Employee engagement is becoming top priority for many employers; in last month’s article we discussed the importance for businesses to understand the level of engagement of its workforce. An engaged workforce is a key driver to increase productivity, innovation and to maintain a competitive advantage. Although regularly measuring employee engagement through surveys is an important component to understand job satisfaction, there is a lot more management can do on a daily basis. The 'Employee Turnover and Retention' study by the CIPD, groups the reasons as to why many employees choose to resign into two distinctive groups:

The 'Pull' Factor: Sometimes it is the attraction of a new job or the prospect of a period outside the workforce which 'pulls' them.

The 'Push' Factor: On other occasions they are 'pushed' (due to dissatisfaction in their present jobs) to seek alternative employment.

Line manager’s who foster a “poor relationship” with employees can be a push factor behind an employee’s decision to leave their job. Often times, a poor relationship with a manager is hard to define, but a thorough exit interview is a step in the right direction in identifying potential issues. A recent study by Henley Business School highlighted factors employees identified as a way a line manager can affect engagement:

1. By fostering a participative, facilitative and empowering management style - not controlling or micro-managing
2. By being approachable, available and open and willing to share thoughts and feelings
3. By giving ongoing, constructive, open, direct and timely feedback
4. By working with honesty, authenticity and competence

Organizations should also examine ways to support line managers in engaging their employee’s. This might include setting engagement-based targets for management which are linked to rewards, team goals and team rewards. According to the same study, a lack of training, development and career opportunities were also major reasons why many employees resigned from their jobs. More companies are now implementing a workforce management approach as part of a strategy to help them identify unutilized skills within the company and the best ways to develop them. A workforce management strategy of fully utilizing skills is of particular importance in the current economy with many businesses running lean.

Organizations that view employee engagement as an ongoing process rather than a once a year survey are sure to see a more productive workforce! Midwest Staffing Group has a team of dedicated HR professionals that are ready to assist your organization in evaluating and implementing a comprehensive workforce management strategy through a variety of programs including line manager training, diagnostic survey’s and a variety of other methods! Contact your local branch office for more information about how we can assist your organization reach your strategic workforce goals.

Does your organization have a concern about the impact that the long recession has had on employee morale and engagement? Are you wondering how your current work force is holding up and if there’s anything you could do to improve the environment? As many organizations may have put off hiring to make up for revenue lost they have also turned to their current workforce to boost productivity, work longer hours and to take on additional responsibility.

In addition to increased workloads, remaining employees might have to deal with additional measures such as salary freezes, furloughs, reduced retirement and health benefits. Many organizations have also conducted layoffs at least once over the course of the recession which also impacts employee morale.

As employers are asking their employee’s to do more with less, it is essential that employer’s understand the level of engagement of their employee’s to ensure top performance. Employee engagement can be measured through various measures, but perhaps one of the more effective ways is through an employee engagement survey. Midwest Staffing group conducts annual engagement survey’s and selects actionable items to improve for the next year. We have an experienced HR team that is dedicated to assisting our client’s measure and improve their employee engagement levels! Feel free to contact our HR department to discover how we might be able to assist your organization.

If you wish to develop your own, Gallop has created 12 basic questions to discover engagement levels. This is a great starting point to help you develop your own survey! http://www.workforce.com

After you have developed your questions, one tool that helps measure morale is a web-based survey application called "Survey Monkey". Organizations can customize the surveys to meet their needs on a variety of topics and use it to supplement the objectives of larger strategic initiatives. Measuring employee engagement levels is a great first step to improving a work environment; just ensure your organization is ready to address what it uncovers!

While we may not want to admit it, “recession” is the buzzword of the day. People across the country have had to do more with less, some have lost their jobs, and many companies are hesitant to hire new employees. Minnesota currently ranks 13th in the percentage of unemployed individuals at 7 percent. However, staffing companies appear to be a beacon of hope in the midst of economic crisis. Experts believe that increases in staffing employment are an indication of a rebounding economy.

