IRS issues Notice 2020-15 concerning HDHPs and COVID-19:  On March 11, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-15 concerning high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and the Coronavirus known as COVID-19. The IRS advised that HDHPs can provide COVID-19-related testing and treatment without a deductible or with a deductible below the statutory requirements without jeopardizing their status. Additionally, individuals covered by HDHPs offering COVID-19 coverage can continue to contribute to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) without losing the tax benefits of the HSAs. This significant policy change is part of the IRS response to the public health concerns created by COVID-19.  Source:  IRS

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will waive member copays and deductibles for COVID-19 tests:  Among a series of proactive steps on Coronavirus, in a statement made on the MI Blues Perspectives, fully-insured members of BCBSM and BCN health plans will be fully covered for the cost of medically-necessary COVID-19 tests. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network of Michigan will work with self-insured employers to make decisions regarding their benefits.

Is HR trusted in the #metoo era? According to results from the 2020 #MeToo movement survey of 1,023 employed U.S. adults (full time/part-time) conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of CareerArc (and ASE partner), 76% percent of employed (full-time or part-time) Americans say the social movement made a positive impact on how sexual harassment is addressed in the workplace. Yet still, 44% say it actually damaged trust between HR representatives and employees. This sentiment is more pronounced among employed men (52%) than employed women (36%), especially those employed men ages 18-34 (62%) versus 45% of men ages 35-64.  Source:  CCH 3/11/20

Employees not feeling safe in coworking spaces:  Not all employees feel safe in their coworking space, according to a new survey from Clutch. Nearly one-quarter of coworking employees (23%) say security and safety concerns are challenges of their coworking space. Some people have concerns about the safety of their belongings. Other coworking employees worry others may get ahold of their confidential work. "There is one central printer per floor that everyone has access to," said Marc Prosser, CEO of Choosing Therapy. "Anyone can potentially see what I am printing out, unless I wait for the printer to finish and immediately scoop up the documents."   People may feel less secure with their data and belongings than they would at a private office, where they can leave items on their desks and talk more freely about their company.  Source:  CCH 3/4/20

Staffing agency employee needs an accommodation, who pays?  Accommodations can sometimes be expensive, and it’s not unforeseeable that staffing agency workers will need accommodations at some point.   Plan ahead and build this contingency into the contract.   Consider adding to your staffing agency contracts a clause requiring the agency to pay the expenses for any reasonable accommodations provided to qualified staffing agency employees to allow them to perform their job functions.   Source: Baker Hostetler LLP 3/9/20

Training budgets expected to increase in 2020:  There's an upskilling and reskilling revolution coming in the next three to five years, according to LinkedIn Learning's 2020 Workplace Learning Report released March 3. LinkedIn Learning found that 51% of learning and development (L&D) professionals surveyed plan to launch upskilling programs in 2020, and in the next decade, digital transformation and automation are expected to have a greater impact on the global workforce.  More than a third of L&D professionals expect their budgets to grow year over year. While funding for instructor-led training is decreasing for some, 57% of talent developers plan to spend more on their online learning programs, the report states. L&D professionals will become key to growth and innovation at businesses; 83% of those surveyed said executive buy-in is not a challenge. However, only 27% said that their CEOs are active champions of learning, despite CEOs spending 20% more time learning soft skills than their employees.  Source:  HR Dive 3/3/20

Credit issues impact job searches:  How does access to consumer credit affect the job finding behavior of displaced workers? Are these workers looking for jobs at larger and more productive firms? What is the impact of consumer credit on the amount of time it takes to find a job?  The answers are yes. According to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, those with a 10% increase in credit access (measured as unused credit to prior annual income) take about 0.33 to 0.53 weeks longer to find a job (.5 is half a week and thus corresponds to 3 to 4 days). Among job finders, they had a 0.61% to 1.34% greater annual earnings replacement rate (the replacement rate is the ratio of current earnings one year after layoff to earnings in the year before layoff). Moreover, job finders are more likely to work for more productive firms. Here, we define a productive firm to be one that is in the top 25% of wages paid per worker (a common proxy for labor productivity).  In short, the greater credit use, the longer the job search.  Source:  Liberty Street Economics 3/4/20

Having D&I programs does not necessarily equate to better gender equality: Despite progress and good intentions, gender equality in the workforce is still a long way off. According to Mercer’s When Women Thrive 2020 Global Report, the majority (81%) of organizations worldwide claim that improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) is important, yet less than half (42%) have a documented, multi-year strategy for achieving gender equality.   In tandem with this finding, only 40% of the global workforce is female, up slightly from 38% four years ago. Additionally, while representation of females in senior leadership roles is improving (up three percentage points at the top two levels), it decreases as career levels advance. Mercer’s research finds that women make up 47% of support staff and 42% of professional level positions, but only 29% and 23% of senior and executive level positions, respectively.  Another positive aspect advancing workforce gender parity is the involvement of leadership. According to Mercer’s research, two-thirds (66%) of organizations report senior executives are actively engaged in D&I initiatives and programs, up from 57% in 2016, and more than half (57%) report the same for Boards, up from 52% in 2016.  Source: CCH 3/4/20