EEOC expects to open pay data collection July 15: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is on track to start collecting employers’ EEO-1 payroll data next month, the agency said in a Washington, D.C., federal court filing. The EEOC expects that a helpdesk will be fully operational starting on approximately June 17, 2019.  The contact information for the helpdesk is as follows:  Email:  [email protected]; Toll Free: (877) 324-6214.  However, for the convenience of employers who prefer to utilize data file upload capability, and in addition to the CAWI data collection instrument, NORC is working on a data file upload function and validation process which is expected to be available as an additional data collection method no later than August 15, 2019. 

Instead of direct hire, hire for needs and time: In 2015 General Electric’s digital hub in Detroit needed JAVA software developers. But instead of turning to in-house recruiters skilled at hiring experienced IT professionals with college degrees, the company tried a different approach.  It partnered with Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS), a 14-year-old nonprofit that recruits, trains, and places underserved and veteran job seekers into solid careers at established employers like GE and Prudential. So far, it has trained more than 5,000 people for positions ranging from project manager to help desk support; worked with 68 different employers in 19 states, France, and the Netherlands; and eliminated common barriers to employment by paying for daycare, housing, transportation, WiFi, and even college tuition for qualified candidates. GE’s initial goal was to recruit 11 individuals, referred to as WOS consultants or contract interns.  It was successful after some hiccups and created new diversity pipelines for jobs in the organization.  Source:  HR Executive 6/13/19

Maybe it’s time to do an onboarding check-up:  According to a Hibob, an HR tech platform, survey,  64% of new employees are less likely to stay at a job after a negative onboarding experience. As a result, Hibob has compiled the following list of what new hires want from an onboarding experience:   

• More than 25% of employees say that they didn't receive enough information about their job before accepting the offer.

• Only 40% percent of employees say that their current job reflects how the position was described during the interview process.  

• 33% of new hires dread adapting to office politics and personalities more than learning protocol or filing onboarding paperwork.  

• New hires don't want to be singled out—a majority of employees surveyed (38%) report they feel most welcome during onboarding when included in a group of other new hires.

• New hires prefer intro meetings and interactive onboarding groups (31%) more than happy hours with colleagues.

This is important for businesses to consider, especially when over half (52%) of employees state they spend up to five hours being onboarded at their new job.  Source:  CCH 6/21/19

Illinois is limiting use of AI in hiring process: On May 29, 2019, the Illinois legislature passed the Artificial Intelligence Video Review Act, which will go into effect once it is signed by the governor. In taking this step, Illinois became the first state to legislate the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the employment context. The new law targets employers that require applicants to provide a video interview and thereafter utilize AI technology to analyze the candidate's body language, speech patterns, and other characteristics to score and predict a candidate's likelihood of success at that organization. Now, employers utilizing such technology must: (i) notify each applicant in writing that AI may be used to analyze the applicant's facial expressions and other characteristics as part of evaluating the applicant's fitness for the position; (ii) provide each applicant with a written description of how the AI technology works and what characteristics it uses to evaluate applicants; and (iii) obtain written consent from the applicant based on the description provided. This notice and consent must occur before the applicant is required to provide the video interview. Once the video is created, the law prohibits the employer from sharing the video with anyone other than persons whose expertise is necessary to evaluate an applicant's fitness for the position.  Source: Quarles & Brady LLP 6/17/19

Scabby the Rat is still inflatable:  A Brooklyn federal judge on Wednesday denied a National Labor Relations Board official’s request that he stifle a labor protest by Construction & General Building Laborers’ Local 79 at several Staten Island supermarkets, rejecting the board’s bid to deflate well-known protest symbol Scabby the Rat. The NLRB made good on its President Donald Trump-appointed prosecutor’s threats to rein in Scabby earlier this month when it sued the union in the Eastern District of New York, asking for an injunction and a temporary restraining order stifling the protest. The union has been using Scabby, an inflatable rat, and an inflatable cockroach in a protest aimed at pressuring the stores, which are owned by an individual, not to do business with a builder the union is feuding with.  Source:  Law360 6/19/19

Hiring returning citizens pays dividends: A frequently cited statistic puts the number of Americans with a criminal record — which does not necessarily indicate conviction — at about 70 million persons, or roughly one third of the total population. Despite the size of this contingent, those with criminal records tend to be at a disadvantage.  One study by a group of Northwestern University researchers found hiring rates were lower among ex-offenders compared to non-offenders in customer service positions. Expanding talent pools to include the formerly incarcerated is getting a second look from business groups in recent years as unemployment rates decline. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), one of the biggest such groups, has asked employers to sign a pledge to hire workers with criminal backgrounds. President Donald Trump has also backed the practice by directing the U.S. Department of Labor help fund fidelity bonds for employers.  Source:  HR Dive 6/18/19

Is an MBA still worth it? Applications to traditional MBA programs have languished in a strong U.S. job market, declining last year even at Harvard Business School, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, and other elite schools. Administrators say millennials, saddled with more college debt than previous generations, have grown more reluctant to leave jobs for a year or more to pursue one of the nation’s priciest degrees.  Between 2014 and 2018, the number of accredited full-time MBA programs in the U.S. shrank 9% to 1,189, with schools reporting 119 fewer two-year degrees in the most recent survey by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Wake Forest University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly known as Virginia Tech, are among the others to recently cut their traditional MBA programs. Against that backdrop, shorter and more-flexible graduate business degrees have proliferated. At the business schools in the same survey, there were 140 new master’s programs in specialized subjects like data analytics last year, marking a 16% jump from 2014, to 981. The data shows online MBA offerings, meanwhile, doubled to 390.  Source:  Wall Street Journal 6/5/19