Quick Hits - July 15, 2020 - American Society of Employers - ASE Staff

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Quick Hits - July 15, 2020

Quick HitsHealthcare costs are rising: Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance grew 5% to average $20,576 last year, according to new research from the Kaiser Family Foundation—the first-time costs topped $20,000. Employers and employees are sharing the cost. On average, workers contribute $6,015 toward the cost of family coverage, with employers paying the rest. While average annual increases in premiums have been “relatively stable,” Rabah Kamal, policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation says, rising inflation and stagnant salaries are making the healthcare increases even worse. These numbers were collected last fall before the Coronavirus pandemic began, and some experts predict premiums will rise again this year. How to control costs?  For price of care, the primary options are to increase cost-sharing—clearly not employees’ favorite method—or to add wellness or health promotion plans, which can help get employees healthier, therefore saving employers money on healthcare costs in the long run.  As far as use of care, employers have more options. Some include reconfiguring provider networks by adding alternatives sites of care (such as opening an onsite clinic or adding telemedicine options); directing employees to more efficient providers; or restricting network breadth.  Source:  HR Executive 7/6/20

FFCRA investigations growing:  After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Black Swan Inc. – a delivery service contractor based in Austin, Texas – has paid $800 in back wages to an employee for wrongly denying paid sick leave for a qualifying reason under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). FFCRA allows employees to take paid leave when advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine or while seeking a medical diagnosis. WHD investigators found that Black Swan Inc. failed to provide the employee paid sick leave despite a health care provider’s order to self-quarantine for two weeks. As a FedEx contractor, the employer thought it was not covered by the Act because it provided services for FedEx, an employer with more than 500 employees. As a contractor with less than 500 employees, Black Swan is not exempt from FFCRA provisions. Black Swan cooperated fully with investigators and, once it understood its responsibility under the new law, agreed to pay the employee’s wages for the days covered by paid sick leave. The employer also agreed to future compliance with the FFCRA, which went into effect on April 1, 2020.  Source:  CCH 7/9/20

To be more productive try windowed work:   For many workers, flexible schedules have gone from being a perk to a necessity during the pandemic, and new research from global staffing firm Robert Half suggests it's a positive trend. Nearly 4 in 5 professionals surveyed (79%) said their job allows for windowed work, or the ability to break up their day into distinct chunks of business and personal time. Of those respondents, 73% reported the arrangement leads to greater productivity.  A greater percentage of respondents with children (78%) than those without (66%) said windowed work allows them to be more productive.  Nearly an equal number of men (75%) and women (71%) said they get more done when integrating personal and professional activities throughout the day.  More employees ages 55 and older (39%) noted they prefer a traditional schedule than those ages 41 to 54 (32%) and 25 to 40 (22%).  Source:  Robert Half 6/30/20

Are your employees engaged?  Gallup found early last month, the percentage of "engaged" workers in the U.S. -- those who are highly involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and workplace -- reached 38%. This is the highest it has been since Gallup began tracking the metric in 2000. Now, with the measurement from June 1-14 following the killing of George Floyd in late May and subsequent protests and riots on top of a pandemic, unemployment, and attempts to re-open some businesses, 31% of the working population are engaged. Taking into consideration three Gallup measures of employee engagement this year, the overall percentage of engaged workers during 2020 is 36%.  The remaining 54% of workers are "not engaged" -- they are psychologically unattached to their work and company. These employees put time, but not energy or passion, into their work. Not engaged employees typically show up to work and contribute the minimum effort required. They're also on the lookout for better employment opportunities and will quickly leave their company for a slightly better offer.  Source:  Gallup 7/2/20

Facebook hit with institutionalized racial discrimination lawsuit:  Facebook screens out black job applicants and routinely relies on peer reviews by its overwhelmingly white and Asian American workforce to unfairly deny promotions to its few black employees, according to a class action race bias charge filed Thursday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  A black manager and two black job applicants accused the social media giant of systemic race bias in the EEOC charge, assailing a "general policy of discrimination" that infects personnel decisions including hiring, promotions, and setting pay. "There may be Black Lives Matter posters on Facebook's walls, but black workers don't see that phrase reflecting how they are treated in Facebook's own workplace," the charge alleges. Black workers make up less than 4% of the company's workforce, while whites and Asian Americans comprise more than 87%, they allege. And this disparity is worse in higher-paying positions: black workers hold just 1.5% of technical jobs and 3.1% of senior leadership roles, the complainants say. Facebook's emphasis on "culture fit" and its preference for hiring via referrals perpetuate the company's race gaps as white and Asian American workers recommend and hire applicants like themselves, the charge alleges.  Source:  Law360 7/2/20

Company discriminates against whites in favor of persons of Indian descent:  Mphasis, an Indian technology company, has settled allegations that it discriminated against white applicants in favor of Asians by paying back wages and agreeing to meet legal non-discrimination requirements, according to the federal Labor Department.  Mphasis, which has federal contracts, will pay $171,300 in lost wages to those alleging discrimination to resolve the allegations, the department said July 7.  Jane Suhr, an official in-charge of federal contract compliance, said: "Federal contractors are required to provide equal employment opportunity to all applicants regardless of race and ethnicity." Mphasis agreed to extend job opportunities to 14 persons affected by the alleged discrimination and to take steps to ensure its personnel practices meet all legal requirements, the Labor Department said.  The department said that a routine evaluation of Mphasis by its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs came up with the allegations that between 2015 and 2017, Mphasis discriminated against white applicants in favor of Asian applicants for computer systems analyst positions.  Source:  IndiaWest 7/8/20

OFCCP issues final regulation on authority over Tricare providers: The DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a final rule on July 2 that amends regulations on its authority over TRICARE health care providers. The rule removes TRICARE providers from OFCCP’s authority, providing two bases for doing so. First, the rule explains OFCCP’s reconsidered legal position that the agency lacks authority to regulate healthcare providers solely because they participate in TRICARE. The rule also, in the alternative, establishes a national interest exemption for TRICARE providers. OFCCP did not adopt any regulatory changes related to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Benefit Provider (VAHBP) agreements in the final rule. In response to comments regarding the benefits of a uniform approach to all government healthcare plans, OFCCP plans to issue sub-regulatory guidance on FEHBP providers and VAHBPs to provide certainty and clarity.  In the meantime, healthcare providers under these programs are under a freeze from OFCCP enforcement until 2021. However, healthcare systems don’t rejoice yet, experts predict that there will be a lawsuit enjoining these rules once final for administrative act violations. Source:  USDOL 7/1/20

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