LER 425 - Chapter 8

Compressed Workweek Schedules

With compressed workweek schedules workers perform their work in fewer days than a regular five-day workweek Maybe four 10-hour days, or three 12-hour days. Promotes recruitment and retention by: - reducing commute time and increasing down time. - providing more time together for dual-career couples who live in different cities The FLAS does not regulate flexible work schedules. - An agreement between employer and employee.

As of September 2015: trends

- employer costs for paid leave averaged $2.17/hour worked, 6.9% of total pay. - For service workers, costs were $0.56/hour, or 3.9%. - Vacation benefits cost $1.13/hour, 0.8%. - Personal leave costs were $0.12/hour, 0.4%. - For goods producing industries, costs were $2.46/hour, 6.5%. - For service producing industries, costs were $2.11/hour, 7%. - Paid leave benefit costs are often directly linked to wages; therefore, higher paid occupations or industries will typically show higher costs with percentages based on total compensation costs for the reference group

Parental Leave and Bereavement Leave

FMLA mandates 12 weeks unpaid leave for family reasons. - In recent years, many companies voluntarily instituted paid parental leave policies. (e.g., take up to one-year paid leave to care for a child) - Increasingly, companies are working to legitimize paternity leave influenced by social stigma. Bereavement leave or funeral leave provides time off following the death of a relative. - Some companies designate allowable amounts depending on the relationship involved. (e.g, Offering longer period for immediate relatives.

Jury Duty and Witness Duty Leave

Federal and state law guide jury duty policy. - The Jury Systems Improvement Act of 1978 established this right. - FLSA prohibits employers from reducing employees' salaries while participating on a jury. - Witness duty policies are guided by state laws in only half of all states.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Flexible work arrangements - create the flexibility for employees to balance work and nonwork demands or interests - More than 80% of companies offer some type of flexibility. Numerous benefits: - Enhanced recruitment and retention. - Job satisfaction. - Employee engagement. - Lower stress. - Lower unscheduled absenteeism. - Lower voluntary turnover. One downside. - May harm collaboration when work schedules do not align. Three most common: - flextime schedules, - compressed workweek, - telecommuting.

Leave under the FMLA: Key provisions

Guaranteed unpaid leave with the right to return - to the same job (or equivalent) with the same benefits. Does not require employers to pay for the leave. But, does require they maintain the same health coverage. Employees may choose to substitute paid leave for unpaid FMLA leave. Applies to all local, state, and federal government employers and private-sector companies with 50 or more workers employed during 20 or more weeks in a calendar year Applies to all public or private elementary or secondary schools, regardless of number of employees Employees qualify for FMLA leave when they - have worked at least 1,250 hours over 12 months, and - live within 75 miles of the place of employment. Qualifying employees may take leave for: - birth and care of a newborn child, - placement of an adopted child or foster child, or - care for themselves or an immediate family member with a serious health condition. Spouses employed by the same employer are jointly entitled to a combined total of 12 workweeks of family leave. Circumstances may warrant the 12-week leave on a consecutive basis or intermittently. Employees must give employers a minimum 30-day advance notice of expected leave.

Personal Leave

Paid time-off for almost any reason. - Companies may limit acceptable reasons. - Common uses include: "mental health days." - May be used to extend vacation or sick leave. - Companies either allot a fixed number of days per year, or award them based on seniority. - Annual allotment may range from 1-10 days.

Holidays

Private-sector employers usually follow federal government practices. - 12 paid holidays a year --> Employees receive a workday off for each one. --> When holidays fall on a weekend day, employees receive a day off during the workweek to observe the holiday - Company-specific practices. --> Many add 1-2 floating holidays allowing time off to observe any holiday not on the list. --> May or may not be limited to holidays. Employers must pay attention to the treatment of religious holidays - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on religious beliefs. - The EEOC established guidelines: --> Allow employees to observe the day, unless it causes undue hardship. --> Employers must treat observances uniformly as paid or unpaid time off. Undue hardship: "action requiring significant difficulty or expense" when considered in light of a number of factors. These factors include the nature and cost of the accommodation in relation to the size, resources, nature, and structure of the employer's operation. If holidays occur during vacation or sick leave, - most companies recognize and pay for the holiday. Companies may extend paid holidays with additional paid days before or after a holiday. - Christmas Eve or the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Sick Leave

Sick leave benefits pay workers for a specified number of days absent due to personal illness. - Separate from disability leave policies - May be granted for non-employee illnesses. - When unscheduled absences create hardship, --> companies may require medical certification. --> unscheduled absences decrease productivity and increase costs. - Not all companies offer sick leave. --> Half of small companies do not, while 70% of large companies do offer sick leave. - Paid sick leave is now required for all government contractors and subcontractors. - State laws also govern sick leave criteria. - Some cities are even passing laws on paid sick leave requirements.

Leave under the FMLA

Societal changes have strengthened protections under the act. - Prior to this act, most employees were forced to quit their jobs The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) - bestowed rights upon workers to take substantial unpaid time off from work to attend to serious personal illness or qualifying family events, and it created return-to-work protections

State and Local Family Leave Laws

Some states and local governments have instituted laws mandating paid family leave California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island possess paid family leave laws. - New Jersey permits up to six weeks paid leave. - Rhode Island provides four weeks of paid leave for family member care and up to 30 weeks for their own personal care. - A New York City law gives six weeks of paid family leave for nonunion workers employed by the city.

Military Leave

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) - Focusing on an employer's obligation to reemploy previously employed individuals following the completing of military service - Reemployment rights extend to those absent due to voluntary or involuntary service while employed with a particular company does not exceed five years Offers protection against: - denial of initial employment, - reemployment, - retention, - or any benefits of employment.

