SOUND BITE
Survey: Vacations Not a Priority
Summer is just around the corner, so you would think that many
of your employees will soon be scheduling their vacations, if they
haven’t yet. But not so fast.
According to a recent CareerBuilder survey of 3,215 employed
U.S. adults, 33 percent of them said they haven’t yet taken a vacation
in 2017, nor do they have plans to do so before the end of the year.
At the same time, many workers polled said they could use a
break, with 61 percent reporting that they are burned out in their
current job and 31 percent describing their work-related stress levels
as “high” or “extremely high.”
Among those who will be taking vacation this year, three in 10
said they will still stay connected with work while on holiday, with 31
percent saying they will be checking work email while away. Further,
36 percent of respondents said they’ve come back from vacation with
so much work to do that they wished they never left at all.
—Mark McGraw
The Negative Effects of Workplace Change
The saying goes that “change is inevitable.” But when it comes to
the workplace, Americans would rather have none of it, according
to the results of a survey from the American Psychological
Association.
Employees in the U.S. who have been affected by change at
work are more likely to report chronic work stress, less likely to
trust their employer and more likely to say they plan to leave the
organization within the next year, compared to those who haven’t
been affected by organizational change, according to the APA’s
2017 Work and Well-Being Survey, a study of 1,500 U.S. adults was
conducted on behalf of the APA by Harris Poll in March.
Workers reporting recent or current change also were much
more likely than other respondents to feel cynical and negative
toward others during the workday, the study found.
—Andrew R. McIlvaine
HERO Releases Wearables Report
If you’ve been wondering how to integrate wearable devices into
your wellness programs, the Health Enhancement Research
Organization has some success stories to share.
In a new report, HERO includes findings from three case
studies of organizations that, combined, employ more than 60,000
people “and whose incorporation of wearables into their wellness
program reflects a comprehensive, results-oriented approach,”
according to a statement from the Waconia, Minn.-based
organization.
Each of the employers that participated—BP, Emory University
and Ochsner Health System—took a different path to achieve
positive results, but showed some “clear commonalities” in the way
they implemented wearables as part of their wellness plans, such
as sound communication strategies, encouraging long-term use of
wearables and making them financially feasible for employees.
—Mark McGraw
Pet-Friendly Perks
In the early days of the dot-com boom, Jeff Bezos and his
team were hard at
work, building the
virtual marketplace
that would come
to be known as
Amazon.
While Bezos and others
have become household names,
another early team member
is less well-known outside of
Amazon. Rufus was a Corgi
who regularly reported to work
at the start-up with his mom
and dad. Employees would lift
Rufus into the air and use his
paw to click the mouse when
launching the very first pages of
the Amazon.com website.
A Look at Trump’s
Labor Department
After months of delay and uncertainty, the nation finally
has a new labor secretary.
The U.S. Senate on April
28 confirmed President
Trump’s nominee,
Alexander Acosta, who took
his oath of office later that
day.
This leaves more than a few
tough questions for employers
to ponder: What will
Acosta do with policy
proposals left over
from the Obama
administration?
And, in particular,
will the Trump Labor
Department pursue
or abandon former Labor
Secretary Thomas Perez’s plan
to raise the pay threshold for
overtime-exempt workers? For
businesses, millions of dollars
in annual payroll costs depend
on the answer. The department
has until June 30 to keep alive
its appeal of a Texas judge’s
preliminary ruling last year that
would toss out the
rule.
Most expert
observers expect
a more business-
friendly Labor
Department to take
shape under Acosta.
But they urge employers
not to get sloppy or take
anything for granted. Many
expect Acosta will take
a more moderate policy
route than did Perez, as he
suggested in his nomination
hearings earlier this year.
“I think Acosta meant
what he said in the
nomination process,” says
Andrew B. Prescott, a labor
lawyer with Nixon Peabody
in Providence, R.I.
“He’s prepared to protect
worker rights under current
law,” Prescott says. But
when it comes to Labor
Department rules and
policies, “there will be fewer
changes that make life
harder for employers” under
Acosta.
Dena H. Sokolow, an
employment attorney and
shareholder with Baker
Donelson in Tallahassee,
Fla., agrees. But she notes
that employers must
recognize that inertia will
keep much the same in the
Department of Labor for
some time.
—Jack Robinson
Amazon’s affinity for
workplace dogs didn’t end with
Rufus. The company created its
Dogs at Work program
and regularly hosts
fun dog-themed events,
Halloween costume
contest.
In recent months,
the Internet giant made
headlines with the
opening of a dog park
adjacent to its Amazon Spheres
campus, which is part of a $4
billion construction project
the company is undertaking in
Seattle.
While policies permitting
pets in the workplace continue
to be viewed favorably by
employees, other pet-related
benefits, such as paid pet
bereavement leave and general
pet-related paid time off, are
growing in popularity, according
to the second annual Banfield
Pet-Friendly Workplace
PAWrometer survey.
More than half (51 percent)
of employees said they would
prefer such benefits. General
pet-related PTO received
the highest rating from both
employees ( 47 percent) and HR
decision makers (54 percent).
“Employers are
increasingly recognizing the
pet-human bond and how
pets can positively impact
workplaces and employee
well-being,” says Stephanie
Neuvirth, senior vice president
of people and organization for
Vancouver, Wa.-based Banfield
Pet Hospital, which operates
nearly 1,000 veterinary
hospitals in the U.S. and
Puerto Rico.
—Julie Cook Ramirez
“Just allowing the private market to automate without any
support is a recipe for blaming immigrants and trade and
other things, even when it’s the long impact of technology.”
—Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard and
former Labor Department chief economist under President
Clinton, quoted in a recent New York Times story, titled “The
Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It’s Automation.”
IN BRIEF
• 57% Employee messaging,
• 53% Employee-benefits setup,
• 47% Payroll setup,
• 47% Background screening/drug testing,
• 37% Archiving candidates,
• 31% Centralize candidate profiles, and
• 30% Interview scheduling.
Source: CareerBuilder, Chicago
HR Automation on the Horizon
A recent survey of 719 HR
managers and recruiters shows
72 percent of employers in the
private sector expect some roles
within talent acquisition and
human-capital management will
become completely automated
within the next 10 years. Here are the percentages of
companies that already automate certain human resource
functions:
