Benefits, Legislative Updates, Recruiting

Why the Cleveland Clinic’s $15 Minimum Wage Matters to You

Earlier this week, the Cleveland Clinic committed to raising the minimum wage for its employees to $15 an hour by January 2020.

According to its CEO, Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, its all about making sure employees feel respected and valued … and attracting and retaining the best employees.

As the largest employer in Northeast Ohio and the second largest employer in the state of Ohio, Cleveland Clinic has a responsibility to lead the way and help shape the future of health care and the health care workforce.…

Every caregiver’s role is important. Increasing our minimum wage demonstrates our commitment to our employees and their families, as well as the community and our patients. It is a reflection of who we want to be as an organization.…

Ultimately, we want to continue attracting the best and brightest caregivers in all roles. We want to remain an employer of choice and give back to the caregivers who do so much for the patients we serve at Cleveland Clinic. Our goal at Cleveland Clinic is to be the best place for health care and the best place to work in health care. To reach that goal, we will continue to align caregiver pay with other top employers in the markets where Cleveland Clinic operates … .

The clinic joins other large employers — Amazon, Walmart, Target, Disney Parks, McDonald’s — in adopting a $15 minimum wage.

Which is great for them and their employees, but why should this matter to you and your business?

Because by raising their minimum wage, you will have to do the same. Or you will if you want to attract and retain quality employees. These employers have moved the needle on the issue of the minimum wage. To compete in the job market against those offering a $15 minimum wage, other companies will have to match, or risk losing quality employees to higher paying employers. Thus, over time, the $15 minimum wage will organically spread.

This is not to say that this increased minimum wage is not without problems of its own. For example, if you raise your minimum wage to $15 an hour, what happens to all of those employees already earning $15 an hour? To the employee, hired 10 years ago at $8 an hour, who worked his butt off for the past decade, and, through a series of promotion and raises, earned his way up to $15 an hour? Will you provide a proportional raise to keep pace? And, if not, a $15 minimum wage will convert those millions of workers into minimum-wage employees. And, for better or for worse, there is a certain stigma with being classified as minimum wage — especially if you’ve worked hard for years not to be minimum wage.

These are not easy issues with easy solutions. However, the $15 minimum wage train has most definitely left the station, and there is no going back. The question is not if you will adopt it, but when, and how.

The post Why the Cleveland Clinic’s $15 Minimum Wage Matters to You appeared first on Workforce.

https://www.workforce.com/2018/12/13/why-the-cleveland-clinics-15-minimum-wage-matters-to-you/

December 13, 2018/0 Comments/by Workforce.com

Legislative Updates

Recruiting Scams Are on the Rise

Online recruiting scams have re-emerged to prey on job seekers and employers. The Better Business Bureau tracked more than 3,000 recruiting scams in the first 10 months of 2018.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/shrm/hrnews/~3/m6Lpkhz8iFs/recruiting-scams-are-on-the-rise.aspx

December 12, 2018/0 Comments/by SHRM.org

Legislative Updates

Congress Passes Bill to Make Lawmakers Financially Liable for Harassment

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Dec. 13 that would require members of Congress to pay for sexual-harassment settlements out of their own pockets. Some had feared such a requirement would discourage public service, but it got both chambers’ stamps of approval as needed to deter harassment.

December 12, 2018/0 Comments/by SHRM.org

Legislative Updates

Trust is the key to great company culture: 4 ways to build it

Every employer wants to have a strong company culture where workers feel happy and comfortable and are ready to work each day.

And the secret to achieving that? Trust. A recent study from Harvard Business Review found those who work in a high-trust environment have 74% less stress than those who don’t.

Some other benefits the study discovered include more energy, higher levels of engagement, fewer sick days and less burnout.

Openness and communication

Trust doesn’t just materialize overnight – it’s something that needs to be built purposefully. And Jeff Yurcisin, president of Zulily, shared steps he followed to achieve a trusting environment.

1. Be transparent. Always communicating openly with staff is a surefire way to gain their trust. An open-door policy lets employees know all thoughts and questions are welcome. Holding regular meetings to keep everyone in the loop helps to do this as well.

2. Be clear. A lot of workers are unsure of their companies’ goals. Make sure your employees know exactly where the company is heading and why, and how everyone helps achieve these goals.

3. Keep your promises. Nothing destroys trust more than not following through on something. If you tell an employee you’ll look into getting them help on a project, make sure you keep your word. This will emphasize reliability at work.

4. Get to know everyone. Getting familiar with people’s personal and professional goals will let your staff know you care about them on a human level. Being genuinely interested in your people will naturally foster trust.

http://www.hrmorning.com/trust-key-company-culture/

December 12, 2018/0 Comments/by HRmorning.com

Legislative Updates

App-roaching the Bench: Providing Legal Services Through Technology

In this day and age, virtually every service provider has adopted some form of technology to assist clients and customers. Why should the delivery of legal services be any different? Scott Rechtschaffen, Chief Knowledge Officer at Littler Mendelson, and Kevin Mulcahy, Vice President of Education and Community Programs at Neota Logic, recently served as adjunct professors at Cornell Law School to teach students how law firms and tech companies are bridging the law-technology gap.

https://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/app-roaching-bench-providing-legal-services-through-technology

December 12, 2018/0 Comments/by Littler.com

Benefits, Legislative Updates

I’ll Take Leave of Absence Policies for $5.25 Million, Alex

A: An employer must have one of these to avoid running afoul of discrimination laws when an employee is out on a medical leave of absence.

Q: What is an open-ended leave of absence policy?

Two employers recently learned this lesson the hard way, care of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Family HealthCare Network will pay $1.75 million to resolve disability and pregnancy discrimination claims stemming from its use of “rigid leave policies and practices to deny reasonable accommodations to its disabled and/or pregnant employees, refusing to accommodate them with additional leave and firing them when they were unable to return to work at the end of their leave.”

The Cato Corporation will pay $3.5 million, also to resolve claims that it “denied reasonable accommodations to certain pregnant employees or those with disabilities, made certain employees take unpaid leaves of absence, and/or terminated them because of their disabilities.”

Says Melissa Barrios, director of EEOC’s Fresno, California, Local Office, “The EEOC continues to see cases in which employers have a rigid leave policy that discriminates against individuals with disabilities or pregnant employees.”

These issues very much remain on the EEOC’s radar. Unless you want to risk being on the receiving end of an expensive enforcement lawsuit, take these lessons to heart and ensure that your leave of absence policies, both in writing and in practice, permit for extended unpaid leaves as reasonable accommodations for disabled and pregnant employees.

The post I’ll Take Leave of Absence Policies for $5.25 Million, Alex appeared first on Workforce.

https://www.workforce.com/2018/12/12/ill-take-leave-of-absence-policies-for-5-25-million-alex/

December 12, 2018/0 Comments/by Workforce.com

North State SHRM News & Legal Updates

Why the Cleveland Clinic’s $15 Minimum Wage Matters to You

Recruiting Scams Are on the Rise

Congress Passes Bill to Make Lawmakers Financially Liable for Harassment

Trust is the key to great company culture: 4 ways to build it

Openness and communication

App-roaching the Bench: Providing Legal Services Through Technology

I’ll Take Leave of Absence Policies for $5.25 Million, Alex

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