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employee benefits

Employee Benefits
Employee Benefits: Set Your Company Apart 1024 577 LaDonna Kearney

Employee Benefits: Set Your Company Apart

Differentiate Your Business Through Benefits Offerings.

Most employers are in the crosshairs of the war for acquiring talent. Hiring is especially competitive for small businesses, which has prompted investments in ways to attract and retain staff. To stay ahead of the competition, consider new benefits that can ultimately lead to cost savings, such as giving employees decision support tools to choose compatible plans for their health savings accounts, concierge tools for streamlining and reducing health care spending, and disease management plans.

Flexible schedules go hand in hand with getting over the idea that employees are only working when you see them working. Set remote workforce policies making it clear to employees that your company is either a remote-first or office-first firm — and which is preferred and likely to be enforced. Hybrid work schedules are still popular and can differentiate you from another company when a candidate is deciding. Design a benefits platform that addresses the needs of your employees and makes mental health resources part of the equation.

Consider healthcare options

Health care is typically the most expensive benefit to offer, and coverage is only getting costlier. More companies have begun fully covering the cost of premiums, and a third of small-business employees are now enrolled in a plan where they aren’t paying out-of-pocket costs for single coverage. And lately, fewer employers are passing on premiums to their workforces.

Telehealth services should stay a part of your team’s coverage. Virtual and remote health care is here to stay but needs to evolve — there’s got to be integration with one’s overall health care plan to ensure the quality of care is paramount.

Expand the scope of your family leave policy beyond maternity leave to include more customizable options to support fathers, same-sex couples, adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents who are caregivers for grandchildren, bereaved families, and those looking after elderly or sick loved ones. Since many employees will need to take care of someone else in their lives, think about how you provide an equitable experience for all staff. A short-term disability policy is another option to consider.

Think out of the box

Lifestyle spending accounts offer your employees coverage for physical wellness, athletic equipment, emotional wellness, meditation classes, retreats or even park passes. They’ll  have the flexibility to address everyday life expenses without burdensome compliance limitations.

Don’t overlook employee development opportunities to further your workers’ careers and to help develop soft skills. Reimburse employees for continuing education and/or industry conferences. And assist team members with personal or work-related problems such as substance abuse or neurodiversity.

And what about perks that were once so key? Reevaluate your benefits package to move away from once-touted trends such as unlimited time off. Instead, experiment with services that allow employees to cash out their unused time and add it to their retirement account or to pay down student loan debt.

Administratively, unlimited paid time off is cumbersome and difficult to manage. As the priorities of your team change, benefits that were once important can become obsolete. According to benefits managers, gym memberships and employee discounts are less impressive to many employees.

Employee benefits exist within the atmosphere of economic uncertainty, heightened employee expectations and the extension of hybrid work. Although not every benefit is feasible or appropriate for every company, smart employers are finding that benefits can set them apart even more than salary. Let us know whether we can help you with evaluating your benefits program.

©2023

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Travel Expenses
Travel Expenses: What You Need to Know 1024 577 LaDonna Kearney

Travel Expenses: What You Need to Know

Travel Expense Reports Are a Dreary Task

What is reasonable when it comes to expensing travel? Research from Certify, a company that tracks travel and expense claims, revealed some provocative items: One marketing department actually approved an employee renting a llama for $150 to accommodate a photographer’s request; one employee boarded a pet snake for $30 a day; and one salesperson transporting pungent garlic samples requested (but was denied) a separate $85 room for the samples. So, what’s considered reasonable?

What will and won’t raise eyebrows?

Employers can circumvent the issue of legitimate expenses by following a predetermined per diem amount for travel. It serves as an alternative to expense reports or can be used in combination with them. Short-term temps or substitutes, like teachers, may also file expense reports.

Companies follow different guidelines for establishing their per diem allowances. Private firms can structure them in line with federal mandates for government employees — typically, the General Services Administration for domestic rates and the U.S. Department of State for international travel. Per diem rates consider varying costs among locations; for example, it is more expensive to eat out in San Francisco than in Wichita, Kansas. Also, industries have varying expectations for business expenses. The time of year is another factor, as seasonal rates range widely.

