Highest share of work at home has stabilized: Nearly 30% of all work happened at home in January, six times the rate in 2019, according to WFH Research, a data-collection project. In Washington and other large urban centers, the share of remote work is closer to half. In the nation’s biggest cities, entire office buildings sit empty. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the American workplace. The share of all work performed at home rose from 4.7% in January 2019 to 61% in May 2020. Some economists consider the remote work boom the greatest change to the labor market since World War II.  In 2021 and 2022, employers gradually summoned American workers back to the office. Last spring, the back-to-the-office movement hit a wall, and the work-from-home population stabilized around 30%.  A much smaller group, around 13%, work entirely from home. They include many IT and payroll workers, contractors, and people who pick up the phone when you call customer service.  The average worker saves 70 minutes of daily commuting time by working from home — and spends almost half of that extra time doing work: a win-win.  Source: The Hill 2/20/23

New green card has implications for I-9s: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced new designs to improve security of Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). USCIS began issuing the redesigned cards on January 30, 2023. This is a routine process; USCIS has changed the design of cards every few years to keep up to date with the latest security and fraud prevention recommendations. Current cards will remain valid until their expiration date (unless otherwise noted, such as through an automatic extension of a Green Card or EAD as indicated on Form I-797, Notice of Action.  Additionally, some Green Cards and EADs issued after January 30, 2023, may still display the existing design format because USCIS will continue using existing cardstock “until current supplies are depleted.” Both versions of the cards are acceptable for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification; E-Verify; and Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE).  Also, some older Green Cards do not have an expiration date. Such cards will generally remain valid, although USCIS encourages applicants with these older cards to consider applying for a replacement card to prevent fraud or tampering should their card ever get lost or stolen.  Source: Littler 2/17/23

Is healthcare as a benefit going away?  Not anytime soon. In the recruiting wars it is a differentiator. Despite rising costs, employers will continue to offer healthcare coverage to their workers, and they don’t see that ending anytime soon, if ever, according to a report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).  As one of the benefits managers the EBRI interviewed for the report put it: “We’ve been saying for a long time that costs are unsustainable, but apparently, they’re sustainable. We’ve always made it work.”  Predictions that many employers would steer workers to plans offered on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace didn’t come to pass for multiple reasons identified in the report, including a sense of obligation to provide these benefits.  In addition, employers think that they could offer better deals than ACA plans, and, though employees voiced a desire to have more options, the study found that an increase in options confused workers rather than empowered them.  "Every survey we’ve done says that our workers want more choice, but when that choice comes, they want us to choose for them," a benefits executive at a telecommunications company said.   Source: Fierce Healthcare 2/24/23

Employees trust healthcare decisions by employers: Most employees spend less than an hour on health plan decisions during open enrollment, according to recent research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The 18th Annual Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS) found that about one in five enrollees just were automatically reenrolled in their current plan. Those with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) were more likely than traditional plan enrollees to use employer-provided tools to pick their health plan: 58% of HDHP enrollees used their annual employee benefit guide and 41% used their online portal, compare with 38% and 29% among traditional plan enrollees. “Open enrollment is the time of year when employees get to evaluate their plan options,” said Paul Fronstin, director of health research benefits at EBRI. “Employees should consider the trade-offs between premiums and cost sharing when making health plan decisions.”  Next enrollment period, it is likely to be a good program to provide more education for employees about their health care choices.  Source:  EBRI

Should an ATS that incorporates AI be subject to Title VII discrimination lawsuits? A failed applicant who has been rejected for dozens of positions posted by employers using Workday's applicant screening software because he's Black, over 40, and suffers from anxiety and depression sued Workday because of the tool embedded in its software. Experts say this suit, lodged in California federal court, breaks new ground and spotlights thorny legal issues surrounding the use of AI in workplaces. Since the suit is against Workday, not a potential employer, it's not clear whether the company can be held liable under the laws Mobley invoked — Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  "I haven't seen a lawsuit against a vendor of automated employment decision tools that is as wide-ranging as this one," said Matt Scherer, senior policy counsel for Workers' Rights and Technology at the Center for Democracy & Technology. "It presents some interesting legal questions ... that no court has addressed, as far as I know."   Mobley and his legal team argue that Workday falls should be held responsible for putting discriminatory software into the market.     Source: Law360 2/27/23

Want a real vacation, consider working in these countries: Whether it’s a day off in lieu of a national holiday, a religious festival, or simply a mandated minimum for paid vacation days, there are different rules in each country that set the base threshold of paid time off for workers.  Resume.io analyzed the laws on statutory paid leave and paid public holidays in every country around the world and created this chart to reveal the minimum amount of vacation days employees are entitled to (at least on paper).  Here is the list of best and worst countries for time off:

Monaco sounds like a good place to work and live.  If only we could afford it.  And if you are wondering about public holidays, Iran offers the highest number of paid public holidays in the world with a total 27 days per year including the Islamic Republic Day. It is followed by Bangladesh (24), Azerbaijan (21), and Cambodia (21).  On the other extreme, Libya has no paid public holidays, while Lebanon has only two paid public holidays per year. Source: Visual Capitalist 3/3/23