The pandemic may have reshaped the world of work, but some truths remain such as the importance of first impressions, and onboarding is your company’s first real impression to the new hire.
While much thought is put into the hiring process, what happens after the job offer is made is vital as the first few days and weeks of a new employee’s experience can not only set the tone for their satisfaction with the company, but can enhance employee retention, productivity, and overall success.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law in May a bill prohibiting race-based hair discrimination in Texas workplaces, schools, and housing policies. House Bill 567 -- The so-called CROWN Act -- takes effect September 1, 2023.
Texas joins 20 other states in passing a CROWN Act – the acronym stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, according to the CROWN Coalition.
When it comes to job interviews, it’s not just candidates that need to make a good impression as employers must make sure their interview behavior attracts the right employees and doesn't scare away those who could make a great fit to their team.
“Overselling. Oversharing. Avoiding Eye contact. Watching the clock. Using loaded phrases such as “We have a fast-paced culture”, which should have been axed years ago,” wrote Dana Wilkie for SHRM in May 2023. “Managers who behave in these ways while interviewing job applicants run the risk of causing potentially valuable employees to run for the hills.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being hailed in some quarters as the biggest step for change for society since the industrial revolution and the emerging technology certainly could revolutionize the human resources (HR) industry by automating repetitive tasks and improving the efficiency and accuracy of HR processes.
The Supreme Court issued a judgment in February that has employers on notice as a 6-3 majority opinion in “Helix Energy Solutions Group v. Hewitt” found that daily-rate workers, no matter their income level, are not exempt from overtime pay unless they are paid on a salary basis as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
In an era of rising inflation and tightening household budgets, it’s surprising that many employees fail to maximize their employee benefits.
In fact, a survey by Voya Financial in 2021 found that 1 in 3 employees do not understand the benefits they selected during the open enrollment, including half of all millennials.
The IRS offers several programs designed to give individuals tax advantages to offset health care costs including health savings accounts (HSAs) and health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs).
“Both a healthcare flexible spending account and a health savings account can cut your taxes and help you save money on medical, dental, vision and other qualified medical expenses. And while they are alike in some ways, each offers different features and benefits,” writes Kemberley Washington in Forbes Advisor.
Most of today’s workforce are too young to remember early 1960s teen heartthrob Neil Sedaka, but they likely know that his signature song “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” continues to ring true in any decade.
Sedaka’s sad song may be at the top of some Spotify playlists as big-name employers are “breaking up” with employees during a wave of mass layoffs centered around the tech industry in the U.S.
“Tech jobs feel like they're vanishing quicker than steam from a pot of boiling water lately,” reported USA Today.
On one side of the American economy, tech companies almost daily announce new layoffs, while in other sectors, such as shipbuilding, companies cannot hire workers fast enough.
The massive tech worker layoff, which started in 2022 and has extended into 2023, has led to more than 200,000 employees being let go and has many examining its effect on the U.S. job market.
“More than 66,000 workers in U.S.-based tech companies have been laid off in mass job cuts so far in 2023, according to a Crunchbase News tally, and the year is just getting started,” reported Keerthi Vedantam for CrunchBase. “Last year, more than 140,000 jobs were slashed from public and private tech companies as they were forced to confront rising inflation and a tumultuous stock market.”