Whether included in a per diem allowance or charged separately, the following expenses are normally acceptable, within reason:

  • Lodging (hotels, Airbnbs, private rentals, short-term apartments).
  • Gas and tolls for driving.
  • Taxis to and from airports, stations, conferences, lunches or client offices.
  • Internet access on flights or in hotels.
  • Printing and copying services when away from home.
  • Laundry and dry cleaning.
  • Checking luggage.
  • Meals, including room service.
  • Tips.
  • Visa fees.
  • Travel accident or travel medical insurance.

The following are generally out of bounds:

  • Museums and personal entertainment.
  • Alcohol (unless entertaining clients).
  • Flight upgrades.
  • Child care or pet sitting.
  • Parking tickets.
  • Lost luggage.
  • Late/cancellation fees.

There is a key distinction between an employee’s daily commute and a journey to a different city. Business travel may include meeting clients or partners, attending events or conferences, visiting the company’s other offices, conducting research or making presentations.

When expenses do not fit into standard formats, companies may resort to out-of-pocket reimbursements.

Per diems versus itemized expenses

Per diems make life easier for companies and employees. Busy workers are thankful not to have to sort out receipts and document each outlay. They also offer predictability and flexibility, as employees themselves make spending choices. Plus, a generous expense account creates loyalty and attracts talent.

On the company’s side, per diems simplify expense tracking, which consumes time and effort when vetting expenditures and requires paperwork. They may help control costs by encouraging employees to be more frugal than if using plastic — it is too easy to pull out a credit card. They are also usually tax deductible for the employer, but be sure to have your accountant review any questionable matters.

Sometimes partial per diems can apply when traveling workers spend some of the first or last day in the office. And this story has an important buried lead: Employees normally do not need to return unused per diems!

Specify the process

Spell out guidelines and procedures in a policy document for all employees. In addition, create an expense form for them to fill out.

You can tackle common concerns up front. For example, do executives travel in business class? How much luggage can they take? (One regular suitcase and one carry-on are customary.) Do employees need approval to book their own transportation? Can they use their own noncompany-issued credit cards? If possible, specify amounts appropriate for different destinations. Can they bring an extra person, like a spouse? (Often yes, if it incurs no extra expense.)

Address the company’s policy for group entertainment. Normally, the senior executive pays for meals. Be clear about deadlines for required reimbursement requests and submissions of receipts.

The goal is to strike a balance between paying what the company can afford and satisfying your employees’ expectations.

©2023

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Retirement Plans
HR Insight: Retirement Plans that Deliver a Paycheck 1024 577 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: Retirement Plans that Deliver a Paycheck

Retirement Plans – The Gift that Keeps Giving

Defined contribution retirement plans have always prioritized their participants’ retirement security in their plan designs. They now realize that the savings or accumulation phase is only one element of the mission. Income solutions that provide a paycheck-like experience in retirement are required too.

Participants want lifetime income

More employees want to stay in their plans after retirement. The employer is a source they trust. Plans also want them to stay for a host of reasons — including the belief that in-plan solutions will better serve participants. If employers want to retain people in the plan, they must also offer solutions for the postretirement phase of life.

Participants face many spending dilemmas in retirement: overspending, financial uncertainty due to market volatility, inflation and the longevity risk of outliving their money. One reason participants overspend is that they have no idea how to create a sustainable withdrawal rate for drawing down their nest egg, which should probably be far lower than most people currently assume.

Plans can help. DC retirement plans need to start by shifting their focus to the individual, not the average participant. A holistic framework needs to account for the impact of all types of potential risks — mortality, longevity, liquidity and inflation.

Default options

Sponsors (that set up and oversee retirement plans) need to complement the flexibility of existing structures with the ability to provide guaranteed income. They seek solutions that are:

  • Simple.
  • Flexible, to meet the needs of different types of participants.
  • Transparent in terms of costs.
  • Operationally feasible.

To impact a broad percentage of their population, lifetime income solutions must be part of the default option. That is where participants are automatically slotted unless they opt out. These one-size-fits-all defaults are still overly generalized. They should also offer flexibility in the guaranteed income level, the retirement date and the date the participant will begin to secure income.

