Employment Blog: Mountain States Employers Council, Inc.

Preliminary results from Mountain States Employers Council's 2009 survey indicate that 25 percent of responding employers will not have a holiday party this year, up from 13 percent in 2007. And, while 72 percent of employers allowed employees to bring a guest in 2007, that number has decreased to just 56 percent this year.

While no one faults employers for yielding to economic realities, celebrations are important for creating a sense of belonging and boosting employee morale. Even if you must cut back, schedule time to include holiday revelry.

There are many ways to celebrate cost-effectively. Companies accustomed to catering a full dinner at an outside venue might keep the nice location, but scale back to snacks and drinks. Other employers use the holidays as a time to help the less fortunate. Joining together with co-workers to collect food for the homeless or provide gifts to children who would otherwise have none can be a tremendously festive and bonding experience.

Employers should be mindful of issues that arise around company celebrations, regardless of the economy. For example, forcing employees to attend an event is not only bad for morale, but can make the time spent at the party compensable and increase workers' compensation liability. If you ask employees to contribute money toward a celebration, make sure the amount is affordable, or employees will stay home. Don't increase your liability to put on a good show; urge employees to drink alcohol responsibly. Think twice about providing an "open" bar, or leave the bar open for a short time only. Finally, leave clients and shop talk out of the event so employees can relax and be themselves.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) revised it required equal employment opportunity poster. It now includes changes made by the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA). The employment law provisions of GINA become effective on November 21, 2009. Employers must post the new EEO poster by then.

GINA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on genetic information. It also restricts employers from acquiring genetic information about employees and limits disclosure of genetic information.

The new EEO poster is on the EEOC website at www.eeoc.gov/posterform.html. The EEOC plans to also make the poster available in Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.

In addition to posting the new poster, employers should revise their EEO handbook policies to include genetic information as a federally protected class.

Remember too that Colorado's minimum wage has dropped, so a new state poster will also be necessary in January.

Mountain States Employers Council's members can choose to belong to an Update Service; subscribers receive a revised federal all-in-one poster automatically. This stops employers from having to figure out when updates are really necessary after getting an urgent email from a poster supplier. This is truly a good service to have.

Did you know that more than half of all U.S. workers are female? A recently released report from the Center for American Progress and California First Lady Maria Shriver shows this, along with the fact that mothers are the primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two-thirds of U.S. families. In 1967, women made up only one-third of all workers. Today, that statistic has flipped, where less than 21 percent of families with children living at home have a husband who holds a job while the wife does not.

The current recession has both amplified and accelerated this trend. This same report notes that men have lost three out of every four jobs since December 2007. It also predicts that occupations in women-dominated service industries will experience the most growth through 2016.

What does this mean for employers? Well, the report's authors argue that families need more flexible work schedules, comprehensive child care policies, redesigned family and medical leave, and equal pay to adapt to the increasing role of women in the workplace. The United States is the only industrialized country without any requirement that employers provide paid family leave. It will be interesting to see what kind of changes there may be in U.S. law to address this issue.

Executive Coaching has become more and more popular. What is it exactly? Really, it's a relationship between a leader and a professional coach aimed to help a leader improve their managerial capabilities. It's been used for many years by upper management.

At least two authors, John Bennett and Mary Wayne Bush, believe that the looming shortage of skilled workers will create a new demand for coaches to help with what they are calling "career intelligence" as workers develop new skills, especially in the global marketplace where new technologies emerge. As diversity of all kinds and at all levels increases in the workplace, coaching would help employees understand other viewpoints and work styles, hopefully leading to a more harmonious work environment. Coaches expect to be able to use broadband connectivity that's becoming more mainstream and be virtual all over the world.

Bennett and Bush backed up their assertions by surveying organizations about their future need for coaching. Eighty one percent said coaching was part of their talent management process and 63% thought that investment would only increase in the future.

Is coaching in your future? Because it is such a growing trend, think about how it may impact you or you may impact it in the future.

You may recall an amendment to Colorado's Constitution requiring the Colorado Department of Labor to calculate minimum wage each year based on inflation. Well, something completely surprising happened. Colorado had a negative inflation rate. Certainly this was not expected when Colorado voters passed the amendment. Still the Department of Labor (DOL) just announced the 2010 state minimum wage rate. This year it will drop from $7.28 per hour to $7.24 per hour.

Why is this confusing? Because what this means is that Colorado 's minimum wage will be less than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Employers still must pay $7.25 per hour because they cannot pay less than the federal rate (really, which ever rate is higher is the one employers pay).

Would like the state rate to be $7.25 so it's not confusing, or do you think the Colorado DOL should follow the constitutional amendment exactly as it is? If you want to weigh on this, there is still an opportunity to comment. Yours may be delivered by mail, faxed to 303-318-8400, or e-mailed to Amanda.Neal@state.co.us . The Colorado DOL will also hold a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, November 6, 2009, at its downtown Denver office.

By the way, there will be a new employment poster in January.

