Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1439616
Industry Outlook: Human Resources and budgeting tools. Also, burnout is a major issue and employees are struggling with mental health. Offering a diverse set of well-being and mental health benefits will help manage a number of people risks, including employee exhaustion, rising health costs and employee turnover. What's the future of work look like? Are more employees going to be heading into the office in 2022? Will the hybrid workforce model be the new norm? Galistinos: Flexibility remains critical. With work-life balance ranking second as an employee top concern across all demographics in Mercer's Inside Employees' Minds survey, flexibility is a top priority and a necessity for most employees, and employers who fail to embrace this new reality are likely to face continued challenges when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. We're seeing most employers adopt hybrid working models going into the new year. What are employers thinking in terms of COVID-19 vaccine mandates? If they aren't mandating vaccines are they doing anything else to encourage them? Galistinos: Employer vaccine mandates were already gaining momentum prior to the federal mandate, which affects companies with 100 or more workers. The federal mandate is now being challenged in the courts. In an ongoing Mercer survey, about a third of the approximately 350 employers responding as of Nov. 17, had some level of mandate in place. In planning to comply with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements, about 40% of employer survey respondents said they intend to allow regular testing and masking as an alternative to vaccination. While providing this option may help prevent turnover, it does leave employers with the administrative burden of managing the testing process. Currently, 15% of respondents offer employees cash or a gift card as an incentive to be vaccinated, and 7% hold raffles. Additional time off is offered by 17%. Relatively few respondents — just 8% — say they are considering adding these types of incentives. What are some other major issues employers should think about and prepare for in 2022? Galistinos: With one-quarter of U.S. workers reporting they feel 'highly' or 'extremely' stressed in their everyday lives, employers have made behavioral health care a priority. Access is the top concern here, with 40% of employees saying it is difficult to find and access quality mental health care. Employers looking to provide affordable mental health care support should note that many employees would highly value virtual counseling via video chat with a therapist (42%), virtual counseling via text with a therapist (38%), and even virtual mental health advice via AI-powered text chats, with no human involved (31%). Organizations also need to focus on tackling healthcare inequities. Healthcare inequality persists, with higher-earners better able to access medical coverage, income protection and mental health counseling than low-earners. Employers should consider a strategy that targets benefits to the groups that need them most. In a time of labor shortages, a strategy for achieving greater equity may also give employers a competitive advantage. Industry Outlook: Law 3 new employment laws CT employers must know about in 2022 By Megan Y. Carannante & Zachary Zeid T hree new employment laws are forecasted to occupy a good deal of employers' time this year. These laws impose new requirements on employers and require revisions to policies and procedures to ensure compliance, maintain operational efficiency and avoid legal exposure. Paid family leave There are several changes coming to Connecticut's Family Medical Leave law. Under the revised law, leave will be available to far more employees, and the length and methodology for how leave is computed has been redefined. Perhaps most significantly, Connecticut's family medical leave laws now include a paid component under the Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA). Under the PFMLA, which applies to most Connecticut employers with at least one employee, eligible workers may now apply to the CT Paid Leave Authority (online at ctpaidleave.org or via phone) to receive paid benefits to replace their income when they are out of work due to childbirth, or to seek treatment for serious health conditions for themself or a family member. Previously, the state's family medical leave was unpaid unless employees had paid time off available. Employees may be eligible to receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a 12-month period (plus two additional weeks for certain pregnancy-related conditions). The new law also expands the list of who qualifies as a "family member" to include: siblings, parents-in-law, grandparents and grandchildren, and any other "individual related to the employee by blood or affinity whose close association the employee shows to be the equivalent of those family relationships." Based on this, employers should revise their leave policies to conform to the changes in the law and educate employees about the availability of paid benefits. Employers may also be asked to provide information from the Paid Leave Authority when employees apply for benefits. Organizations may need to prepare for more employees being absent from work for extended periods. This may include making changes to staffing to prevent unanticipated disruptions, and implementing more robust procedures to require and track leave certifications from healthcare providers. Salary range disclosures Connecticut employers are also now required to begin providing job applicants and current employees with wage ranges at various points throughout the employment process. This new requirement is intended to increase pay equity in several ways, including by eliminating sex- based compensation discrimination. With regard to job applicants, employers must provide the wage range for the position the applicant is applying to upon the applicant's request, or prior to, or at the time a compensation offer is made. Likewise, employers must provide current workers with a wage range for the employee's position upon a position change or the employee's first request for a wage range. "Wage range" is defined as "the range of wages an employer anticipates relying on when setting wages for a position." There are a variety of ways to set the range, which are described in more detail in the law. In preparing to comply with these new obligations, organizations should examine their internal protocols, including those related to onboarding, hiring and recruiting, and formulate new procedures for responding to wage range requests. Employers should also take the time to compile wage ranges for each position, so they have the information they need available when required to disclose it. Age-based inquiries The legislature also recently passed a bill that makes it a discriminatory act to request a prospective employee's age, date of birth, dates of attendance, or date of graduation from an educational institution on an initial employment application. This new law is aimed to prevent age-based discrimination in the pre- employment process. An employer may still inquire about an applicant's age if it is requesting or requiring such information "based on a bona fide occupational qualification or need," or if such information is required to comply with any provision of state or federal law. To avoid running afoul of this new law, employers should immediately review their job applications to remove any improper questions and train those interviewing applicants to avoid the types of now-prohibited age-based inquiries during the pre- employment process. Megan Y. Carannante and Zachary T. Zeid are labor and employment attorneys at law firm Pullman & Comley LLC. Megan Y. Carannante Zachary Zeid 28 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 3, 2022