Five HR Issues Not To Miss In 2021 And Beyond
As the year 2021 continues to pan out, the uncertainties for small and medium size business (SMB) owners don’t seem to be decreasing anytime soon. Fortunately, a good understanding of the changing HR landscape can work to your advantage as you strategize to face the changing business climate.
Are you already experiencing the overwhelming task of dealing with a remote workforce, a concept that is growing in increasing popularity? To help you to easily navigate through this challenge, here are some HR issues worth taking note of.
Vaccination Policies
The wellbeing of your employees must be your topmost priority, especially at the brink of an ongoing global health crisis. As plans for nationwide vaccinations continue to take shape, key questions keep arising on the type of vaccination policy and support for your employees. Thankfully, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides guidelines for employers and employees on “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws”. As the government takes urgent steps to finalize vaccination timelines, now is the best time to get adequately informed on vaccination policy requirements and recommendations.
Training
To ensure your employees are maximizing their productivity, the importance of training cannot be overemphasized. Training requirements keep evolving across different states. For instance, in Connecticut and Washington, there are now additional training requirements for employees. However, those for Washington are industry specific, partly due to a sexual harassment prevention law for workers in specific industries such as hospitality, retail, security, and property services. Additionally, employers must also provide a panic button device for employees to use which summons immediate assistance, among other requirements.
In the same vein, California’s SB 1343 is now in full effect and requires employers with five or more employees to provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees every two years, whereas Connecticut employers are required to do same if they have three or more employees.
Paid Leave
To enrich work-life balance among your employees, it is imperative that you consider paid leave initiatives. It is therefore not surprising that there has been increasing calls by the state and local municipalities for employers to establish paid leave programs. As Maine recently joined Nevada, there is now a requirement for certain employers to provide paid leave to covered employees.
It is also interesting to note that other states such as New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, and California have also added or expanded paid sick leave and/or paid family and medical leave programs for their eligible employees beginning 2021.
Marijuana and the Workplace
The mental state of your employees greatly affects how they function in the workplace. Conversations regarding the use of marijuana in the workplace continue to gain popularity, with a number of states instituting marijuana-use policies. On January 1, 2021, New Jersey and Montana become the newest states to add to the growing list of states which have legalized recreational marijuana use. Alaska, California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, and Michigan are already on that list. If you have employees working in these locations, it is advisable that you review the appropriate drug-free workplace policies for compliance.
Diversity in Leadership
Addressing diversity issues can enable your company to gain a competitive advantage. That’s why as an employer, it is necessary to pay particular attention to such issues. In 2018, California passed SB 826, which requires boards of California-based publicly held companies to have at least one female director by 2019 and to increase this number in 2021, depending on the size of the board.
The state then passed AB 979 in 2020which required boards to add members of “underrepresented groups”, such as “Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.” Washington also passed the Women on Corporate Boards Act, effective June 2021, which will require more boards to be “gender-diverse” by January 2022. As many businesses look to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in 2021, there are possibilities that more states may follow California and Washington’s lead and establish similar regulations.
