March 2010

Retaining Good Employees in a Down Economy

When a recession strikes, it is important to look out for the needs of your business in many ways.  An important way to maintain the success of your business when the economy is low is to focus on retaining your employees. Tough economic times, especially when they affect your business, usually makes employees nervous and unsure of their job stability.

Many employers are not hiring, which means that they will be relying on their long-term employees the most, at a time when many may be reaching burnout or looking for opportunities elsewhere. Not only has the recession been a long one, with employees
dealing with significantly heavier workloads for extended periods as their organizations have attempted to make do with leaner operations, but many organizations have implemented additional measures such as salary freezes, furloughs, reduced retirement and health benefits, and reductions in working hours.

Keeping your employees engaged is important to continuing the success of your business in harsh economic times.  To avoid the loss of top talent, many companies are planning to offer salary increases, cash retention awards, stock retention awards, and higher bonus payouts to valued employees.  Other methods to retain employees include reinstating previously reduced or eliminated benefits, and by providing professional development and advancement opportunities to employees.

401(k) Plans are Not all the Same –We can save you money!

Have you looked at your 401(k) plan lately? If you are like most people, you have decided it is better just to ignore the plan rather than be reminded of the poor returns. As a business though, your 401(k) plan can eat away at your employee’s investments along with costing you a sizeable fee each year.

We have a new solution that allows employers the opportunity to have a 401(k) plan with: No set up fees; No surrender charges; No annual administrative fee; 54 investment options, very low back end fees, an only an annual $25.00 a year per participant charge.

Click here and we will follow up with more information.

Work-Life Balance

There are a variety of innovative options employers use to help resolve work/life issues. Here is an overview of some of these solutions.

Telecommuting
Advances in technology now make it possible for work to be performed away from the office—whether that's in an employee's home or in a satellite center. Allowing employees to work from home helps them juggle unpredictable schedules caused by child- or eldercare demands or other personal matters. Many employers report that teleworkers spend more time on the job because of saving on commuting time. And, if you offer telecommuting as an option for your workforce, you may also enjoy savings on office space, electricity and so on.

Flexible scheduling
Workers with childcare or eldercare responsibilities often have obligations that arise during the workday. For many office workers, the precise time they start or stop work isn't as critical as the amount of time and attention they dedicate to their jobs. There is a wide range of flexible scheduling options. These include alternate work schedules, compressed workweeks, paid-time off plans, part-time work, v-time, and job sharing.

Sabbatical leave
Common in academia, sabbatical leave is becoming a more common tool in business. Sabbaticals are provided to allow employees to pursue education, engage in personal projects or attend to special family needs. Sabbaticals can be either paid or unpaid; in some cases, employees are required to use the balance of their vacation time during the sabbatical.

Dependent care
As the demographics of the workplace continue to evolve, a growing number of organizations are offering their workers dependent care benefits. The growth in the number of either dual-income families or single-parent households presents child-care dilemmas for workers with school-age children. The most common form of dependent care is in the form of a flexible spending account. Under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code (which governs cafeteria benefit plans) an employee may set aside up to $5,000 in pretax income for dependent care. The employee's paycheck is adjusted accordingly, and he or she seeks reimbursement from the employer when qualifying expenses are incurred. If the employee fails to use the entire amount he or she has set aside, those funds are forfeited. In addition, a growing number of firms are making dependent care services directly available to their employee. These include on-site child-care centers, child-care referral services, consortium child-care centers, sick-child care and eldercare counseling.

Phased retirement
Phased retirement is a work arrangement that allows employees near retirement age to make a gradual transition to full retirement. Such arrangements offer significant advantages for employers and employees alike. Employers get to retain experienced workers—especially those with specialized or technical skills-who are hard to replace. Moreover, employees can stay engaged in work and earn income while getting a taste of the retiree's lifestyle.

OSHA’s New Standards

With the passing of more stringent OSHA regulations, there are many items the employers can expect:

• more inspections
• more citations and increased penalties
• review of Field Office Manual and “OSHA Listens”
• more difficulty in obtaining settlements and, as a result, more contests
• more national, regional and local emphasis inspection programs attempted dilution or elimination of unpreventable employee misconduct defense
• greater use of incident-by-incident (egregious) citation approach
• increased scrutiny of employer injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting
• increased scrutiny of employers’ recordkeeping safety program focusing on reward for low injury and illness rates and less credit to employers with low rates
  
• increase in the use of the Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP) (Severe Violators Inspection Program)
  
• strong increase in focus on investigation and encouragement of whistleblower claims
  
• Increased rulemaking/regulations – 2009 Fall Agenda, 30 Items

What You Can Do Going Forward

• Evaluate risks at worksites, especially multi-employer safety issues
  
• Prepare to handle OSHA inspections
  
• More focus on training to employee and documentation
  
• Review company recordkeeping
• Focus on PPE standard requirements
  
• Focus on evacuation plans and emergency response
  

To help comply with new OSHA standards, ensure the elements of an effective safety and health management system in your business: strong management commitment and employee involvement, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and provide training for your entire workforce.

Court Approves EEOC’s Largest ADA Settlement Ever
2/9/2010 By Allen Smith

A recently court-approved $6.2 million settlement between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Sears shows that the agency is serious about going after big cases of systemic discrimination.

In a Feb. 5, 2010, release, the EEOC announced the settlement and noted that it was the largest Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) settlement in a single lawsuit in the agency’s history. The settlement proceeds in the case (EEOC v. Sears Roebuck & Co., N.D. Ill., No. 04 C 7282) will be shared among 235 former employees who were discharged at the end of their workers’ compensation leaves of absence.

In its lawsuit against Sears, the EEOC had alleged that Sears maintained an inflexible workers’ compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees unlawfully instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities.

“The EEOC is pleased and proud that we fought long and hard on this case to protect the rights of workers with disabilities and that many Sears employees will now benefit from our law enforcement efforts,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart Ishimaru.

“As a result of the decree, we believe Sears has an improved workers’ compensation leave process, and it has posted notices regarding the decree,” DeCamp said. “We know that employees have been seeing the notices because we’ve been receiving inquiries as a result. So we think it’s pretty clear that our lawsuit genuinely benefited the employees of Sears and strengthened the company’s human resources processes.”

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered the order approving the monetary distributions, which average out to approximately $26,300 per employee covered by the settlement, on Feb. 4, 2010.

Valuable Partnerships to Help you Start Saving Today

We have experience with and have partnered with the below companies to pass along additional savings to you and your business. Call them and benefit today! Mention Lowden & Associates when you call.

1. Examine your spend rate and renegotiate

Don't take our word for it, ask our satisfied customers:

"If you are interested in a system where you only pay if the company saves you money, we have a Compnay you need to speak with. They are past GE Executives who started their practice over 12 years ago. I have personally worked with these people and can vouch for their professionalism and expertise. 

They will look at your overall spend rate and look for ways to help you reduce costs in areas you may not have thought of. Interested?  Email Robert Matthews at RSMatthews@PaladinAssociatesinc.com – you can't afford not to call.

2.  Outsource non-core functions

Have you considered outsourcing functions that do not directly impact your customers? Don't wait any longer. Act now.

We offer tailored solutions that provide HR talent at a fraction of the cost. As a special bonus, sign up by April 1and receive the first month at half the cost.

Call our business development at 770.248.0401 today.

3.  Trade with vendors

Have you considered bartering your services with some of your vendors? Well, it doesn't hurt to ask. You never know what people may be willing to do if you open the door.