The industry has put in place fixes to shore up a number of shortcomings. For instance, defaults, auto-escalation and target-date funds address poor participation, contributions and investment diversification. (An auto-escalation allows plan participants to regularly increase their contributions until they reach a preset level. Target-date funds periodically rebalance asset classes, inching toward a more conservative mix.) The time has now come to fix the retirement income side as has been accomplished for accumulation.

In that context, any investment used as a default still needs to provide liquidity, even if a portion is allocated to guaranteed lifetime income. You can’t default someone into something that requires them to make an irrevocable decision. Most participants don’t want to become portfolio managers, especially in something as complex as providing income for life. They want income for life, regardless of the market environment and how long they live.

Factors driving success

Plans and employers should understand participants’ other income sources, calculating the income replacement rates provided by Social Security or perhaps a defined benefit plan. Make the retirement income solution complementary to these other income sources. A plan’s demographics matter. For instance, a relatively low-earning participant population may find that Social Security alone could provide sufficient income replacement, reducing the need for a dedicated retirement income solution.

Develop appropriate educational messaging for those nearing or in retirement. When you introduce retirement income, rely on communications to address features that participants haven’t previously encountered.

Increasingly, the line between working and retirement will blend. The implications for structuring retirement income include the need for flexibility and liquidity while still providing longevity protection. Retirement income should help participants meet their spending needs through a phased or full retirement while ensuring against the risk of outliving their savings.

An overarching message for plans is to keep it simple. Many people don’t know how to spend in retirement — it is something they need guidance with. Participants are looking for flexibility, with a preference for a total-return strategy that offers options for guaranteed income.

Talk to your financial advisers about how to structure a retirement plan that offers your retirees long-term income security.

©2023

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SEP IRA
HR Insight: What is a SEP IRA? 940 788 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: What is a SEP IRA?

A SEP IRA offers employers and their employees a tax-friendly way to save for retirement. As it currently stands, with a traditional IRA you can contribute $6,500. This is a decent amount of money. However, with a SEP IRA you can place nearly 10 times that amount in your account during the current tax year. That’s upward of $66,000 per SEP IRA.

At the same time, keep in mind that SEP IRA annual contribution limits can’t exceed the lesser of these two conditions:

  • 25% of your total compensation.
  • $66,000 total in the 2023 tax year.

The first limitation states that your annual SEP IRA contribution cannot exceed 25% of your total compensation. This is equivalent to the limit regarding how much money you can contribute for each of your eligible employees. This year, the amount of compensation that you can use to calculate the 25% limit is $330,000. Also, there’s no catch-up contribution at the age of 50 or older for SEP IRA contributions like there is for traditional IRA contributions.

SEP IRAs are generally best for people who are self-employed. This type of IRA is ideal for small-business owners who have few if any employees. If you have employees whom the IRS considers eligible participants in your plan, then you have to contribute on their behalf. Plus, the contributions you make for them must be an equal percentage of compensation compared to your own.

What makes someone an eligible participant in a SEP IRA?

Eligible participants are people who are 21 years of age or older. They must have worked for your business for at least three of the past five years. While working for you, it is required that they also make a minimum of $750 this year alone. For example, if an employee who worked for you in 2019, 2020 and 2021 made $850 over those three years, you would need to contribute to an SEP IRA for them this year.

How are SEP IRAs managed?

Employees own and control their own SEP IRAs. That said, a SEP IRA is easy to set up and administer, so it can be combined with a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. Even better, a SEP IRA is very flexible because you don’t have to commit to making contributions year after year.

If you’re a sole proprietor, you can deduct contributions that you make to the plan for yourself. You can also deduct the fees of trustees if contributions to the plan do not already cover them. Earnings on the contributions are generally tax-free until you or your employees begin receiving distributions from the plan.

How does a SEP IRA work?

An SEP IRA follows the same investment, distribution and rollover rules as a traditional IRA, which means employees can receive your contributions to their SEP IRA. They can also make regular and annual contributions to their traditional IRA or Roth IRA simultaneously. One does not negate the other. Also, employer contributions to an employee’s SEP IRA won’t affect the amount of money that employees can contribute to their own IRA.

You can set up your SEP IRA so that you’re immediately eligible to participate. After you’ve established your plan, you can amend it and create more restrictive eligibility requirements. However, you must meet the new eligibility requirements if you want to continue your participation in the plan moving forward.

