Uneasy about feds meddling in your workplace? You’re in good company
Concerns about government gridlock — and President Obama’s focus on using presidential orders to use federal agencies to guide workplace rules — affect more than half the companies participating in a recent study from the employment law firm Littler.
Here’s an overview of the recent 2014 Executive Employer Survey:
While employers continue to feel the impact of changing legislation and regulations, the past three survey reports show a steady decline in the level at which respondents anticipate key regulatory issues, particularly healthcare reform, will influence their workplace in the coming year. Employers appear to be shifting some of their concerns to the uncertainty that stems from a divided government.
Respondents identified rulemaking and enhanced enforcement from federal agencies as the most troubling outcome of a divided government with 56% indicating concern in regard to the impact on workplace policy.
“With Congress deadlocked and the ongoing divisions in government, employers are feeling the impact of President Obama’s focus on the federal agencies to bring about changes to workplace policy,” said Michael Lotito of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute. “As employers grapple with more aggressive enforcement and workplace reforms from several federal agencies, the Department of Labor’s pursuit of President Obama’s ‘income inequality’ agenda was a particular area of concern for employers. 29% indicated concern with measures to raise the minimum wage and expand overtime pay, both of which will have a significant impact on employers’ bottom line.”
Healthcare reform: Still a concern, but …
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) remained the regulatory issue that respondents expect to have the most impact on their workplace during the next 12 months; however, those that felt it would have a significant impact dropped 16 percentage points — from 57% in the 2013 survey to 41% in 2014.
That’s not to say there’s no longer confusion over Obamacare. 58% of respondents said they have engaged employee benefits attorneys or consultants to help track changing deadlines and upcoming compliance obligations.
Respondents again identified a range of actions that they have taken or anticipate taking in response to the ACA’s implementation. The implementation of employee wellness programs remained the top action taken by roughly half of employers (52%). About a quarter of respondents said they would consider offering employees healthcare benefits through private health insurance exchanges (26%) or limit more employees to 30 hours per week (25%).
Challenges loom in managing people
Employers appear to be increasingly comfortable with the size of their current workforce, the Littler research said. The percentage of respondents indicating no plans to make changes to their workforce has increased steadily over the past three years from 13% in 2012 to 22% in 2013 to 26% in 2014. However, employers still remain relatively bullish in their hiring plans, with the majority (53% planning to hire workers in the coming year.
As a variety of forces continue to reinvent the workplace, employers identified several challenges in managing their workforces:
- 48% of respondents reported that current economic conditions are leading disenchanted employees to bring more lawsuits or claims against their employers—up 25 percentage points since last year.
- Discrimination and harassment is the area in which respondents noted that their organization has seen the most employee lawsuits or class actions during the past year (40%), followed closely by wrongful termination claims or wage and hour lawsuits (36%).
- Workforce retention was the issue respondents felt presented the most difficulty in managing their workforce with – 88% voiced some level of concern. Employers also expressed concern with social media and employee privacy (86%), preventing abuse of leaves under the Family and Medical Leave Act and similar laws (69%), and managing generational differences between younger and older employees (68%).
Some barriers falling
Employers reported seeing a decline in some of the barriers identified in previous survey reports as impacting their workforces.
Unhappy workers appear to be less wary about remaining in their current positions due to an inability to find employment elsewhere (this figure fell from 85% in 2012 to 79% in 2013 to 66% in 2014).
Far fewer respondents cited underemployment as a barrier impacting the workforce (from 67% in 2012 to 44% in 2013 and 2014).
However, in the past three survey reports, employers have continued to indicate that current economic conditions mean employees are being asked to do more with less (84% in the 2014 survey).
Increased focus on privacy
Workplace privacy is a growing area of concern among employers as more and more companies incorporate new technology policies and widespread data breaches continue to make headlines:
- Avoiding workplace and data security breaches was identified as the top concern among employers regarding workplace privacy, with 74% ranking this option as their top or second greatest concern.
- 34% ranked as either their top or second greatest concern safeguarding customer and corporate data without unlawfully accessing employees’ personal information as “bring your own device” (BYOD) programs become increasingly common.
- 31% of respondents ranked among their top two concerns laws and legislation prohibiting employers from requesting criminal history information or restricting the use of credit information for employment purposes.
Resources
Post Your Resume to 65+ Job Sites
Resume Service
