OFCCP extends deadline for EEO-1 Type 2 report objections to October 19: OFCCP announced an intention to produce federal contractors’ Type 2 EEO-1 data in response to a FOIA request from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). Employers were given until September 19, 2022, to file their objections. On September 15, 2022, OFCCP extended the deadline for filing objections to October 19, 2022. Employers that wish to object on this basis should communicate their objections to disclosure by completing the Submitter’s Response Form through the OFCCP Submitter Notice Response Portal.
More organizations are publishing pay ranges for jobs: According to a new pulse survey by WTW, conducted between June 27 and July 8, 2022, among 388 respondents, the 2022 Pay Clarity Survey by WTW found that 17% of companies are already disclosing pay range information in U.S. locations where not required by state or local laws. In addition, 62% of organizations are planning or considering disclosing pay rate information in the future, even where there are not local mandates requiring them to do so. This will include information such as hiring range and full salary range, with 58% of companies planning on doing the former and 48% the latter. The survey found that 71% of companies plan to use a consistent approach in determining which pay rate and range information will be disclosed across all jobs. Over half of organizations (57%) are applying a geographic pay policy to determine the pay rates or ranges, and they will differ based on location of the job. Some organizations that currently disclose pay rates are seeing more questions from current (38%) and prospective (27%) employees. Nearly one in six companies (16%) are also seeing an increased number of candidate applications. Source: WTW 8/26/22
Are you considering labor hoarding? Given the complexities of the job market, continued high fills with an economy in turmoil and decreasing labor market, employers are considering labor hoarding. Rather than laying off employees during these uncertain economic times, companies are hanging on to talent. KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk, former chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors Jason Furman, and others describe a trend in which employers decide to ride out the uncertainty with higher payrolls--in order to avoid the long-term costs of hiring and training new people when the economy rebounds. Labor hoarding marks a shift in business owners' go-to strategic response to recessions--namely, cutting your labor force to preserve short-term profits. It’s not new. It was discussed in the 1940s and was in economic literature throughout the second half of the 20th century. In this type of scenario, productivity may lag but once the economy picks up, the employer will be ready to compete and fulfill orders. Source: Inc.
Study shows how COVID has impacted the labor market: According to a new National Bureau of Economic Research study, Covid-19 illnesses persistently reduce labor supply. The paper estimates that workers with week-long Covid-19 work absences are 7% points less likely to be in the labor force one year later compared to otherwise-similar workers who do not miss a week of work for health reasons. The estimates suggest Covid-19 illnesses have reduced the U.S. labor force by approximately 500,000 people (0.2% of adults) and imply an average forgone earnings per Covid-19 absence of at least $9,000, about 90% of which reflects lost labor supply beyond the initial absence week. The authors “provide the most credible evidence to date about labor-market impacts for a large set of workers,” said Aaron Sojourner, an economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, who wasn’t involved in the study. Many economists see the nation’s workforce’s slow recovery combined with the high demand for workers as among the U.S. economy’s key challenges, restraining many employers’ ability to provide goods and services and contributing to price pressures. Fixing this imbalance, they say, will be essential to lowering high inflation. Source: Wall Street Journal 9/12/22, National Bureau of Economic Research 9/12/22
Does SHRM discriminate? A lawsuit was filed by Rehab Mohamed, a former employee of SHRM who is a brown-skinned Egyptian Arab woman who began working in SHRM’s educational design department in 2016. According to the suit, Mohamed “consistently earned glowing performance reviews and promotions for her quality work and dedicated to SHRM’s stated mission,” but when assigned a new direct supervisor following her promotion to a post as a senior instructional designer, she claimed the new supervisor “systematically favored” white subordinates over Mohamed and other non-white employees. According to the lawsuit, the new supervisor subjected Mohamed to “undeserved scrutiny” and “unreasonably strict supervision.” According to the lawsuit, after Mohamed complained of discrimination to her direct supervisor’s superior, the direct supervisor immediately began to retaliate against her by trying to exclude her from meetings, unfairly criticizing her work, and setting her up for termination. SHRM responded by saying that Mohamed’s work performance was not on par. SHRM says that toward the latter part of her employment, Mohamed received counseling for issues specifically related to her job performance. Those issues related to her communication with her supervisor, a lack of timeliness with respect to deadlines, and her inability to complete two large projects. Sound like a situation you may have dealt with? Good performance reviews but bad performance? Source: HR Morning 9/2/22
Workers are more emboldened to strike: There were 180 strikes involving roughly 78,000 workers in the first six months of this year, up from 102 involving 26,500 workers in the same period a year earlier, according to a strike tracker created by researchers at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Worker pay appears to be a key driver. In the past few weeks, thousands of teachers in Ohio and Washington, nursing-home workers in Pennsylvania and mental-health therapists in California have walked picket lines after contract negotiations broke down over wages and other issues. Other workers have held daylong walkouts as they try to unionize coffee shops, distribution centers, and other workplaces. In the tight labor market, when hiring is difficult and turnover is high, companies also face questions about how much they can increase wages to meet workers’ expectations when the threat of a recession is looming, said Michael Lotito, co-chairman of the Workplace Policy Institute at Littler. Mr. Lotito said he thinks many unions will now look to the wage increases in the tentative railroad agreement as a measure of successful bargaining. “I think that is going to embolden unions to ask for more,” he said. Source: Wall Street Journal 9/16/22
Even CEOs fake illness to take a day off: A recent survey of American workers shows that you aren't alone. Data from answering service Moneypenny revealed that a whopping half of Americans have faked an illness to take the day off from work. In most cases, though, the respondents revealed that the reason they faked a sick day was to take care of family matters, like taking their child to the doctor. While 23% of Americans have used this excuse, the survey found that women are likelier than men to skip work to attend an appointment. While faking sick days may be an unsurprising habit for employees, the survey found that there's one company member in particular who is most likely to fake a sick day: the CEO. "Intriguingly, when we break down the data by seniority level, it's actually owners and CEOs who are most likely to take an unneeded sick day, with almost two thirds (64%) admitting to having done so in their current role," the report shared. "Who'd have thought the boss would need to lie?" Source: EBN 9/12/22