How to set up an SEP IRA

To set up or alter the eligibility requirements of your SEP IRA, use FORM 5305-SEP. It is an IRS-approved prototype that is offered by banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions. You can set up an SEP IRA for one year as late as the due date of your business’s income tax return for the year in question. This yearlong period of time includes any applicable extensions.

A self-employed person can set up a SEP IRA plan even if the employee chooses to participate in an employer’s retirement plan through another job. That said, any partners or members of a limited liability company who are taxed as a partnership cannot maintain separate SEP IRA plans.

For retirement plan purposes, those people would be considered employees of the partnership, so things would contradict and become confusing. People who reach the age of 72 after Dec. 31 can delay the reception of their required minimum distribution until April 1 of the year after they turn 73 years old.

Your contributions to your employees’ SEP IRAs won’t be included as part of your gross income. Participants may be able to transfer or roll over certain property from one retirement plan to another.

But even so, your contributions to their SEP IRAs are made in cash. Also, since an SEP IRA can’t be a Roth IRA, your contributions to an SEP IRA won’t affect the amount of money that an employee can contribute to a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA.

You have to give your eligible employees a statement each year. On that statement, you must clearly show the number of contributions and the value of each that were deposited into their SEP IRAs. You can use a SEP IRA plan instead of setting up a profit-sharing or money purchase plan with a trust.

SEP IRAs can boost the size of your retirement nest egg while doing the same for all your eligible employees. This is due to the higher contribution maximum values and the flexibility of SEP IRAs. The extra perks and overall simplicity make SEP IRAs very desirable for employers looking to offer an employer-sponsored plan.

©2023

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401(k)
HR Insight: How to Avoid 401(k) Compliance Mistakes 940 788 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: How to Avoid 401(k) Compliance Mistakes

Avoid 401(k) Compliance Mistakes

As an employer, one of your main goals should be keeping your employees happy. And you can keep your employees happy without losing favorable 401(k) tax benefits, paying penalties or facing liabilities.

In the process, don’t forget to take the changes caused by the SECURE 2.0 Act into consideration, namely in terms of retirement savings plans. SECURE 2.0 might mean you have to make amendments to any of your company’s existing plans or retirement account offerings.

When you’re looking to avoid costly mistakes while keeping everyone satisfied, keep the following 401(k) compliance requirements in mind.

Amend all retirement plans

Amend all retirement plans in line with changes that are made to the law. These changes can either be statutory, regulatory or government mandated, so stay in the know and pay attention to all the possibilities.

More specifically, take a moment to revise the changes caused by SECURE 2.0, especially because over 90 changes have been enacted. There are also differences between discretionary and optional plan adjustments.

Define the details of the plans

It’s important to make sure the 401(k) plan operates in alignment with the terms associated with it. If this is not the case, negative tax consequences or a breach of fiduciary duty, if not both, may result. Properly define the meaning behind compensation and then use that definition to determine allocations for each employee’s 401(k) plan. 

Confirm your employees are eligible for the plans

Always ensure that applicable employer-matching contributions as well as nonelective contributions are distributed in a timely fashion. Making sure the proper allocations are distributed to each employee is essential as well. Double-check the eligibility of your employees and whether they can reap the benefits of your 401(k) plans. 

Pay attention to the administrative side of the plans

As an employer, it is important that you ensure all of your employees’ 401(k) plans are properly managed and handled. Employees who participate in work-related 401(k) plans can borrow from their 401(k) plan if that is an option you make available to them.

However, if employees choose to withdraw from their 401(k) plans, then legal compliance must be intact. Ensure your employees understand that the money they borrow must be repaid in a timely fashion in order to avoid interest fees or additional taxes.

Stay on top of tax-related matters

When offering 401(k) plans to your employees, you must file Form 5500, which details your annual returns-related information. This form must be submitted to the Department of Labor so that you can avoid having to pay significant late fees or deal with associated penalties.

Also, it’s your responsibility to deposit elective deferrals on behalf of your employees. Provisions implemented by SECURE 2.0 yield a lot of new benefits that are intentionally designed to make offering retirement plans to your employees more attractive for you as an employer.