Do you have employees using medical marijuana? In the past if you did, you probably didn't even know about it, but that is changing. More employees are receiving clear benefits from the drug and they don't want a company drug test to interfere with their medicinal toking.

Recently I have spoken to employers who are not quite sure what to do when an employee informs them that they have a prescription for it and intend to get it filled. Right now, the law seems pretty clear: if an employer has a drug testing program and an employee fails that test because he or she tests positive for the drug, the employer may discharge the employee, even if they have a prescription. Why? Because the federal government still views marijuana as an illegal drug, and currently no state law, including Colorado's law, insists an employer keep an employee using the drug.  This is true even though that same state allows it to be prescribed by a doctor.

Still, the employer isn't required to discharge the employee. What if it's a great employee who is brave and honest enough to come forward with the information to the employer before ever being tested? The employer may not want to let that person go.

How will your organization handle this? Employers who start thinking and talking about this in light of their culture and values will be better prepared if and when it comes up.

The Parental Involvement in K-12 Education Act became effective August 5, 2009, before school started so it wasn't such a big deal. But now that parent teacher conferences are on the horizon, it's good to know more about it. Below are some FAQ's and answers about the new law.

A. What employers are covered by the Act?

The Act copies the federal Family and Medical Leave Act so it applies to private employers engaged in interstate commerce employing 50 or more employees and to public agencies regardless of size.

B. What employees are eligible for leave?

To be eligible for leave, an employee must be:

1. The parent or legal guardian of a child enrolled in public or private school or in a non-public home-based educational program in Colorado in any grade from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and

2. Work in a non-executive or non-supervisory capacity.

Independent contractors, domestic servants, seasonal workers, or farm and ranch laborers are not eligible for leave.

C. What is the length of leave?

Full-time employees may take up to 18 hours in an academic year to attend a child's school activities. Part-time employee leave is prorated based on the percentage of a full-time schedule the employee works. An academic year is the period allotted by a school for one grade level.

The Act does not allow employees to take more than six hours of leave in any one-month period and allows employers, if they wish, to require leave to be taken in no longer than 3-hour increments.

An employer and employee may agree to an arrangement allowing the employee to take paid leave to attend an academic activity and to work the amount of hours of paid leave taken within the same work week.

Nothing prohibits employers from providing employees with leave provisions or benefits that are greater than the Act's requirements.

D. Is the leave paid or unpaid?

The Act does not require employers to pay employees during parental involvement leave. Employers may require or employees may elect to substitute paid time off (e.g. vacation, sick, personal leave, or other paid leave) while on this parental involvement leave before taking unpaid leave.

E. What are the permissible reasons an eligible employee may take leave?

Eligible employees can take leave for certain academic activities:

1. Parent-teacher conferences,

2. Meetings related to:

a. Special education services,

b. Response to intervention,

c. Dropout prevention,

d. Attendance,

e. Truancy; or

f. Disciplinary issues.

Employers are realizing that H1N1 is a reality in their workplace. So far the outbreak is fairly limited to a few number of employees, but you've heard the warnings on TV - soon you may be faced with having to do something about it.

The Colorado Department of Health put together a great publication after getting significant contributions from businesses and non-profits in the area, including Mtn. States Employers Council. Here is a link to this comprehensive outline which should be helpful:

http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/epr/Public/businesspanready.pdf

Here are three simple things to remember that may help you get through this:

1. Practice good hygiene and make sure those working with you do as well. Tips are everywhere on the Internet - mostly everyone needs to keep their hands clean! (Much like what you learned in kindergarten.)

2. If anyone is ill - stay at home. If you are sick, please don't come to work - remember, no one will be happy to see you. If someone you work with is sick, send them home. Make sure your sick leave policy encourages this. If it doesn't, temporarily change it for the period of time there is a high rate of flu in your workplace.

3. Don't be caught unawares - expect a high absenteeism rate at the height of the flu season. Start planning for it now. Can employees work from home? What operations can you curtail if employees are ill? Flu shots are part of good workforce planning - can you provide these free of charge to employees? It may save your business a lot of money and aggravation.

May your fall and winter be healthy!

Are you an employer that has accurate job descriptions? You should be.

Why? Because late in 2008, the ADA was amended (now it's the A-D-triple-A) and it expands the definition of who is disabled and must be accommodated. Shortly after, in early 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed into law, making it much easier for employees to demand no pay discrimination based upon a protected class. A good job description will help employers avoid these types of claims.

How will a good job description help employers? If you have up-to-date job descriptions that reflect what an employee really does each day, you can use those when talking with employees. If a disabled employee needs accommodation, a clear picture of the physical requirements of the job can assist in a discussion about what accommodations will and won't work. If an employee is concerned that they are being paid less than another, due to their protected class, job descriptions that point out all the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities can help incumbents understand the different pay for different jobs.

How do you make sure the job description is accurate? Show it to the employee doing the work, along with the employee's manager. If they start pointing and laughing, there is work to be done. Let them help! Have them make corrections to the job descriptions before doing the final edit, so that you have the best information possible.