For years, researchers have argued in favor of staffing firms and their ability to gauge economic vitality. Some go further to suggest that increases in staffing jobs are key indicators of an end to a recession. These times being some of the most difficult in recent memory, a favorable increase in staffing jobs can be seen as a light at the end of the tunnel. “A sustained upturn in temporary help employment would signal the end of the current recession,” note researchers on behalf of the American Staffing Association. ASA’s report further indicates that the economy would start to rebound within three months of a sustained upturn, based on statistical trends from the last three recessions.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released welcome news earlier this month, reporting that for the period between December 2009 and January 2010, temporary employment increased by some 250,000 jobs. This increase in staffing employment makes last month the best January in over twenty years, according the BLS. Further, temporary employment has been on a steady increase since September 2009. This means companies are becoming more confident in the strength of the economy, have increased workloads, and are looking for temporary solutions to improve workflow.

Staffing firms to the rescue! Recent activity in quite a few economic sectors indicate that companies are seeking temporary workers to fulfill vital functions, notes John Henka, sales manager for Midwest Staffing. “Some of our largest clients really ramped up in January,” he said. “These companies are starting to see that we act as a buffer, allowing them to hire employees on a temporary basis with the option of becoming permanent.” John said that he has seen an increase in staffing requests in manufacturing and government sectors; the medical and food industries are also gaining considerable speed.

Whether all this spells an end to the deepest recession since the Great Depression is yet to be determined. “My hope is that the national upturn in staffing employment will have a ripple effect and a lasting impact,” said Jeff Merwin, business development specialist for Midwest Staffing. “Right now, I am planting seeds by telling clients how we can help them when things turn around.” If current trends in staffing employment continue to remain stable—and, hopefully, increase—the American economy may be well on its way to a full recovery.

Today’s companies are utilizing temporary employees more than ever before. As the number of companies utilizing a temporary workforce grows, so does the need to take a closer look at employment law in this area. The ideal way to avoid co-employment issues is to partner with an experienced staffing provider that has established policies to ensure compliance with employment laws.

What is Co-employment?

Co-employment arises in situations where two companies maintain control over an employee’s work. This typically occurs when companies utilize temporary or contingent employees as part of their workforce.

In most temporary staffing arrangements, the client is responsible for the day-to-day direction of the temporary employee, while the staffing company is responsible for all of the other employment aspects of the temporary employee’s assignment. Typically, a provider of staffing services:

1. Recruits, screens, interviews, hires, disciplines and terminates the temporary employee.
2. Maintains all necessary personnel and payroll records, including drug screens and background checks.
3. Computes wages and withholds applicable taxes.
4. Remits employee withholdings to and makes employer contributions for federal FICA and federal and state unemployment insurance payments.
5. Pays net wages directly to the temporary employee.
6. Provides Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage.
7. Resolves the temporary employee’s complaints and grievances.
8. At the request of the client, for any valid legal reason, removes the temporary employee assigned to the client.

How KeyStaff Helps Manage Co-employment

For the co-employment issues described above, we partner with our clients to ensure that each of us fulfills our role in the relationship with temporary employees. While client employees are regularly involved in the supervision of the actual work performed by our temporary employees, we take great care to ensure we maintain control of the employment relationship at all times. We accomplish this by adhering to a few best practices:

1. All aspects of the economic relationship with temporary employees (e.g. payroll, raises, bonuses, benefits) are administered by KeyStaff without client involvement. The client provides performance feedback to determine which temporary employees are eligible for bonuses but KeyStaff administers the programs.
2. All communications regarding the length or termination of employment are handled by KeyStaff without client involvement.
3. Employment-related issues that arise between temporary employees and client employees are promptly communicated by the client to KeyStaff staffing managers. This practice enables KeyStaff and the client to resolve these issues effectively.
4. We have implemented an open communication policy so that temporary employee issues are recognized early and addressed by KeyStaff staffing managers before they escalate.

By implementing the above practices, KeyStaff has been successful in avoiding co-employment issues with our clients. In addition, if issues should arise, we have the support of our experienced human resources and legal staff to advise and assist in these matters. We are committed to providing superior service to our clients in all aspects of our partnership, from properly managing co-employment risks to supplying a high quality workforce!

Congress and the President have extended and expanded the COBRA premium subsidy which will allow more individuals to take advantage of federal assistance. The new legislation is part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 which extends the COBRA subsidy’s eligibility period for two months and extends the maximum duration of the federal assistance from nine months to 15 months. Employers will be required to provide additional notification to qualifying employees of regarding their rights under the Act.