Furthermore, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 adds to SECURE 2.0. Ultimately, SECURE 2.0 addresses a number of issues that deterred employees from participating in employer-backed 401(k) plans in the past.

Always make sure you adhere to the rules of contributing and withdrawing from retirement accounts. For example, you have to let your employees make automatic withdrawals or contributions without being subject to the 10% penalty resulting from early withdrawals.

Also, SECURE 2.0 has expanded the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, allowing for more leeway when it comes to the correction of internal errors. New rules have been added in terms of handling overpayments as well. To see the specifics of the rules surrounding 401(k) compliance, visit the DOL and Treasury Department websites.

©2023

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hybrid work schedule
HR Insight: Is the Hybrid Work Schedule Here to Stay? 940 788 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: Is the Hybrid Work Schedule Here to Stay?

Hybrid Work Schedules – The New Norm?

The hybrid work schedule experiment has gained traction. By 2023, Gallup research indicated the numbers among U.S. workers had stabilized at about 28% performing exclusively remotely, 20% on-site and 52% working in a hybrid arrangement. Whether those proportions persist will depend on the overall economy and labor market and whether recession tilts the balance.

The best of both

The main models used for hybrid work are simple enough:

  • Shifts — the whole team works in-house a few days per week and remotely the rest of the time.
  • Split teams — some people work remotely, and others work on-site.
  • Flex — employees can choose where they prefer to work.

Most hybrid work schedule employers have tried out weekly configurations of three days in the office and two days remote. While three days in the office is seen as a sweet spot, patterns vary. For instance, Harvard Business School research advocated just one day on office premises!

Different employees gravitate to different styles, though it should be noted that executives are three times as likely as are worker bees to want to return to offices full time. But preferences cut across all seniority levels. Gallup ran a survey in late 2022 among 8,090 respondents to examine the pros and cons of hybrid arrangements.

The findings demonstrated compelling benefits:

  • An improved work-life balance.
  • More efficient use of time.
  • Freedom as to where and when to work.
  • Higher productivity.
  • Reduced fatigue and burnout.
  • Smoother coordination, collaboration and cross-functional communication.

A Stanford study discovered hybrid employees get more accomplished away from noisy office spaces, reduce commuting time and costs, gain self-esteem, and enhance trust with their managers.

Employers appreciate the availability of wider talent pools as well as cost savings on space (rent and utilities) and materials (supplies and food).

On the downside, respondents cited noteworthy challenges. They listed a lack of access to resources and equipment and a distance from office culture and relationships. It may also be emotionally draining to be constantly switching between schedules and spaces. It also may not be feasible for those with client- or customer-facing jobs, and it may create resentment over other colleagues’ more-flexible deals. Should those who are toiling in the office be paid more?

Making hybrid succeed

Managers can take steps to ensure hybrid arrangements operate as smoothly as possible.

Start by designating which days are for in-office work. Research from Prodoscore reveals that workers are most productive Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Interestingly, those assigned boring chores perform better at the office, while those undertaking more creative tasks excel at home. If an entire team works from home, however, the whole group underperforms, as no one wants to commit extra time.

Managers should set initial expectations. They should ponder why they actually are going the hybrid route. Will team members schedule their own hours? While on-site, they can help employees interact with teammates and utilize equipment.

Maintain clear policies for communication. Provide feedback in person. Use constant updates and virtual tools to link remote and in-house employees. You may need to customize software platforms to incorporate data visualizations, progress reports and project management.

Hybrid work can be a plum perk

There is still insufficient longitudinal data to confirm whether hybrid workers are more productive. However, it is clear the opportunity for flexibility attracts and retains talent. Whether it is for child care duties, mental well-being or regular access to outdoor green spaces, ensure your employees understand their side of the bargain. How do they spend their at-home hours? Gallup reports a combination of working (86%), training (27%), innovation (26%), meetings (24%) and exercise (22%).

Take that with a pinch of salt. Some are probably watching TV. Managers recognize some trade-off is necessary to keep their teams contented.