Returning from FMLA Leave

Upon return, employees must: - be restored to the same, or equal job with equal pay, - retain all benefits, such as seniority and other terms and conditions of employment. Employer possess the right not to grant leave or restore employment if doing so would cause considerable and severe economic burdens. - This exception applies to highest paid 10% of employees, if they: - Notify ineligible workers when applying for FMLA. - Notify employee as soon as decision is made. - Offers employee opportunity to return after notice. - Makes a final determination at the end of the leave.

Flextime Schedules

Employees adjust when they start and leave work. Flextime schedules: allow workers to modify work schedules within specified limits Core hours: All workers must be present during this hours are certain workday hours when business activity is regularly high Banking hours: workers may vary daily work hours, maintaining weekly work hours Employers can expect three possible benefits: - Lower tardiness and absenteeism. - Higher work productivity. - Creating longer business hours and better service.

Vacation

Employers may view paid vacation as a reward or as vital to employee health and productivity. Policies entail 5 considerations: 1. eligibility for vacation leave, - Employees become eligible after working full-time for up to a year. 2. single or multiple policies for different groups, - Companies may exclude part-time employees. - Some companies determine nonexempt worker's vacation by hours worked. 3. rules for available vacation time per year, - Some companies allot the same number of days per employee or they may use seniority. 4. avoiding conflicts between vacations and deadlines, - Employers must decide when to schedule vacation times during heavy business activity. 5. handling unused vacation time at year's end. - Carryover provision: Employees may take unused vacation time at a later time. - "Use it or lose it" provision: Employees must use the days during the year or lose them. - Cash-out provision: Pays an amount equal to the unused vacation days based on regular pay.

Integrated Paid Time-Off Policies, or Paid Time-Off Banks

Integrated paid time-off policies, or paid time-off banks are gaining in popularity. - Do not distinguish reasons for absence. - Provides freedom to schedule time-off. --> without justifying the reasons and hence reduce unscheduled absences - Employers benefit as it means --> managing one plan as opposed to separate plans, and --> eliminates the need for medical certifications. - Do not incorporate all types of paid time off --> Bereavement or funeral leave is a stand-alone policy. --> Jury duty, witness leave, military leave, and non production time are influenced by law --> Sabbaticals are not included. Effective paid time-off bank policies: - Slowly increase the number of days an employee may use. - Include a carry-over provision rather than a use-it-or-lose-it provision.

Nonproduction Time

Nonproduction time: refers to time uses related to, but not in actual performance of, the main job duties. - Such as: cleanup, preparation, and travel time between job locations. or it can refer to non-work times during a shift. - Rest periods, breaks, and meal breaks. Employers must pay for time devoted to principle work activities and for those duties indispensable to performing principle activities

Defining and Exploring Paid Time-Off Programs

Private-Sector companies offer most paid time-off benefits on a discretionary basis Paid time-off policies - compensate employees when not performing primary work duties - notice the differences between full- and part-time employees as well as between union and nonunion employees

Sabbatical Leave

Sabbatical leave practices are common in university settings, applying to faculty. - Must meet minimum service requirements each time with a partial or full pay for up to an entire academic year. - Other employers have begun offering sabbaticals to further professional development. - Companies establish guidelines regarding qualification, length of leave, and level of pay. Not all sabbaticals are alike - Traditional Sabbaticals: to renew or retool themselves in work-related areas - Personal Growth Leaves: allow employees to further their education or acquire new competencies - Social Service Leaves: with the opportunity to undertake significant public service, either in the local community or in other areas important to the company - Extended Personal Leaves: provides unpaid leave of two or more years with return-to-work guarantees, commonly taken by employees with significant family obligations - Voluntary Leaves to Meet Business Needs: serves the company in times of down-sizing or low production by offering extended unpaid time off

Telecommuting

Telecommuting happens when employees perform work at home or some other location. Appropriate for work not requiring interpersonal interactions, such as accounting. Potential employer benefits include: - increased productivity, lower overhead costs, effective recruiting and increased retention. Employees like telecommuting because it - increases family time and decreases commuting time and expense. Potential employer and employee disadvantage include : - Often employers are concerned about not having direct contact with employees, which makes conducting performance appraisals more difficult - Employees sometimes feel that work-at-home arrangements are disruptive to their personal lives - Some employees feel isolated because they do not interact personally as often with co-workers and superiors

On-Call Time

The U.S. Department of Labor requires pay for nonexempt employees' on-call time. - On-call time requires employees be close to the employer's premises so they cannot use the time effectively for their own purposes - Virtually every employer can demand that nonexempt employees be available on an as-needed basis According to FSLA, employers can require exempt employees to be on-call without additional compensation

Paid Time-Off Practices

The following practices are reviewed: - holidays, - vacation. - sick leave, - personal leave, - integrated paid time-off policies, - parental leave, - bereavement or funeral leave, - jury duty and witness duty leaves, - military leave, - non-production time, - on-call time, - sabbatical leave, and - volunteerism.

Revisions to the FMLA

Three major revisions to the FMLA. Military caregiver leave. - Adding protections for a family member of a service member with a serious injury or illness. May take up to 26 weeks off. Qualifying exigency leave. - Where qualified family members of National Guard or reserves members who are called to active duty or active duty status qualify for leave - Nine broad categories of qualifying exigencies. Makes eligible same-sex marriages. - Effective March 27, 2015.

Percent of Workers with Access to Selected Leave Benefits, by Worker Characteristics: Private Industry National Compensation Survey, March 2015

Trends = Full time workers and union workers tend to have the most benefits

Volunteerism

Volunteerism refers to giving one's time to support charitable causes. More and more companies are providing employees with paid time-off for volunteering as an employee benefit Companies favor this for three reasons. - Allows employees to balance work and life demands. - Allowing employees the time reflects positively on the company's image. - It is believed to help promote retention.