At this point, the Department of Labor (DOL) has not provided a sample of the additional notice required under the provision. However, the new provision does require additional notices describing the new 15-month premium subsidy and other amendments. It will be important for all employers’s to stay up to date regarding the new notices and any sample’s issued by the DOL. Notices should be sent to all assistance-eligible individuals who are on COBRA on or after November 1, 2009, or whose qualifying event is a termination of employment occurring on or after that date.

Credit/Refund Processes for COBRA Subsidy Extension

Credit and refund procedures will be necessary to accommodate assistance-eligible individuals (AEIs) who paid more than the required 35 percent COBRA premium since the enactment of the subsidy extension. We recommend working closely with your benefits department to ensure participants receive the proper refund and that the amount your organization paid out is reimbursed through a premium reduction through a payroll tax credit. As always, Midwest Staffing Group is available as a resource and will keep your organization updated on any critical changes!

Over the past several months, there have been many releases from the Federal government regarding how to keep children, elderly adults, and those with weak immune systems healthy should there be a H1N1 or other flu pandemic outbreak. While these are all important topics to consider; there are also key items that employers must be aware of regarding the spread of the H1N1 virus in the work place. This article will focus on specific labor law issues and how to prepare your organization. For more detailed information and a FAQ section, please consult the government website: http://www.flu.gov/faq/workplace_questions

In addition to considering the government’s FAQ section, it is recommended that employers also should be guided by federal employment law, as well as their own employee handbooks, manuals, and contracts (including bargaining agreements), and any applicable state or local laws.

Seasonal Flu versus a Pandemic

The first issue to consider is if the outbreak is a seasonal flu or a pandemic. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), a seasonal flu is a periodic outbreak of respiratory illness in the Fall and Winter in the United States. A pandemic refers to a worldwide outbreak of influenza spread from person to person. When there is a pandemic, the likelihood of infection increases as the virus spreads throughout the population; possibly without vaccinations.

Family Medical Leave Act

An employee who has a serious health condition or is required to provide care to a qualified family member with a serious health condition may be entitled to up to twelve weeks of continuous or intermittent leave under the FMLA. The 2009 revisions to the FMLA clarified that an employer’s normal time-off polices dictate who an employee reports their absence and whether that time off will be paid. Employers still retain the right to require a medical certification for the serious health condition of an employee or a qualified family member. Employers should review their policies now to ensure that their policies are written clearly and up-to-date before a pandemic flu outbreak.

Americans with Disability Act (ADA)

Recently, the EEOC issued guidance with respect to the ADA and the H1N1 flu. Under the ADA, an employer’s ability to inquire about an employee’s disability status is limited by when the employer makes the inquiry. It is recommended that employers review when it is permissible to make such inquiries. While employers are limited in their ability to make individual employee disability inquiries, the EEOC an employer may make broad, general inquires of its workforce. For example, an employer may ask its workforce whether certain conditions (such as school closing or reduced public transportation) will affect an employee’s ability to come to work.

The Fair Labor Standards Act

Employees who are not infected and are able to work may find that they must “fill-in” for absent, infected co-workers, In turn, they may find that their job descriptions are significantly altered. A change in a job description has implications for an employee’s exempt/non-exempt status and overtime compensation. Should there be an outbreak, employers may choose to allow certain categories of employees to telecommute. This is recommended by both OSHA and the CDC, but employers should be aware that it may impact measuring and tracking time worked for exempt employees and workplace safety/workers’ compensation issue. If a telecommuting option is to be implemented, consultation with a legal counsel is recommended to ensure compliance with FLSA/workers’ compensation.

Workers Compensation

Employees who face a greater risk for infection from a pandemic flu may be entitled to workers’ compensation for their medical expenses and lost wages if they contract the virus while on the job. While this may not impact all employers equally, those in the medical/health care field should consider the implications of increased claims.

There are a multitude of employment laws that Human Resource Professionals must consider regarding the issues posed by H1N1. A proactive approach is recommended in preparing to handle various scenarios that may result from a pandemic such as increased use (and possible abuses) of sick time, increased exposure to litigation, and new government regulations. Midwest Staffing has taken a pro-active approach and has an operational contingency plan in place should a pandemic outbreak take place. We are prepared to continue to service our clients to the best of our abilities under tough circumstances!