©2023

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HSA
HR Insight: IRS Announces HSA Limits for 2024 940 788 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: IRS Announces HSA Limits for 2024

HSA Limit Changes for 2024. Here is what you need to know:

In the recently released Rev. Proc. 2023-23, the IRS has made annual inflation adjustments to health savings accounts:

  • For calendar year 2024, a “high deductible health plan” is defined as a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,600 for self-only coverage or $3,200 for family coverage, and for which the annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, copayments and other amounts, but not premiums) do not exceed $8,050 for self-only coverage or $16,100 for family coverage.
  • For calendar year 2024, the annual limitation on deductions for an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan is $4,150.
  • For calendar year 2024, the annual limitation on deductions for an individual with family coverage under a high deductible health plan is $8,300.

The HSA catchup contribution limit for those age 55 and older is set by statute at $1,000 and remains unchanged.

What’s behind the changes:

The Society for Human Resource Management noted that the annual contribution limits are rising by more than 7%, “in one of the biggest jumps in recent years.” These changes are due to the high inflation rates. The increased limits should bring additional attention to HSAs: “Many industry experts tout health savings accounts as a smart way for employees to save for medical expenses, even in retirement, citing their triple tax benefits: Contributions are made pretax, the money in the accounts grows tax free and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax free.”

The SHRM said that at the end of 2022, Americans held $104 billion in 35.5 million HSAs.

This is just a summary of complex provisions. To see whether an HSA is right for you, we always recommend you speak with a financial professional.

©2023

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Free Meals
HR Insight: Free Meals as an Employee Benefit? 940 788 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: Free Meals as an Employee Benefit?

Free Food in the Office as a Benefit

Want to attract and retain workers? Who doesn’t? Consider free meals. Company-paid lunches are a major perk that’s hard to pass up, especially if you’re a millennial. USA Today reported that providing free food to your employees can result in a 67% job satisfaction rate.

Let’s look at this a bit more deeply. Workers become less focused as lunchtime approaches, and they are starting to think about where to get their next meal and with whom. This creates a bit of a drag on productivity. But by providing a free meal at the office, you remove the distraction.

And how much will this cost? Providing a daily $10 meal to a full-time employee costs $2,600 a year, but you make up the price by having staffers get back to work sooner; a mere 15 minutes of their on-the-clock productivity before and after lunch every day and the meal pays for itself.

If getting employees back in the office in the first place is your problem, try offering free meals. Free breakfasts and lunches are one of the top ways that companies are luring workers back to the office. It may be true that the way to employees’ hearts is through their stomachs.

And let’s not dismiss the notion that eating together creates strong social bonds. You’re bringing together a diverse group and giving them opportunities to make connections outside their teams and departments. On top of that, offering healthy meals to workers who might skip lunch or instead go for junk food translates into workers with more energy and focus in the afternoon.

You may be nixing the idea of daily free meals, but even an occasional company-provided lunch yields results. Most workers see a once-a-week catered meal as a great perk, boosting overall job satisfaction. You may opt for free coffee and bagels in the morning, which works well too.

There are more meal options than ever — food delivery services and on-site pop-up restaurants — for providing meals to employees. A prepaid meal card offers access to a monthly meal allowance that can be used in local restaurants, on food-delivery apps and in grocery stores, offering your team flexibility and control while you monitor your program. You’ll look like a hero to your workers to boot.

Eating together is a way to build engagement among teams so people can get to know each other better. It encourages discussions and a sense of belonging. Productivity rises as workers save time because they know there’s food provided at the office.

It can work almost anywhere

Once only the purview of companies like Google and Apple, free food is something small startups have added to their list of employee benefits. Value? With employees spending less time away from their desks, you can estimate cost savings per employee at anywhere from $2.50 to $4.50 per day. How? Your employees can work for an extra half an hour every day.

Especially for knowledge workers, sharing meals and communicating more frequently help build a collaborative environment. Take those who write code, for example. It can take 32% longer without effective communication. Employees are more comfortable where there are trust and strong social bonds in the workplace. Breaking bread together encourages breaking down barriers and getting people to act more naturally.

Physical space is also a key to relationship formation — friendships develop during brief and passive contacts made going to and from home or walking about the neighborhood. An office cafe is a great place not only to facilitate that physical contact among co-workers but also to entice new people to come to work for your company — people really want to work at a place that cares about their health and wellness. Happy, loyal employees are likely to speak highly of your business to customers and to their professional connections, friends and family. Eating meals together helps nourish team members, literally and figuratively, and creates an environment of support for their efforts.

