states that allow voters to initiate legislation via petitions.

In 2018, a coalition of advocacy groups gathered signatures and successfully petitioned to add initiatives to raise Michigan’s minimum wage and require employers to offer paid sick leave.

At this point, the state legislature had three options: ● Adopt the proposals as is, without change;

In their place, the court restored earlier versions of the laws passed in 2018, which are significantly more beneficial to employees.

It is unclear whether employers must immediately comply with the 2018 laws - and if so, whether they must do so retroactive to the court’s ruling on July 19, 2022, or to their passage on September 5, 2018.

When asked these questions by XpertHR, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity would only say, “The Department is committed to making sure that workers and families have access to the pay and benefits they deserve, and we are reviewing the judge’s decision to determine next steps and ensure the state is in compliance with the law.”

In a statement, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce said, “We are incredibly concerned about the crippling effect this ruling could have on Michigan employers and employees alike. While we are still

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● Reject the proposals, meaning they would then be placed on the fall ballot and could either be accepted or rejected by voters (and, if adopted by voters, the legislation could then have been amended only with a three-quarters majority in the legislature); or ● Propose an alternative version for voters to also consider.

The legislature chose option one and adopted the proposals as is. However, later that session, the legislature passed amendments that watered down the original versions.

Back to the Future The changes were “substantial,” according to the court. For instance, the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act was amended to: ● Reduce the scheduled increases in the minimum wage; ● Repeal annual inflation adjustments in later years; and ● Restore the tip credit, which was to have been phased out under the original version.

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Michigan Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Laws Rise From The Dead

The table below shows the two versions side by side.

Minimum Wage

Minimum Direct Cash Wage for Tipped Employees

Maximum Tip Credit

Year

Original

Amended

Original

Amended

Original

Amended

2018

$9.25

$9.25

$3.52

$3.75

$5.73

$5.50

2019

$10.00

$9.45

$4.80

$3.75

$5.20

$5.70

2020

$10.65

$9.651

$6.39

$3.75

$4.26

$5.90

2021

$11.35

$9.65

$7.95

$3.75

$3.40

$5.90

2022

$12.00

$9.87

$9.60

$3.75

$2.40

$6.12

2023

TBD2

$10.10

TBD3

$3.75

TBD

$6.26

2024

TBD2

$10.33

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$6.40

2025

TBD2

$10.56

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$6.55

2026

TBD2

$10.80

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$6.70

2027

TBD2

$11.04

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$6.84

2028

TBD2

$11.29

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$7.00

2029

TBD2

$11.54

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$7.15

2030

TBD2

$11.79

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$7.31

2031

TBD2

$12.05

TBD3

$3.75

N/A

$7.47

1. Michigan’s minimum wage originally was scheduled to increase to $9.87 per hour effective January 1, 2021, but this increase and subsequent increases were delayed by a year under a provision pausing scheduling increases when unemployment exceeds 8.5%.

2. Under the original Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (IWOWA), the minimum wage was to be adjusted for inflation starting on January 1, 2023, and every January 1 thereafter.

3. Under the original Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (IWOWA), the minimum direct cash wage was scheduled to increase to 90% of minimum

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wage effective January 1, 2023, and to 100% of the minimum wage effective January 1, 2024, meaning the tip credit would effectively be eliminated.

The amendments to the Paid Medical Leave Act (which originally was called the Earned Sick Time Act) also were substantial. Among other things, they: ● Exempted employers with fewer than 50 employees; ● Lowered the minimum number of hours that could be used in a year; and ● Repealed retaliation protections.

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Michigan Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Laws Rise From The Dead

Earned Sick Time Act (Original)

Paid Medical Leave Act (Amended)

Employer Coverage

One or more employee

Employee Coverage

Almost all employees, except Only individuals for whom the federal government workers employer must withhold federal income tax; excludes employees who work fewer than 25 hours per week, employees who work 25 weeks or fewer per year, independent contractors and others

Accrual

One hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 72 hours of paid time

One hour of paid leave for every 35 hours worked, up to 40 hours of paid time

Frontloading

No frontloading option

An employer may “frontload” leave time at the start of a calendar year as an alternative to accrual

By making such significant changes after adopting the original versions, the legislature “effectively thwarted the intent of the People and denied them the opportunity to vote on whether they preferred the voter-initiated proposal or the Legislature’s suggested modifications,” the court held.

50 or more employees

For this reason, the court held that the amended versions are void and the original laws are once again in effect.

This article first appeared here.

Michael Cardman is Senior Legal Editor at XpertHR. Michael has more than 20 years of experience in publishing and has specialized in employment law for more than 15 years. As a member of XpertHR’s editorial team, he focuses on wage and hour compliance, including minimum wage, overtime, employee classification, hours worked, independent contractors and child labor.

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PPP Loans: DOJ Investigating FinTechs Compliance with anti-fraud and anti-money-laundering laws

By A.J. Dhaliwal and Matthew Lin, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP

A

federal court filing by a fintech company revealed that it has been under investigation by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in relation to its Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan approval practices for over a year. This rare disclosure of a pre-indictment DOJ investigation warns that

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the government is refocusing enforcement efforts on the fintechs and financial institutions that administered PPP loans.

The fintech under investigation is an online loan servicing company that provides loans for small businesses, and processed over $7 billion in PPP loans to at least

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300,000 businesses. The fintech disclosed that it was under investigation by the DOJ while responding to a subpoena in an unrelated case in the Southern District of Florida, where an individual was accused of submitting fraudulent PPP loan applications to the fintech.

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PPP Loans: DOJ Investigating FinTechs

Apparently unaware of the ongoing investigation into the fintech, the government in the criminal case sought trial testimony about how the fintech administered PPP loans and loan applications.

The fintech filed a motion to quash the subpoena in June, stating that the DOJ already was investigating its conduct under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in a separate case on the theory that it improperly approved PPP loans that obviously were fraudulent or not within Small Business Association (“SBA”) parameters.

According to the same filing, the DOJ also is investigating the adequacy of the fintech’s fraud and anti-money laundering controls. The fintech argued that it should not be forced to testify as a non-party when it was under investigation for the same conduct it was subpoenaed to testify about, but the court denied the motion shortly after it was filed.

This disclosed investigation adds to the continued fallout for fintechs that administered PPP loans. Government and news reports often have accused fintechs of being gateways for PPP fraud due to their less robust anti-fraud controls as compared to traditional financial institutions. As detailed previously here, in June 2021 the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis opened investigations into the role of four fintechs (including the fintech subpoenaed here) in issuing allegedly fraudulent PPP loans.

all fraudulent claims caused to be submitted to the government.

Here, the government could bring FCA claims on the theory that financial institutions caused false claims to be submitted to the SBA by failing to adequately screen for fraudulent PPP applications.

Most of the DOJ’s enforcement efforts have focused on applicants who fraudulently obtained CARES Act funds, but this investigation shows that the government also is directing enforcement efforts to fintechs that administered CARES Act funds. These enforcement efforts could have extreme consequences for lenders under the FCA, including treble damages and civil penalties for

Putting it into Practice Lenders who administered PPP loans would be wise to look back at their loan administration protocols to ensure they complied with their anti-fraud and anti-money-laundering responsibilities.

A.J. Dhaliwal is a Special Counsel in the Finance and Bankruptcy Practice Group at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.

The FCA also allows private whistleblowers to bring suit on behalf of the government, meaning that any employee of a fintech or financial institution (or even an unaffiliated individual) could initiate a suit under a similar theory of liability.

This article first appeared here.

Matthew Lin is an Associate in the Government Contracts, Investigations and International Trade Practice Group at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.

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