USCIS looking at making remote I-9 review permanent:  The federal government wants to hear about employers' experiences with temporary permission to review Form I-9 documents remotely, it announced October 26. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services prompted employers to comment on several elements of remote I-9 procedures, including their experience with: internal and external technical interface; employee-provided images; apparently false documents; and challenges with the E-Verify program.  The comment period will end Dec. 27.  Source:  HR Dive 11/1/21

Boomerang employees becoming focus for recruitment: Boomerang employment is a growing trend in general thanks to technology that helps people stay in contact over time, says Brian Swider, a management professor at the University of Florida and an expert on boomerang employees. Think about it: If you had quit your job 20 to 30 years ago because you were moving to a new city, your manager would take you out of their Rolodex, or they’d lose your landline number once you changed addresses. Now, people have cellphones and LinkedIn profiles to stay connected. Businesses have a lot of incentives to rehire former employees, especially when they need to fill a lot of vacancies immediately.  First, they save companies time by recruiting alumni who are already familiar with the job, the people, and the company overall. Ex-employees also need less time to onboard and get up to speed in their role. They’re even easier to “socialize” into the company culture and its people, Swider adds. An expedited hiring timeline also saves the company a lot of money by cutting down the cost of recruiting, the cost of the job not being filled, and the cost of the replacement getting up to speed.  Source:  CNBC 11/3/21

Have you noticed people skills gaining importance in leadership positions? For a better shot at landing the top job at today’s companies, aspiring CEOs should set aside their slide presentations and work on their listening skills instead, new research suggests.  Companies are increasingly seeking socially adept leaders—not charismatic smooth-talkers, but executives who listen empathetically, welcome input, and rally the workforce around a common goal, according to a recent study by a team of researchers including Harvard Business School Professors Raffaella Sadun and Joseph Fuller, who analyzed thousands of executive job search descriptions created over a 17-year period. Headhunters and corporate recruiters want candidates with soft skills who can: actively listen to others; empathize genuinely with others’ experiences; persuade people to work toward a common goal; and communicate clearly.  “The demand for social skills is increasing in every category of the economy,” says Sadun, the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration in the Strategy Unit at HBS. “[But] it’s not about schmoozing.”  Source:  Harvard Business Review 10/26/21

Many HSA eligible plans adding new pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services:  A new EBRI study finds three-quarters of large employers offering HSA-eligible health plans expanded pre-deductible coverage for medications and services that prevent the exacerbation of chronic conditions, a response to IRS Notice 2019-45.  “Employer Uptake of Pre-Deductible Coverage for Preventive Services in HSA-Eligible Health Plans” finds employers also indicated a willingness to add additional services if allowed by the IRS, a significant development considering bipartisan legislation was introduced in both houses of the United States Congress that would provide additional flexibility to extend pre-deductible coverage to services that manage chronic conditions.  A common thread was found among respondents when it came to considering extending the CARES Act provisions that allowed HSA-eligible health plans to provide pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services, a provision that nearly all employers adopted. Three-quarters prefer to make the provision permanent, and one-fifth would like to grant a temporary extension.  Source:  EBRI 10/14/21

Health insurance is a strong retention tool in times of the great resignation: One in three full- or part-time workers (33%) would be very or somewhat likely to leave their jobs in the near future if health insurance weren't a factor, according to an annual survey from Policygenius. More than one in four respondents (26%) said they'd be at least somewhat likely to start their own business if health insurance weren't a factor, and 37% of insured Americans ages 18 to 34 would be at least somewhat likely to pursue entrepreneurship if health insurance weren't a factor. The survey also found that people whose primary source of health insurance information is social media were more likely to avoid COVID-19 testing (39% of those getting health insurance information vs. 14% of those relying most on other sources), treatment (20% vs. 8%), and care (22% vs. 8%). Source: Policygenius 10/26/21

Sharing pay data with coworkers not popular:  A whopping 28 million American adults would rather run naked through the office for all their colleagues to see than reveal their salary earnings, a new survey finds. Trusaic commissioned a survey conducted by YouGov, to learn about Americans’ attitudes towards pay transparency. The leading question was:  If you had to choose, which one of the following two things would you rather do? Run naked through the office or workplace in front of your co-workers or allow your co-workers to know how much you earn?  The poll sample comprised a representative cross-section of the U.S. adult population aged 18 and over. Given, that the 2020 U.S. Census counted 258 million Americans, 18 and over, the poll results indicate that some 28 million Americans (11%) would rather run naked through the office than let co-workers know what they earn, while a further 88 million (34%) declined to say. The remaining 152 million (55%) would prefer to say their pay.  More men (14%) than women (9%), and younger workers than older ones, would opt to run naked through the workplace rather than reveal their pay. 16% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 would opt to run naked at work compared to just 10% of those 55 and above. Interestingly, the age group with the highest percentage preferring to let co-workers know their pay rather than run naked through the workplace were the 25-34 year-olds. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of this age group would rather let their co-workers know what they earn.    Source:  Trusaic 11/1/21