Of course, you may want to work with an experienced human resources consultant to help you customize a plan for your company. And remember that even if you provide this benefit, you still must abide by other regulations, such as rules for nonexempt employees.

©2023

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Employer Brand
HR Insight: Employer Brand 940 788 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: Employer Brand

If You Build It, Employees Will Come.

Who are you, as a company? The overall company brand defines the quintessential qualities of the organization, at large, that is directed to both the general public and all stakeholders, including customers, clients, strategic partners, investors and/or regulators. Employer branding, on the other hand, targets job seekers and employees. It zooms in on the workforce and prospective hires to discover how these groups really perceive your organization.

The employer brand communicates every facet of your employees’ experience, from work/life balance and social values to hiring and onboarding. Buzzword aside, you are looking to figure out your unique employee value proposition. Employers that establish a successful brand own an intangible asset that can be widely parlayed.

The value proposition is a full package

Every organization needs to take a deep dive and examine itself from the inside out. What special differentiating features does your company offer, beyond pay checks of course, making it a rewarding place for an employee to hang his or her hat? Why should a job candidate choose to work for you and not elsewhere?

Your goal is to position yourself as the employer of choice. If that works, you will spark excitement to differentiate yours from more generic brands. In doing so, you will need to address every touchpoint. Some of the main marketing tools for current and potential employees are:

  • Job descriptions.
  • Websites with career pages.
  • Social media profiles.
  • Onboarding materials.
  • Job acceptance and rejection letters.
  • Performance reviews.
  • Internal communications, such as newsletters.

The list is long and can be leveraged to construct a powerful employer brand, which then should be constantly promoted. The human resources department is directly responsible for the brand, but other parties also coordinate efforts to help shape a firm’s identity, including the C-suites, line managers and the marketing department members.

For example, when management approves benefits, it is up to HR to implement them and create marketing tools to promote them. Recruiters should also put the employer’s corporate culture, work environment and reputation into a recognizable brand.

How to build it

The first task for your employer brand is to nail down what your organization stands for both inside and outside the corporation. Sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn give a glimpse of outsiders’ perceptions. Conducting surveys among employees and job candidates provides further insights. Also, digging deeper into workshops is useful, since culture is so nuanced and subjective.

Compile a list of leading questions and employment topics to be discussed, such as:

  • What makes us different?
  • Do we offer unique or unusual benefits?
  • Are we treating our current employees well and could we improve?
  • Where should we spread the word about our company?
  • How do people find out about working for us?
  • What channels should we use to promote our brand?
  • Can we measure the results?

Next, it is time to give substance to the ideas and implement an action plan. First among the best practices for successful employer branding is keeping your current employees loyal and satisfied. In today’s social media landscape, negative stories can quickly go viral, undermining hard efforts elsewhere. Other practices for boosting the brand are to:

  • Provide feedback and transparency in interacting with new job candidates.
  • Support some suitable causes, ideally ones associated with your industry.
  • Keep active on social media channels and educate your employees in social media skills — post images of your workspaces and group gatherings, employee videos, testimonials and blogs.
  • Host and participate in public events that can create a positive, enduring impression.
  • Leverage committed employees as brand advocates.

Measure and monitor all these avenues, focusing on areas such as cost per hire and satisfaction surveys.

Employer branding wins

A good brand yields benefits in cost savings and productivity. The war for talent is fierce, so aim to attract and retain the best candidates to avoid turnover. Extra points gained from a solid, credible reputation count, alongside money spent on salaries and benefits, and help level the field with larger organizations. A wider candidate pool means faster hiring times, as well.

Send a clear message where you excel, including:

  • Training and development.
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HR Employment Law FMLA
HR Insight: 30 Years of FMLA 940 788 LaDonna Kearney

HR Insight: 30 Years of FMLA

FMLA Celebrates 30 Years of Providing Employees with Guaranteed Medical Leave. Here’s What You Need to Know.

Ever since it was put into action, the FMLA has made it possible for working Americans to receive a guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid leave in the event they need to recover from an illness, care for a family member under specific circumstances or stay home with a newborn, all without fearing that they will lose their job as a result. However, keep in mind that employees are usually required to submit a request to take FMLA leave in advance of taking FMLA-related time off.

Which businesses qualify for FMLA-related time off?

Now, the stipulations of the Family Medical Leave Act apply only to businesses that employ more than 50 workers, meaning employees who work at very small businesses often don’t qualify for FMLA leave. If your company meets the size requirement, has employees who have worked within a 75-mile radius and said employees have worked for you for at least 20 workweeks over the course of the current or previous calendar year, then you will be recognized as an employer that can offer FMLA leave.

Requirements of the employees

Any requests made by employees for FMLA leave are expected to be made no fewer than 30 days in advance of the employee’s intended first day of leave. While a 30-day notice is the minimum, employees should notify their employers of their desire to take FMLA leave as soon as possible. After doing so, employees are also required to provide their employer with medical documentation relevant to the FMLA leave request within 15 days of the start of their leave.

Requirements of the employers

On the employer side of things, an employer has to notify the employee who is requesting FMLA leave about the status of their request within five business days. If the employer denies the employee’s request for FMLA leave, the employer must provide the employee with a valid reason as to why their request was not approved.

Employees who take FMLA leave are allowed to use the time all at once or in increments. Whether your FMLA leave is taken consecutively or intermittently will depend on the needs of the employer as well as the specifics of the need for FMLA leave. The FMLA allows employees to take their leave in either 12- or 26-week increments over the course of 12 months, but ultimately it’s up to the employers to decide what they prefer their employees do.

For a lot of employers, the FMLA is preferred to be enacted on a rolling basis to ensure their employees do not take 12 weeks of FMLA leave at the end of December followed by 12 more weeks at the beginning of January. And to clarify, even though FMLA leave is unpaid time that employees take off work, their jobs are protected and the employee will still be employed when the FMLA leave period comes to an end.

For some small businesses, their workforces fluctuate and have fewer than 50 workers at times. So what does this mean in terms of their ability to provide their employees with the option of FMLA leave? Essentially, these businesses still qualify for FMLA leave coverage as long as the business employed at least 50 workers for 20 weeks in either the current or previous year.  

Now, are part-time employees eligible for FMLA leave? Such employees can receive up to 12 weeks’ worth of unpaid leave for both family reasons and medical purposes as long as the employees have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours, though this does not include paid nor unpaid time that was taken in the previous 12 months.

In other words, part-time workers are eligible for FMLA leave if they work approximately 24 hours per week over the course of 52 weeks. Although FMLA leave is unpaid, businesses must maintain the existing group health care benefits that were in place prior to the employees’ FMLA leave. Likewise, employers must restore either the same position or an equivalent role for the employee once their leave is over.

According to Entrepreneur magazine, FMLA leave, like intermittent leave, can be taken in separate and multiple blocks of time. However, there are two main circumstances that must be present if FMLA leave is to be taken: The employee is requesting FMLA leave for a medical reason or to focus on a “serious condition.”

Back in 2009, new regulations were put in place in order to define what a serious condition meant in the context of FMLA leave. Since then, a serious condition is recognized as three consecutive days’ worth of incapacity in addition to two visits to a health care provider. These two visits are required to have taken place within 30 days of the incident that caused the serious condition.

The flip side

While FMLA leave is a highly appreciated option for many working Americans, the law still places workers who cannot afford to take unpaid time off work at a disadvantage. Countless other workers who either do not qualify for FMLA leave or cannot take unpaid leave for economic reasons do not yield many benefits from FMLA leave, if any at all. In fact, according to Fortune, upward of millions of employees refuse to take FMLA leave even if they want to simply because the leave is unpaid.

Please note that there are many states in the U.S. that offer paid family leave programs that allow employees to take time off from work for qualifying reasons. Keep in mind that state-regulated programs such as these are not controlled by the federal government nor are they part of the federal FMLA program.

Look into the options in your state and review the requirements to see whether paid family leave or paid medical leave is an option available to you. As always, protect yourself and ensure your options are in compliance with the FMLA by speaking with a legal adviser. Professionals can assist you in the process of mitigating any legal repercussions that may arise and can also help you understand how the FMLA may apply to your specific situation.

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